SPREADTHEWORD

“NO MATTER HOW BAD THINGS GET, it’s impossible not to love someone who made you toast.” Not my words, the words of one of my food heroes, Nigel Slater, who named his heartbreaking memoir Toast after what, IMHO, is one of the most comforting, most perfect foods.

Show me someone who doesn’t like toast and I’ll show you a sad, deprived shell of a human being. There’s a reason avo toast went viral, and it’s not because of a Gwyneth Paltrow blog. It’s a fast, easy meal, for sure, but toast can also be powerfully nostalgic as the ultimate comfort food. When we had stomach bugs as children, my mother – like so many South African moms – would make us Marmite toast. My lovely friend, Inga, who now lives too far away, introduced me to the sweet-savoury genius of peanut butter and sliced tomato on toast. I think of her whenever I eat it.

On a trip to Spain I fell hard for pan con tomate, the Catalonian breakfast staple of toasted bread rubbed with a cut tomato and seasoned with olive oil and salt, and my favourite spring dinner-party starter

“FROM 7 NOVEMBER YOU’LL BE ABLE TO WATCH TASTE COOKS AND SPECIAL GUESTS IN ACTION EVERY WEEK ON TASTETUBE”

is UK chef Skye Gyngell’s bruschetta with ricotta, lemon, smashed peas and crispy pancetta, a version of which Abi shot for this month’s cover (p 22).

Everyone has a favourite way to eat toast. Abi likes hers cold with cold butter. Our chief copy editor, Lynda, has two medium boiled eggs on a slice of toasted Berliner landbrot every single morning.

My current favourite is Woolworths’ new aged black-rind Cheddar with tomato and black pepper on their sliced sourdough. Yes, I buy sliced sourdough. I have a toddler; I leave the baking from scratch to my prodigious brother-in-law, John, who likes his toast with sardines. My sister, the one-of-a-kind, pizzaloving, Agatha Christie nerd, Romy, likes toasted low-GI bread with peanut butter and banana. She says she sometimes goes to bed thinking about eating it in the morning, so I tried it once. I’m sticking with cheese.

I remember watching an episode of legendary British cook Delia Smith’s TV show on which she was demonstrating how to make toast. I was appalled. Showing people how to make toast?

Then I grew up and realised that I wasn’t right about everything and when I make toast I still make a little teepee with two slices, as Delia did, so the warm toast doesn’t sweat on the board and get soggy. It was a good tip. What made it memorable is that I had watched her doing it.

At TASTE, we’re in the business of bringing you great tips, genius recipes and cooking advice in print and online, so it was only a matter of time before we invited you to watch.

We’ve also been making food videos for a few years, with our crack team of videographers, but this month we take it to the next level with the launch of our dedicated food channel – TASTETube.

This is an epic moment for a 15-yearold magazine on the cusp of YouTube fame. From 7 November, you’ll be able to watch TASTE cooks, special guests and our food director, Abigail, in action every week. Expect behind-the-scenes honesty, kitchen fails (it happens) and the kind of advice that could change the way you cook. We may even show you how to make toast ;)