The New Toast of the Town Is Toast

Food trends come and go, but “stuff on toast” is forever, says Alison Roman in The New York Times. Dinner toast, she thinks, is the next big trend. And grocerants should pay attention as it could be a unique, delicious, trendy and high-profit menu item. 

Avocado is clearly the most famous topping in the toast community right now, but she writes, it is the hyper-seasonal, very juicy, almost-too-ripe-to-slice tomato that deserves to be first in line as a topping for dinner toast.

Tomatoes truly have it all: mild sweetness, pronounced acidity and, when sliced, a saucy texture that complements the toast by sinking into the tender parts and gently softening the very crunchy bits.  

How about topping that perfect tomato toast with something like shrimp, cooked in a skillet with slivers of toasted garlic and a bit of white wine.   

And forget about the toaster. Her recipe is to make the toast in the skillet, because bread, when toasted in a skillet full of olive oil, becomes shatteringly crisp and evenly golden brown in a way your toaster could never.

Since this is dinner toast, you can pick it up with one hand or tackle it with a knife and fork for a more civilized eating experience. Either way, it’s toast. And toast is good, according to Roman.