How do you like your toast?

Yesterday I was sitting at table, waiting for my toast to get cool so that the butter didn't melt into it. That reminded me of another English ex-pat friend who came to stay during the summer. She did exactly the same thing, and told me how she got into trouble from a German friend who asked her to make toast and complained vehemently that it should have been hot. Or warm, at the very least. Not cold.

I guess the clue to the difference lies in the combo of bread and butter. Do you prefer your toast crisp and anointed with gleaming butter that provides a smooth contrast? Or do you like it soggy, soaked through so that the butter melds with the bread?

Toast itself is a question for me. Why do we do this? Is it simply to help the loaf along when it's getting soggy? I don't know. What I do know is that when I don't have access to toast, I miss it. This I discovered when I was a boarder at the Royal Ballet School, and later on, when I lived in residence at the University of Cape Town. Oh the delight to be back home and rediscover toast! A little deprivation can certainly enhance appreciation.