Croûtons

The word “crouton” comes from the French croûte, which means crust. In French cooking, croûton has a broader meaning than “crouton” does in English. What we call croûtons are little cubes of dried bread, all too often out of a box, that we sprinkle over salads or use to stuff turkeys. French cooks also use them in the same way. But in France, croûtons can also be slices of stale bread put in bowls before soup is ladled in; cubes of fresh bread cooked in butter or bacon or duck fat, for sprinkling in salads; or rounds of fresh bread cooked in butter or other fat and used as supports for poached eggs (see Poached Eggs in Red Wine Sauce), vegetables, and meats. The reason that the French so often cook croûtons in fat instead of just toasting the bread is not just for extra flavor, but because the fat gives the croûton crunch and at the same time waterproofs it so it resists the moist ingredients and sauces that would otherwise make it soggy. This makes good sense in salads and in dishes such as tournedos Rossini, when the croûton is going to be surrounded with sauce.