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Jitze Couperus
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 2:07 pm
Post subject: Toast Soldiers - non-standard usage? |
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In keeping with AUE's charter as it applies to food, I have
come across a discussion in a quality UK newsaper which I
believe is worthy of the attention of this group - to wit:
An engineer has devised a tool that takes seconds off the chore
of cutting toast soldiers.
When the hand-held cutter is pressed against a slice of bread,
it creates a series of precisely placed perforations. Once the
bread has been toasted to perfection, the soldiers can be torn
off ready for dunking in a soft-boiled egg.
The perforator is the brainchild of Mike Minton, a 37-year-old
electronics engineer, who says the ideal soldier should be 22mm
wide.
"I love egg soldiers but the one thing I hate is cutting up the
toast, because it is fiddly, messy and time consuming," he said.
"There has always been a danger of cutting your soldiers too fat
or too thin. If they are too fat then obviously they can't fit
into the opened neck of the egg which is infuriating.
"But if the soldiers are too small then there's the risk of a
catastrophic failure after they're dunked into the yolk.
The simple act of withdrawing the soldier may cause it to break
in half, forcing the person who is eating the egg to resort to
a teaspoon."
Now in a subsequent letter to the editor about this news report,
I read:
Sir -The attempt to make a tool that easily produces decent
toast soldiers is admirable, however, the research behind the
project is flawed. Ideally, soldiers should gradually increase in
width from the first to the last. The first to be used should be
no more than half an inch (12.7mm) in width to avoid excessive
yolk displacement and the loss of nutritional value.
Subsequent soldiers should then increase at one eighth increments
to a recommended maximum of seven eighths (22mm). Seldom are
more than four soldiers required for one egg.
The above dimensions apply to large eggs only and may have to
be adjusted for other sizes, particularly when the pullets have
just come on to lay.
Now my question. Is this practice of using toast soldiers to enable
consumption of a soft-boiled egg a mainly Right-pondian thing, or
is it also common in Left-pondia and/or Under-pondia?
Secondarily, the concept of increasing width in soldiers from
first to last - are there any prescriptivists who would decry
this departure from accepted norms? Or is this considered
acceptable usage in this day and age?
I can't find anything about this in the FAQ.
Jitze
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nancy13g
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 7:23 pm
Post subject: Re: Toast Soldiers - non-standard usage? |
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Jitze Couperus wrote:
| Quote: | Now my question. Is this practice of using toast soldiers
to enable consumption of a soft-boiled egg a mainly
Right-pondian thing, or is it also common in Left-pondia
and/or Under-pondia?
|
The practice might be cross-pondian, but the terminology certainly
isn't. I had to google "toast soldiers" to figure out exactly what you
were talking about.
Now that I've discovered what they are, however, I congratulate the
Brits for coming up with a better method of conveying goopy egg to
one's mouth than the way I usually do it, which is with triangles.
Rectangles seem much more efficient, avoiding as they do both the first
bite of a triangle, which is too small to hold much egg, and the last
bite, which consists only of a wide strip of crust.
When you make toast soldiers, though, do you trim off the side crusts,
or do you wind up with one left and one right soldier with crust all up
their sides? |
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Ted Schuerzinger
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 7:50 pm
Post subject: Re: Toast Soldiers - non-standard usage? |
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Somebody claiming to be couperus-eschew-this@znet.com (Jitze Couperus)
wrote in news:435357a8.1758269328@news.znet.com:
| Quote: | Now my question. Is this practice of using toast soldiers to enable
consumption of a soft-boiled egg a mainly Right-pondian thing, or
is it also common in Left-pondia and/or Under-pondia?
|
I'm on the left side of the Pond, and I've never heard of "toast
soldiers".
--
Ted <fedya at bestweb dot net>
Oh Marge, anyone can miss Canada, all tucked away down there....
--Homer Simpson
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Spehro Pefhany
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 8:25 pm
Post subject: Re: Toast Soldiers - non-standard usage? |
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On Mon, 17 Oct 2005 13:50:55 -0000, the renowned Ted Schuerzinger
<fedya@bestweb.spam> wrote:
| Quote: | Somebody claiming to be couperus-eschew-this@znet.com (Jitze Couperus)
wrote in news:435357a8.1758269328@news.znet.com:
Now my question. Is this practice of using toast soldiers to enable
consumption of a soft-boiled egg a mainly Right-pondian thing, or
is it also common in Left-pondia and/or Under-pondia?
I'm on the left side of the Pond, and I've never heard of "toast
soldiers".
|
They have them at a hep breakfast spot in Toronto (Parkdale), but I
can't say I've seen them anyplace else around the city. The dish is
garnished with a heavily-armed green toy soldier to boot.
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com |
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Harvey Van Sickle
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 8:38 pm
Post subject: Re: Toast Soldiers - non-standard usage? |
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On 17 Oct 2005, nancy13g wrote
| Quote: | When you make toast soldiers, though, do you trim off the side
crusts, or do you wind up with one left and one right soldier with
crust all up their sides?
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I've never seen them with crusts; might be regional, though....
--
Cheers, Harvey
Canadian (30 years) and British (23 years)
For e-mail, change harvey.news to harvey.van |
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Jim Lawton
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 9:54 pm
Post subject: Re: Toast Soldiers - non-standard usage? |
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On 17 Oct 2005 06:23:14 -0700, "nancy13g" <nancy13g@verizon.net> wrote:
| Quote: |
Jitze Couperus wrote:
Now my question. Is this practice of using toast soldiers
to enable consumption of a soft-boiled egg a mainly
Right-pondian thing, or is it also common in Left-pondia
and/or Under-pondia?
The practice might be cross-pondian, but the terminology certainly
isn't. I had to google "toast soldiers" to figure out exactly what you
were talking about.
Now that I've discovered what they are, however, I congratulate the
Brits for coming up with a better method of conveying goopy egg to
one's mouth than the way I usually do it, which is with triangles.
Rectangles seem much more efficient, avoiding as they do both the first
bite of a triangle, which is too small to hold much egg, and the last
bite, which consists only of a wide strip of crust.
When you make toast soldiers, though, do you trim off the side crusts,
or do you wind up with one left and one right soldier with crust all up
their sides?
Wars have been fought over less. |
Incidentally, I had never heard of the "soldiers" being divorced from the egg
before, and so I have always known them as "eggy soldiers" - both <"egg
soldiers"> and <"eggy soldiers"> will give another crop of Google results.
--
Jim
the polymoth |
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Adrian Bailey
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 10:56 pm
Post subject: Re: Toast Soldiers - non-standard usage? |
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"Ted Schuerzinger" <fedya@bestweb.spam> wrote in message
news:Xns96F263162CD2B8jUwe9053kODf78sfkj0@ID-121946.user.dfncis.de...
| Quote: | Somebody claiming to be couperus-eschew-this@znet.com (Jitze Couperus)
wrote in news:435357a8.1758269328@news.znet.com:
Now my question. Is this practice of using toast soldiers to enable
consumption of a soft-boiled egg a mainly Right-pondian thing, or
is it also common in Left-pondia and/or Under-pondia?
I'm on the left side of the Pond, and I've never heard of "toast
soldiers".
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They're really called just "soldiers".
Adrian |
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TsuiDF
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 12:09 am
Post subject: Re: Toast Soldiers - non-standard usage? |
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Harvey Van Sickle wote:
| Quote: | On 17 Oct 2005, nancy13g wrote
When you make toast soldiers, though, do you trim off the side
crusts, or do you wind up with one left and one right soldier with
crust all up their sides?
I've never seen them with crusts; might be regional, though....
|
Not to have crusts would be to Waste Toast. Which is Not Done.
I like the idea of the perforator, but I also find the observations
about increasing size very keenly put. And there was great pleasure in
doing the cutting, too, although if one has a household full of
children all needing soldiers, it could certainly be useful.
As a child (once old enough to be allowed to carve my own soldiers),
there was always the challenge of estimating the correct size of
soldier so as to maximise the use of the bread (i.e., not ending up
with a manifestly useless bit) and still have soldiers of the right
width. I enjoyed the mental calculations involved almost as much as
the eventual eating.
The entire concept of toast soldiers makes me feel immediately about 7
years old and very happy. If Dad was off on a business trip, Mum would
sometimes make boiled eggs and toast for tea (it was still tea then,
even though we'd moved to the US) as a treat for the two of us, and I
certainly saw it that way. We called this a 'cosy tea' as contrasted
to a 'proper tea' which involved meat and two veg and was always had if
Dad was home.
cheers,
Stephanie
in Brussels
having just finished my tea, of the non-cosy type |
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TsuiDF
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 12:10 am
Post subject: Re: Toast Soldiers - non-standard usage? |
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Ted Schuerzinger wote:
| Quote: | I'm on the left side of the Pond, and I've never heard of "toast
soldiers".
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You have my deepest sympathy. But it's never too late to start...
cheers,
Stephanie |
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Skitt
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 12:53 am
Post subject: Re: Toast Soldiers - non-standard usage? |
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TsuiDF wrote:
| Quote: | The entire concept of toast soldiers makes me feel immediately about 7
years old and very happy. If Dad was off on a business trip, Mum
would sometimes make boiled eggs and toast for tea (it was still tea
then, even though we'd moved to the US) as a treat for the two of us,
and I certainly saw it that way. We called this a 'cosy tea' as
contrasted to a 'proper tea' which involved meat and two veg and was
always had if Dad was home.
|
Soft-boiled eggs were a regular part of my childhood. The idea ot toast
soldiers is a foreign one to me, though. Well, I was the one who was
foreign -- to English customs, that is.
My soft-boiled egg was placed in an engraved silver egg cup, and I ate it
using an engraved silver spoon of a special size. The engraved text
contained my name, of course. Very civilized. Toast was not a part of our
breakfast. Ever. Well, this was back in the 'thirties, in Latvia. I think
I ate my first toast after arriving in the good ole US and A.
--
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/ |
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TsuiDF
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 1:02 am
Post subject: Re: Toast Soldiers - non-standard usage? |
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Skitt wote:
| Quote: | Soft-boiled eggs were a regular part of my childhood. The idea ot toast
soldiers is a foreign one to me, though. Well, I was the one who was
foreign -- to English customs, that is.
My soft-boiled egg was placed in an engraved silver egg cup, and I ate it
using an engraved silver spoon of a special size. The engraved text
contained my name, of course. Very civilized. Toast was not a part of our
breakfast. Ever. Well, this was back in the 'thirties, in Latvia. I think
I ate my first toast after arriving in the good ole US and A.
|
WIWAL we didn't have no silver spoons. But I do still have my
childhood egg plate: an artist's palette-shaped ceramic dish, with an
indentation for the egg, another for salt, and plenty of space for the
toast soldiers.
Sheesh, this whole thing is just getting too much for me -- I have to
go boil and egg and make toast now.
Seriously.
thanks for the memories and dinner,
Stephanie |
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Ted Schuerzinger
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 1:08 am
Post subject: Re: Toast Soldiers - non-standard usage? |
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Somebody claiming to be "TsuiDF" <stephanie.mitchell@chello.be> wrote in
news:1129572615.074689.54810@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
| Quote: | Ted Schuerzinger wote:
I'm on the left side of the Pond, and I've never heard of "toast
soldiers".
You have my deepest sympathy. But it's never too late to start...
|
My preferred toast and egg combination is French toast. Yum....
--
Ted <fedya at bestweb dot net>
Oh Marge, anyone can miss Canada, all tucked away down there....
--Homer Simpson |
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Frances Kemmish
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 2:24 am
Post subject: Re: Toast Soldiers - non-standard usage? |
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TsuiDF wrote:
| Quote: |
WIWAL we didn't have no silver spoons. But I do still have my
childhood egg plate: an artist's palette-shaped ceramic dish, with an
indentation for the egg, another for salt, and plenty of space for the
toast soldiers.
|
I don't remember having soldiers with my eggs as a child. I remember
that my brother used to chop off the top of his egg, whereas I liked to
pick the shell off the top the egg, and then cut into it with my spoon.
I know that I was extremely particular about my egg, as I couldn't stand
any hard yolk, or runny white (my friend Helen used to call that 'snot').
I don't have any real recollection of the word "soldiers" to refer to
strips of bread until the first time I stayed with my husband's family.
It seemed like an exotic foreign custom, although I suppose that we were
the foreigners, since my mother was Dutch.
I remember my mother telling me that she had once served boiled eggs to
an American guest, who was surprised to see them served in egg cups.
More exotic foreign customs.
Fran |
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Harvey Van Sickle
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 2:30 am
Post subject: Re: Toast Soldiers - non-standard usage? |
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On 17 Oct 2005, Frances Kemmish wrote
-snip-
| Quote: | I don't have any real recollection of the word "soldiers" to refer
to strips of bread until the first time I stayed with my husband's
family. It seemed like an exotic foreign custom, although I
suppose that we were the foreigners, since my mother was Dutch.
I remember my mother telling me that she had once served boiled
eggs to an American guest, who was surprised to see them served in
egg cups. More exotic foreign customs.
|
I first visited Germany (Bavaria) in the mid 1970s. At the hotel, the
boiled eggs were served, hot but already shelled, in a glass.
That was exotic to me: I'd never had them served that way before (or
since).
--
Cheers, Harvey
Canadian (30 years) and British (23 years)
For e-mail, change harvey.news to harvey.van |
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Don Phillipson
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 2:43 am
Post subject: Re: Toast Soldiers - non-standard usage? |
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"Skitt" <skitt99@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:b6idnS1y_v-Cbs7eRVn-vg@comcast.com...
| Quote: | My soft-boiled egg was placed in an engraved silver egg cup, and I ate it
using an engraved silver spoon of a special size.
|
This was martyrising yourself to whichever fashion maven
gave the child these ornaments. The sulphur in egg yolks
reacts with silver so fast you can actually taste the results
(undesirably.)
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada) |
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