food

Matt Preston says this humble "bogan" food is back in style. We're cheering.

Put down your coffee in avocado, put back together your deconstructed salad and stop dehydrating your jus.

According to Matt Preston, the real food making waves this year is “as bogan as moccasins with a mullet” and “the best thing since sliced bread”.

Literally – it’s the humble white loaf.

The good stuff. Image: iStock

Demonised for decades, the Masterchef judge dedicated his weekly Delicious column to the carby goodness and pinpointed the rise of the gourmet toastie as the reason for its comeback.

"The fluffy white loaf of death is, of course, the only choice for the vast majority of toasties given how it crisps up and squishes in the sandwich press," he says.

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He's certainly not alone in his adoration of the starchy stuff. Pastry chef Darren Purchese's latest cookbook centres around bread (via the toastie) while chef Gaggan Anand of Bangkok's Gaggam - voted the 7th best restaurant in the world - told CNN bread and butter was the hottest food trend of 2017.

"Diners are getting tired of jellies and foams, and the fine dining market is saturated with chefs who forage, pickle and ferment,” he said.

Of course, this new found appreciation of a good ol' slice or four of white bread is nothing new to anyone with a taste for the finer offerings of Aussie cuisine.

Name any of our national dishes and they have all one thing in common - WHITE BREAD.

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Fairy bread.

Sausage Sizzles.

Vegemite on toast.

Parma (bread crumbs, obvs).

From snags to sprinkles, there's nothing it can't go with or do. It's the food equivalent of Wonder Woman.

The real hero. Image: iStock

But there's one glaring reason why white bread has been so looked down upon - its nutritional value (or general lack of).

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However, Preston argues white bread isn't pretending to be otherwise, so just like cake, chocolate or any other not-exactly-kale food we should enjoy it for what it is - " a magical, elastic aeration of sugars, fats, gums and rather more salt than we’d like to admit."

And far from being a bogan basic, when viewed this way it can be a little slice of luxury too.

So in a world of gluten-free, dairy-free, joy-free foods, let's all celebrate white bread's joyous return to being en vogue. In moderation, of course.

White bread - yay or nay? Tell us below.