In terms of texture, taste, and pure decadence, fried bread is better than toast. Rather than sit atop, the fat soaks in, crisping and coating every inch of your bread. I usually fry my bread in leftover bacon grease, but a new fat is brightening my morning, and that fat is schmaltz.
Schmaltz-fried bread, which I recently enjoyed immensely as part of the “breads and spreads” at this restaurant in Pennsylvania, is perhaps the easiest way to bring joy to your morning.
The rendered chicken fat brings a rich, savoury, slightly smoky flavour to your breakfast, making it a great pairing for a simple poached egg (or an egg fried in more schmaltz). If chicken fat and an egg seems a little heavy, know schmaltz bread is heavenly with a simple swipe of tart jam (such as cherry) or preserves.
Editor’s Note: Australians might have trouble sourcing schmaltz, but specialist food stores do stock it.
For the bread, thick slices of rye are truly something special here, but any thick bread will do. (However, if all you have is white sandwich bread, it is not, by any means, the end of the world.) Just melt a tablespoon of schmaltz in a pan for each slice of bread, then fry the slices over medium-high heat for a few minutes on each side until they’re golden and crispy.
Strain any excess fat through a sieve into a jar or crock; you don’t want to waste a drop.
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