The Toast Sandwich

It is not the most elaborate sandwich ever created - toast between bread and bread – but the Royal Society of Chemistry believes there isn’t a cheaper meal in Britain.

The RSC has recreated the toast sandwich (featuring salt and pepper), first promoted by the celebrated Mrs Beeton in her cook book published 150 years ago next month.

So confident is the society that it has come up with the cheapest meal in the country that it is offering £200 to the first person who can prove them wrong by devising a more economical - but edible - lunchtime meal.

The toast sandwich is taken from Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management which became a best-seller after its appearance a century and a half ago in 1861.

Planning an anniversary feature for its website, the RSC had combed the tome for recipes reflecting her astonishing range, which also addressed meals for less well-off Victorians.

Dr John Emsley, of the RSC, said:

"We could have gone for one of the thousands of recipes that Mrs Beeton employed, most of them being table-groaning creations full of meats.

"But, given the stern days we are yet to experience, we decided to go for an unknown dish that requires little money and little time, and which she devised to cater for less well-off people.

"You simply put a piece of dry toast between two slices of bread and butter, with salt and pepper to taste. I've tried it and it's surprisingly nice to eat and quite filling.

"I would emphasise that toast sandwiches are also good at saving you calories as well as money, provided you only have one toast sandwich for lunch and nothing else.

"The RSC decided to promote Mrs Beeton's toast sandwich because it might just be what we need to get us through the harsh economic times that are forecast.

"Nor need you use butter; margarine will do just as well. That option was not open to Mrs Beeton because she was writing a few years before margarine was invented. That was first produced in France in 1869.

"Of course, when we finally emerge from these dark days we will seek something more celebratory from Mrs Beeton's pantheon of rich recipes to welcome back the good times."

RSC employee Jon Edwards adds: "In my student days I thought a meal of '9p noodles' from Tesco was the epitome of thrift - but a toast sandwich is tastier, quicker, has more calories and comes in at just 7.5p.

"Maybe more students should turn to Mrs Beeton for meals on the cheap."

RECIPE

Mrs Beeton's Toast Sandwich

Toast a thin slice of bread.

Butter two slices of bread and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Place the slice of toast between the 2 slices of bread-and-butter to form a sandwich.

Nutrition: 3 slices of white bread = 240 Calories. Butter = 10 g = 90 Calories