Full English Deconstructed

England is always on my mind, no matter whether I’m charging my FitBit or baking bread.  When I first moved to England, I baked bread every week.  We never had store bought.  I didn’t work my first year in Harrogate as I was waiting on my security clearance to go through.  I became an expert baker and knitter during that time!

As a takeoff on baking, I’m coming to you today to discuss the “Full English”.  The English are VERY proud of their breakfasts (well deserved, I might add).  They even have an English Breakfast Society (yes, really!).  See www.englishbreakfastsociety.com.

When I post a picture of my lowly biscuits and gravy with scrambled egg, my English friends respond with:

Left to right: English bacon, beans on toast, hash browns, egg with HP sauce, bangers (sausages), sautéed mushrooms, stewed tomatoes, and black pudding (which probably won’t be on your plate if you’re eating in Southern England).  Not shown is a rack of toast.

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English bread, strangely enough, is different than American bread.  If you buy bread in the markets of the UK, bread loaves are larger and the slices thinner than American bread.

When toast arrives on your breakfast table at a B&B, it arrives in a slice holder like this:

As an American, it seemed strange to me to use this sort of apparatus which would cool your toast off instantly (doesn’t everyone want warm toast?).  I’ve since come to appreciate the aesthetics of a toast rack, though I don’t use one at home, myself.

Back to English breakfast (or breakie).

At one B&B, my host assured me that something called “Marmite” would be quite tasty on my toast.

It wasn’t.  The stuff should be sent to warring nations who would be too busy making funny faces to offload bombs at each other.

Needless to say, I prefer jam.  Speaking of jam!  The English have no equivalent to our jelly.  What they call jelly is what we call jello.

"Jelly" Courtesy of Anne Putnam at Linzers in London

Their bacon is much closer to Canadian bacon.  The rashers are thick and ham-like.  Not at all like our crunchy strips.

And, my first brush with bangers was not really awesome.  Many brands are so full of filler, the sausage tastes like sand (though I’ve actually been able to find one or two sausages that were edible).  That is, before I turned pescatarian.

When ordering your eggs, be aware that the English probably won’t understand “over medium” or “over easy”.  They make eggs either scrambled, poached, or sunnyside up.  Sunnyside up eggs are made by placing an egg in a frying pan and basting with hot grease or oil.

We’ll see what you think of the next bit of Englishness which is “Beans on Toast”.  I was mortified when I first saw this concoction.  In fact, I still haven’t really gotten over it, and I typically don’t eat it when I’m there.  Beans on toast are a mixture of beans, tomatoes, water, sugar, vinegar, cornflour, salt, spice and herb extracts.  They taste a lot like our pork n beans (without the pork).  They are suitable for vegetarians.

Mushrooms will be sautéed in oil, butter, and sometimes garlic.  Tomatoes are cut in half, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and baked for about 10-15 minutes.

You’ll see territorial differences in your breakfasts such as black pudding in the North (basically, congealed blood sausage).

Or cockles and laverbread (seaweed) in Wales (would that make it a “Full Welsh Breakfast”?)

As you can see, the variety is as endless as the chefs cooking for you!

As to whether I prefer a Full English to an American breakfast, well, it just depends on the day.  Sometimes, I would love to see a few vegetables on my plate and a happy egg.  Sometimes, it’s just biscuits and gravy at Dan’s in Austin, TX.