The cultural significance of toast - part one

Toast is a state of mind more than a type of food. Eating toast evokes a number of associations for British people. You eat toast when you can't be bothered to cook; it's a quick simple way of getting something hot inside you: more solid than soup, less stodgy than a sandwich. The crunchiness and chewiness of toast makes a pleasing contrast; it combines the transient brittleness of the crunch with the durability of the chew. You can put just about anything on toast and it always seems to taste better than on untoasted bread: peanut butter, Marmite, cheese, jam...

Toast is ideally eaten in the morning or late at night. It is a prelude to the day or an epilogue. Toast for lunch or dinner always disappoints; it's not really a meal. As a mid-morning snack or afternoon stopgap toast comes into its own.

Much of the pleasure of toast comes from the anticipation of taking the first bite as the slice of bread lies under the grill or stands inside the toaster. The moment at which the bread becomes toast, but before it turns to charcoal is critical. Slightly burnt and just too hot to hold is the perfect state of a slice of toast. Consumed immediately, preferably heaped up with something gooey it never fails to satisfy - and yet leaves open the possibility of serious eating within a comparatively short time.