ONE OF LIFE'S GRAND PLEASURES: THE FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST

1/6/2014

Full English breakfast

Dear Anglophiles: I wish all of you a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year! If you're like me, you've had time to make New Year's resolutions--and break them. (Especially any resolution pertaining to calorie restriction!) If, perchance, one of the bullet points on your resolution list included "Enjoy life more," "Succumb to hedonism," or "Embrace my gastronomic nature," then I have a treat for you! In the video below, chef Neil Colston instructs us on how to make a full English Breakfast. Enjoy!

P.S. In defense of the full English breakfast's calorie count, I must point out that the meal is very high in protein, and protein offers a higher satiety level than carbs or fat. Therefore, after gorging on a full English breakfast, you won't be hungry again for a long, looong time. In fact, the breakfast may well carry you until high tea at five!

INGREDIENTS FOR FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST

Eggs
Blood sausage ("black pudding")
Pork sausage
Smoked ham or bacon
Crusty bread
Hash browns
Baked beans
Tomatoes
Mushrooms
English Breakfast tea
Orange juice
HP sauce

Go to: BRITISH FOOD
Go to: BRITISH TEA CUSTOMS
Go to: BRITISH DRINKS
Go to: HOMEPAGE

6 Comments

Peter M.

1/6/2014 09:51:23 am

Blood sausage? Really? Must be a regional thing. VERY regional.

Zella link

1/7/2014 06:18:35 am

England is the only place I've ever found blood sausage to sample it (not all that bad, I didn't think!), but I do agree: Including it with a full-English breakfast might be a bit of a stretch. On the other hand, if a restaurant did include it, I'm sure I would think: "Well! Doesn't get more British than this!" It's a foodstuff I've never seen here in the States.

Peter M.

1/8/2014 10:53:17 pm

There are one or two other items in the video I'd take issue with. Chef Colston mentioned 'Continental' sausage. Would that be bratwurst? For a true British breakfast, only true British sausages will do. He also uses 'hash brown' potatoes instead of chips, which latter I believe are analagous with American 'steak fries'. I'd describe them as sort of chubby French fries. A reasonable alternative would be 'pan fries'; parboiled potatoes, sliced into 'discs', then fried. And perhaps a true Brit would consider this heresy, but after many years in the US I much prefer the slightly darker, more savory sauce of American 'vegetarian beans'. However, given that the type of haricots in baked beans are essentially American, (and for some reason difficult to cultivate in Britain), one could argue that the more anaemic British sauce is the heresy.

Perhaps it is I who am the more 'regional' than those who enjoy blood sausage. I grew up in the East Anglia of the 40s thru the 60s, and certainly had heard of black pudding, though never encountered it. My first taste of it was on a ranch in Argentina in the late 60s. One mouthful was all I could bear. Since then I've seen it occasionally in ethnic sections of American supermarkets: German blutwurst; and Argentinian morcilla.

Peter M.

1/8/2014 10:53:36 pm

Peter M.

1/8/2014 11:08:43 pm

Apologies. Site said there was a problem uploading reply, so I hit send again, and now see there was no problem after all.

Zella link

1/15/2014 01:56:02 am

Peter, your knowledge impresses me! The chef is from Australia, so I imagine his interpretation of the full English breakfast may differ from the true Englishman's. I should add: When I drag out of bed in the morning and eye my scrawny bowl of oatmeal, I would gladly chow down with either (or any) version of the F.E.B.! The meal seems intended to get one through a long day; whereas I tend to treat breakfast as "a little something to get me through to lunch." (No problem about the repeat--I,too, have encountered that problem on occasion!)

ONE OF LIFE'S GRAND PLEASURES: THE FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST

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