Lovely piece Vidya, and fascinating to learn about the variations. I recently wrote about tinned fish and the South Asian diaspora, and it was interesting to read about tinned fish toasties. I think the handheld, straight on the fire version has more history than just the street, though that's where it now survives. We certainly used it at home in the 1970s, not least because electricity was erratic and those compressed, slightly scorched corners were a particular delight. It has a considerable history under different names - pie iron, flying saucer and jaffle, in Australia, where it's particularly popular.
Vikram, thank you for reading and commenting! I did go down the rabbit hole of the pie iron, the jaffle maker, and so on — unfortunately, I couldn’t accommodate all of that research into this piece :)
love this! i’ve already had a cheese and onion toastie using a machine that’s been in the family way longer than I have (I’m talking decades).
Might put some of last night’s curry in my toastie for lunch…
The toastie recipe book, would seem to be an idea whose time has arrived
Lovely piece Vidya, and fascinating to learn about the variations. I recently wrote about tinned fish and the South Asian diaspora, and it was interesting to read about tinned fish toasties. I think the handheld, straight on the fire version has more history than just the street, though that's where it now survives. We certainly used it at home in the 1970s, not least because electricity was erratic and those compressed, slightly scorched corners were a particular delight. It has a considerable history under different names - pie iron, flying saucer and jaffle, in Australia, where it's particularly popular.
Vikram, thank you for reading and commenting! I did go down the rabbit hole of the pie iron, the jaffle maker, and so on — unfortunately, I couldn’t accommodate all of that research into this piece :)
this was such an interesting read! and totally made me hungry for some toasties, might have to try making one at home myself :0
Very clever and thoughtful x
Is this satire Mark?