Auguste Escoffier  has been called the greatest chef of the 20th century and among his many accomplishments is the creation of Melba Toast. Actually, however, according to Escoffier's biographer, it didn't start out as "Melba" toast.  The story goes like this. Escoffier was a great friend of Cesar Ritz,   the renowned Swiss innkeeper, and he was visiting Ritz and his wife in England sometime in the late 1880's while the Paris Ritz Hotel was being planned.  Mrs. Ritz happened to mention that toast never seemed thin enough for her. Not one to neglect a culinary challenge, Escoffier grilled a piece of toast, split it in half and grilled it again.  Marie Ritz was delighted, and Escoffier referred to it as "Toast Marie."

A few years later, while Escoffier was employed as Maitre Chef at The Savoy Hotel in London, where Cesar Ritz was now Manager, the Australian soprano Nellie Melba was staying at the hotel.   Escoffier, eager to please his famous guest, noticed that her diet included toast.  Recalling his recent creation, he prepared the ultra-thin grilled bread and re-named it "Melba Toast" for the opera singer.  Since that time many other dieters, most of them neither famous nor spectacularly talented, have used Melba toast as a way to cut calories and as a platform for snacks, hors d'oeuvres and dips.

Marie didn't seem to mind losing the privilege of having her name associated with crispy crumbly bread, because pleasing the rich and famous was as important to her as it was to her husband and Auguste Escoffier.  In fact, after Cesar's death, it fell to Marie to manage the Ritz Hotel in Paris. Today, this luxury hotel is also the home of
the Ritz-Escoffier School of Gastronomy.

In case you are wondering whether diet toast is enough of a tribute to a woman who was a superstar in her own time, consider that not only did she become a Dame of the British Empire, but even now, nearly seventy years since she circled the globe making so many farewell performances that in Australia there is a phrase for such things -- "doing a Melba,"-- her picture appears on the Australian one hundred dollar bill.  Furthermore, Escoffier created another famous dish for her, and that is Peach Melba, a beautiful and rich dessert, which features, you guessed it, Melba Sauce.

For a variation on the traditional Melba Toast, you might enjoy trying the following recipe from Gourmet Magazine, published in February 1990.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1/8 teaspoon dried dill, crumbled
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
4 slices of homemade-style white bread

In a small bowl stir together the butter, the dill, the thyme, and salt and pepper to taste.
Roll each slice of bread as thin as possible with a rolling pin and trim and discard the crusts. Brush both sides of the bread with the butter mixture, cut each slice diagonally into 2 triangles, and bake the triangles on a baking sheet in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven, turning them once, for 15 minutes, or until they are browned lightly and crisp. Let the toasts cool on the rack.

Serves 2.

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Who Cooked That Up? is copyrighted 2000 by J.J. Schnebel
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