food and history connected

Passport & Plate - Rabanada

Ingredients
1 baguette bread
3 eggs
1 can condensed milk
2 cup milk
Ground Cinnamon
Sugar

 

How to prepare this recipe
In a bowl, whisk together the milk, the condensed milk and the eggs.
Cut the bread into 2cm slices and soak into the mixture. In a pan with oil, fry this slices and then sprinkle sugar and cinnamon.

 

The story behind this recipe
I live in Carlos Barbosa, a small town in South Brazil. A region populated by descendants of Italian immigrants who arrived around 1880, running away from the hungry, poverty and war that ruled Europe. Most of them were farmers and they survived by eating what they planted. Their poverty and affliction were great and the food was few. Not even crumbs were wasted.
In these times, they had to do the meals to their large families with just a few ingredients and for this task, the creativity of the housewives was tested.
By reusing the food, new dishes were created and that's how the rabanada appeared, which is a desert created to reuse old bread.
This recipe is actually from Portugal, but it came to my region through the Italians immigrants. My great-grandmother was one of them, and she taught this recipe to her daughters, and it was passed from generation to generation. I learned with my grandma (which we kindly call ‘nonna’), cause even though she was not so poor, it has become a tradition and we usually do on Christmas Eve.
Over time, the recipe has changed. My great-grandmother used to prepare just with eggs and milk. Nowadays we add condensed milk, cinnamon and everything else that we think it will turn it into a delicious desert.