The Underrated Bread Jacques Pépin Loves In The Morning, Noon, Or Night

One of Jaques Pépin's all-time favorite foods is English muffins. The legendary French chef has spoken about his affinity for the versatile bread, a breakfast staple in many households, on a number of occasions over the years. In fact, Pépin likes to eat a half coated with jam for breakfast sometimes. But he has also been known to use English muffins in unexpected ways. 

For instance, the prolific cookbook author showed viewers of his "Cooking at Home" series (via YouTube) how to make an open-faced English muffin sandwich for lunch. Named for his wife, Gloria, who likes to make it the savory snack, it featured tomatoes, anchovy fillets, sweet onions, and mozzarella piled atop English muffins that have been toasted several times. Pépin also has a recipe for burgers in which he swaps classic buns for English muffins. He notes that he usually toasts the yeast-leavened bread featuring a crater-like appearance inside twice because he likes them to be "nice and brown." 

British expat Samuel Bath Thomas developed a version of the English crumpet while working in the bakery he opened in New York City in 1880. Thomas originally called his invention — a drier, flatter version of English crumpets, with holes on the inside instead of on top — a toaster crumpet. It wasn't until 1894 that the term "English muffin" was adopted. 

The griddle-cooked bread, often used in eggs Benedict, is renowned for its "nooks and crannies," a phrase that became popular due to a Thomas' advertising campaign in the late 1970s and 1980s. The "nooks and crannies" refer to the textured interior boasting air pockets and grooves perfect for holding jam, butter, garlic, mayo, and runny egg yolks. Meanwhile, its hearty exterior provides optimal support for sandwich ingredients or mini English muffin pizzas. Really, there's nothing not to like about this underrated bread.