The Full Monty
The Full English Breakfast, or fry up, is one of those traditions in the UK that most people will be familiar with, from truck drivers in greasy spoon cafes to high-flying business people in swanky hotels, even little kids are bought up knowing about the hearty breakfast.
The majority of British hotels, restaurants, canteens and cafes usually offer a Full English on a breakfast menu, usually served up until 10.30 in the morning – unless offered as an All Day Breakfast – and these are mostly served either as a set menu with options or a served buffet.
So, I hear you ask – or at least Dan did – what goes in to a Full English?
Well, this is both an easy and hard question to answer, there isn’t really a definitive guide to the traditional fry up, but there are some common elements, for example they nearly always feature bacon and eggs, whether these be fried, scrambled or poached.
Accompanying pieces usually include toast or fried bread, sausages, black pudding, tomatoes (fried, grilled or tinned), mushrooms (fried, grilled or tinned; whole or sliced), baked beans, sautéd potatoes or hash browns, and a range of condiments (most commonly brown sauce or tomato ketchup).
For the longest time department stores and some supermarkets have served breakfasts in their cafes that usually work on the basis of serving to a set limit of items, and allowing the customer to choose. For example, our local BHS shop has a restaurant that allows you to choose a breakfast in four sizes 3 (childrens), 5, 8, and 10 items, all served with an extra piece of (usually burnt) toast.
Their list tends to offer:
So, the combinations can be quite different between people as their tastes differ. The typical difference between my brother and I, is that he’ll tend to go for fried eggs whereas I’ll flee from it, meanwhile I’ll choose black pudding and watch his face scrunch up.
(Top, mine. Bottom, his)
FIRST!!!!
I’ve always wanted to do that…
Curse you FM! I wanted to be first!! All kidding aside minus the baked beans (who eats beans for breakfast?) and the black pudding (sorry Guise, I love ya like a brother but ewww!) that looks pretty tasty! I gotta go with your brother though, fried eggs for breakfast are just tasty! And curse you too Guise, after reading this I am now starving!
Oh and YAY!!! New post!!! Woo Hoo!!
I see a few items there I’d eat, the breakfast ones.
High Protein and greasy breakfasts are the best hangover cure. I’m thinking the Full English is full of win for my swimming head!!!
It’s the kind of thing I’d like to eat while looking over a henge on an early misty morn’.
How did I miss this post?!
I really dig black pudding, or as its called ’round these parts, blood pudding.
but seriously how did I miss this post, I think you even told me about it on IM, *sigh.
Black pudding = gross.. How can you eat that crap? You forgot White Pudding whatever the hell that is. I vaguely remember seeing it on a menu once and thinking ugh.. Fried eggs are the awesome for breakfast and your brothers breakfast looks like the perfect cure for a hangover. Something about grease negating the effects of alcohol.
I did notice some danish bacon there, funny that I can’t get that in the US. Bacon sammiches just aren’t the same =(
Dammit now I am hungry.
Oh btw guisey. Email me because I lost your contact details.
I think the sausage and hash browns is all I could eat. I don’t like eggs, tomato, or mushrooms…I’m so picky. And the other food I could probably eat sporadically at most.
Hi, by the way. I’m new at checking out your blog. I’ve seen you on Dan’s, Josh’s and dohopoki’s blogrolls so thought I’d come by and check it out.
DC don’t let him scare you away, Guise isn’t nearly as bas as he seems in some of his posts (ok he really is butI have to say nice things about Guise or he’ll kill a kitten, seriously! I’ve seen him do it!) All kidding aside Guise cracks me up (when he actually posts that is!
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Hey DC and welcome, please make yourself at home and I hope you enjoy yourself. It’s always good to see a new face!
Thanks Dan, um, I think. But I’m not really that bad, I’m just misunderstood! I swear! As for beans, they tend to go with everything, I’m told (though only Heinz, most other beans are just yucky). Fried eggs just always seem to be like solid slime to me, at least scrambled eggs are fluffy. I like fluffy.
Josh, some places here do call it blood pudding, but for some reason that doesn’t seem to help market it. Why they can’t just call it ‘congealed butchering byproduct’ pudding, I don’t know.
Tay, you’ve got mail!
You know I love ya Guise, if I didn’t I wouldn’t stop by to harass you as much as I do!