Mrs Beeton's salt and pepper toast sandwich is UK's 'cheapest lunch'

Britain's 'cheapest' lunchtime meal has been unveiled by scientists - the toast sandwich. The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is reviving the mid-Victorian dish, which, unsurprisingly, consists of two slices of bread around a slice of toast. The society is so confident in the repast, it will offer £200 to anyone who can create a cheaper alternative.



The meal, costing 7.5 pence, was created by Victorian food writer Mrs Beeton. It is taken from Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management which became a best-seller after its appearance 150 years ago next month. To celebrate that anniversary, the RSC decided to focus on meals that reflected "stern days" to come in Britain, rather than one of the book's many "table-groaning creations".

The meal was recreated by a chef at the RSC on Wednesday and offered to people outside their London offices. The RSC's Dr John Emsley said: "You simply put a piece of dry toast between two slices of bread and butter, with salt and pepper to taste. I've tried it and it's surprisingly nice to eat and quite filling. I would emphasise that toast sandwiches are also good at saving you calories as well as money, provided you only have one toast sandwich for lunch and nothing else."



The toast sandwich provides about 330 calories, and consumers could opt for the healthier alternative of margarine instead of butter - an ingredient not available to Mrs Beeton because she was writing before it was invented. RSC employee Jon Edwards said: "In my student days I thought a meal of '9p noodles' from Tesco was the epitome of thrift - but a toast sandwich is tastier, quicker, has more calories and comes in at just 7.5p."