Full English/Irish/Scottish/Welsh Breakfast

[sunbeam]

The terrible addition of baked beans is I think known as the Torremelinos effect. The FEBs eaten by brits holidaying in spain are a mutation. I hear some people there consider a burger a welcome addition too

S

[the queneau]

The last time I ate breafast in Ireland there was also red pudding on offer, no idea what this is.

←

I think you're referring to the rather erroneously titled "Vegetable Roll", which is a mixture of beef sausage meat (brisket), vegetables (onions, carrots and leeks) and about 15 kilos of salt and white pepper.

Edited May 22, 2008 by the queneau (log)

[Simon_S]

The last time I ate breafast in Ireland there was also red pudding on offer, no idea what this is.

←

I think you're referring to the rather erroneously titled "Vegetable Roll", which is a mixture of beef sausage meat (brisket), vegetables (onions, carrots and leeks) and about 15 kilos of salt and white pepper.

←

Very strange. I've never seen or heard of such a thing. No loss, by the sound of things.

It did cross my mind that if you're doing an Irish breakfast and a fan of James Joyce, kidneys have got to feature...

ETA: Something just struck me -- you may not be aware that in Celtic Tiger Ireland, where nobody has time for a sit-down breakfast any more, the Jumbo Breakfast Roll is now ubiquitous in filling stations throughout the land. I'm almost loathe to post this as it makes me vaguely embarrassed to be Irish, but this might give a good indication of what a "real" breakfast is like over here:

Edited May 22, 2008 by Simon_S (log)

[Stephen_K]

The last time I ate breafast in Ireland there was also red pudding on offer, no idea what this is.

←

I think you're referring to the rather erroneously titled "Vegetable Roll", which is a mixture of beef sausage meat (brisket), vegetables (onions, carrots and leeks) and about 15 kilos of salt and white pepper.

←

Very strange. I've never seen or heard of such a thing. No loss, by the sound of things.

It did cross my mind that if you're doing an Irish breakfast and a fan of James Joyce, kidneys have got to feature...

ETA: Something just struck me -- you may not be aware that in Celtic Tiger Ireland, where nobody has time for a sit-down breakfast any more, the Jumbo Breakfast Roll is now ubiquitous in filling stations throughout the land. I'm almost loathe to post this as it makes me vaguely embarrassed to be Irish, but this might give a good indication of what a "real" breakfast is like over here:

←

Good god the embarrassment, I am no stranger to the guilty pleasure that is a breakfast roll.... This thread also reminded me of the odd (but very tasty) habit that my grandmother had of serving fried banana with a FB... Actually kinda works... has a sweet and sour thing going on. (I'm prepared for the flaming I'm going to get)

Edited May 22, 2008 by Stephen_K (log)

[CalumC]

Sausage

Bacon

Fried Egg

Grilled Tomato

Hash Brown

Fried Bread

Black Pudding

is it wrong to mention chips? Baked beans im not so sure about, but definitely brown sauce.

Toast and jam after too, needs a good cup of tea with it as well.

[FoodMuse]

Jumbo Breakfast Roll- sounds fantastic and bizarre. I want one. I love the video. Sent it along to my family. I don't understand your embarrassment from eating it. Doesn't every great culture need one really trashy dish. I guess as an American I have more than one to choose from.

CalumC

It is NEVER wrong to mention chips. Brown sauce doesn't sound very appetizing, never had it. Is it some beef broth thickened up and poured over everything?

Stephen_K

Achill boxty (potato cake made with raw potato) is another new one to me. I'm getting quite a brekkie education.

dougal

Thanks for the skirlie info. Sounds good.

The Old Foodie

What's with all the bread in those menus? I like to find old menus and recipes and cookbooks online.

Hot Buttered Toast

Dry Toast

Brown and White Bread and Butter AND

Bread and Milk

It seems a little excessive at the same meal.

[erica graham]

Brown sauce doesn't sound very appetizing, never had it. Is it some beef broth thickened up and poured over everything?

←

No HP type brown sauce, a ketchup style sauce, necessary with any cooked breakfast in our house.

http://www.hpsauce.com

!!

[Prawncrackers]

CalumC

It is NEVER wrong to mention chips. Brown sauce doesn't sound very appetizing, never had it. Is it some beef broth thickened up and poured over everything?

priceless

[FoodMuse]

Haha,

Just checked out the HP website. They list ingredients as malt vinegar, molasses and dates. Sounds good to me! No beef broth in site.

Grace

Edited May 23, 2008 by FoodMuse (log)

[CalumC]

beef broth sounds a lot like bovril, which is also known as devil juice. At least to me. Facking disgusting.

You've been given quite the breakfast education, its something of an institution so theres a lot of opinion.

[FoodMuse]

Tim Hayward

Thank you so much for your historical perspective. I never would have thought class issues would enter into this discussion. I suppose class is such a part of British life. Makes sense it would trickle down through the food chain (yes, terrible pun) Fascinating post.

[andiesenji]

I like HP sauce too. However, I give the edge to Daddie's Sauce which is just enough different for me to have an excuse to have them both on hand.

Edited May 23, 2008 by andiesenji (log)

[andiesenji]

Tim Hayward

Thank you so much for your historical perspective. I never would have thought class issues would enter into this discussion. I suppose class is such a part of British life. Makes sense it would trickle down through the food chain (yes, terrible pun) Fascinating post.

←

It is indeed interesting because of the social evolution that revolved around food in the first half of the last century.

Watching the characters in the film Gosford Park, while at breakfast, took me back to my childhood (not in the UK but in western Kentucky) in a house full of ex-pat Brits in the '40s.

During and after WWII my family shipped crates of stuff to family members living in the UK, most of it produced on the farm. In return, there was a steady stream of books, maps and other ephemera collected by various family members and left behind when they emigrated to the US in 1919.

In spite of my family members eating all the "wrong" things, fried, fatty and rich, many lived to extreme old age with all their faculties intact. My great-grandmother was born in 1844 and died in 1949 when I was ten, two months short of her 105th birthday.

Edited May 23, 2008 by andiesenji (log)

[camdan]

HP sauce is definitely necessary, and for a traditional Scottish angle you might want to throw in a deep fried Mars bar. For a continental twist, a slice of pizza crunch may be in order.

[The Old Foodie]

The Old Foodie

What's with all the bread in those menus?   I like to find old menus and recipes and cookbooks online.

Hot Buttered Toast

Dry Toast

Brown and White Bread and Butter  AND

Bread and Milk

It seems a little excessive at the same meal.

←

One has to have the choice, doesnt one? one never knows in advance what one might fancy at breakfast, does one? Besides, it keeps it simple for the Hired Help, does it not? One has to keep one's servants happy (not unhappy, at any rate), because it is so difficult to fine good replacements, is it not?

One didnt think one ate it ALL, did one?

[FoodMuse]

The Old Foodie

I see your point, One must keep all her toast options open.

camdan

Pizza Crunch? Is that deep fried pizza?

andiesenji

I really enjoyed hearing about your family. I'll have to rent Gosford Park again.

[camdan]

Battered and deep fried pizza. Distinct from the unbattered deep fried pizza and extra healthful.

[FoodMuse]

Battered Pizza. Sounds like a good reason to visit Scotland.

[Adam Balic]

Battered Pizza. Sounds like a good reason to visit Scotland.

←

Its not. Nor is the battered king rib. Battered haggis is good though as is the mealy pudding.

[SaladFingers]

A much simplified version of a cooked breakfast is championed here

http://russelldavies.typepad.com/eggbaconchipsandbeans/

I've eaten FEBs all my life until I read Russell's book and now eggs, bacon, chips and beans is my order. It's also nice to eat in a cafe rather than at home too.

A decent sized plate fills me till the evening.

Edited May 31, 2008 by SaladFingers (log)

[SBonner]

In regards to beverages:

Good strong Assam tea

Vintage bubbles i.e. Bollinger or Krug work well with a big English fry up.

SB

[Champagne Sadie]

This has to be the funniest thread in EG history.

It's left me speechless.

[The Old Foodie]

Some inspirational quotations on breakfast, to keep the ideas flowing:

To eat well in England, you should have a breakfast three times a day.

Somerset Maugham

Pooh and Piglet walked home thoughtfully together in the golden evening, and for a long time they were silent. “When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?” “What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?” “I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet. Pooh nodded thoughtfully. “It’s the same thing,” he said.

A A Milne

Experts say that Chardonnays have the flavors of fruit, butter, toast. Sounds like a good breakfast wine. Jack Mingo; Wannabe Guide To Wine

It takes some skill to spoil a breakfast - even the English can't do it. J K Galbraith.

But the breakfasts ! that's what redeems the land [scotland] — and every country has its own peculiar excellence. In Argyleshire you have the Lochfine herring, fat, luscious, and delicious, just out of the water, falling to pieces with its own richness — melting away like butter in your mouth. In Aberdeenshire, you have the Finnan haddo' with a flavour all its own, vastly relishing — just salt enough to be piquant, without parching you up with thirst. In Perthshire, there is the Tay salmon, kippered, crisp and juicy — a very magnificent morsel — a keltic, heavy, but that's easily counteracted by a teaspoonful of the Athole whisky. In other places, you have the exquisite mutton of the country made into hams of a most delicate flavour ; flour scones, soft and white ; oat-cake, thin and crisp ; marmalade and jams of every description ..

From Marriage: A novel, by Miss S Ferrier, 1847

What does this journey seem like to those who aren't British--as they head towards the land of embarrassment and breakfast? Julian Barnes; Flaubert's Parrot.

"What a breakfast! Pot of hare; ditto of trout; pot of prepared shrimps; tin of sardines; beautiful beefsteak; eggs, mutton, large loaf and butter, not forgetting capital tea. There's a breakfast for you! George Borrow; Wild Wales.

What? Sunday morning in an English family and no sausages? God bless my soul, what's the world coming to? Dorothy Sayers.

Edited May 31, 2008 by The Old Foodie (log)

[George]

HP sauce is definitely necessary, and for a traditional Scottish angle you might want to throw in a deep fried Mars bar. For a continental twist, a slice of pizza crunch may be in order.

←

HP is no longer on our breakfast table - having been a staple for 50 years.

It was made in Birmingham, not far from where I live, but the company was taken over and production moved to Holland.

House of Parliament sauce - made in the Netherlands? No longer on our shopping list.

[Jenni]

Old thread, but it bears reviving. I can't believe the attitude towards baked beans in this thread! Why, beans on toast with some mushrooms on the side (bacon as well for the non-veggies) is a minature English brekkie any day!