| Revision as of 15:26, 25 October 2009 edit84.203.48.113 (talk)No edit summary← Previous edit | Revision as of 20:53, 28 October 2009 edit undoMidnightBlueMan (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users1,683 edits Undid revision 321950335 by 84.203.48.113 (talk)Next edit → | ||
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
| A '''full breakfast'''<ref>David Else, 2003, ''Britain'', Lonely Planet, ISBN 1740593383</ref> is a traditional cooked ], typically and originally eaten at ], though now often served at other times during the day. | A '''full breakfast'''<ref>David Else, 2003, ''Britain'', Lonely Planet, ISBN 1740593383</ref> is a traditional cooked ], typically and originally eaten at ], though now often served at other times during the day. | ||
| The full breakfast traditionally comprises several fried foods, usually including ] and ]s although there are vegetarian alternatives, and is popular throughout |
The full breakfast traditionally comprises several fried foods, usually including ] and ]s although there are vegetarian alternatives, and is popular throughout the ] and other parts of the English-speaking world. Depending on where it is served, it is called '''bacon and eggs''',<ref></ref> a '''fry''', a '''fry up''',<ref></ref> '''The Great British breakfast''',<ref></ref><ref></ref> a '''full English breakfast''', | ||
| a '''full (or traditional) Irish breakfast''', a '''full (or traditional) Scottish breakfast''', | a '''full (or traditional) Irish breakfast''', a '''full (or traditional) Scottish breakfast''', | ||
| a '''full Welsh breakfast'''<ref></ref> | a '''full Welsh breakfast'''<ref></ref> | ||
Revision as of 20:53, 28 October 2009
For the television program, see The Big Breakfast. "Irish breakfast" redirects here. For the type of tea, see Irish Breakfast tea. "English breakfast" redirects here. For the type of tea, see English Breakfast tea.
| Part of a series on |
| Meals |
|---|
 |
| Meals |
| Components and courses |
| Related concepts |
A full breakfast is a traditional cooked meal, typically and originally eaten at breakfast, though now often served at other times during the day.
The full breakfast traditionally comprises several fried foods, usually including bacon and eggs although there are vegetarian alternatives, and is popular throughout the British Isles and other parts of the English-speaking world. Depending on where it is served, it is called bacon and eggs, a fry, a fry up, The Great British breakfast, a full English breakfast, a full (or traditional) Irish breakfast, a full (or traditional) Scottish breakfast, a full Welsh breakfast or an Ulster Fry. The detailed composition of the breakfast varies from place to place. In Britain and Ireland, these cooked breakfasts are often advertised as "Traditional English Breakfast", or "Traditional Irish Breakfast" and so on, but there is very little about them that is truly traditional in the historical sense, as they are for the most part, a twentieth century concoction.
Origin
The original Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable calls it a Scotch breakfast and describes it as "a substantial breakfast of sundry sorts of good things to eat and drink."
"Bacon and eggs" as the name of the meal was popularised by Edward Bernays in the 1920s. To promote sales of bacon, he conducted a survey of physicians and reported their recommendations that people eat hearty breakfasts. He sent the results of the survey to 5,000 physicians, along with publicity touting bacon and eggs as a hearty breakfast.
Tradition
The term "full breakfast" is used to differentiate it from the simpler continental breakfast of tea, coffee and fruit juices with croissants or pastries.
All-day breakfast
Many cafés and pubs serve the meal at all hours as an "all-day breakfast". It can be accompanied by orange juice and tea or coffee or, in a pub, an alcoholic drink.
Typical ingredients
The ingredients of a fry-up vary according to region and taste. The rashers of bacon (sometimes described simply as "rashers", which is a synonym for "slices") and the eggs are usually fried, but grilled bacon, poached eggs, or scrambled eggs may be offered as alternatives. These are usually accompanied by toast or fried bread.
Some of the additional ingredients that may be included in (or served in addition to) a full breakfast are:
- fried bacon
- baked beans
- Fried Bread
- black pudding
- bubble and squeak
- chips
- condiments such as brown sauce and ketchup
- egg in the basket
- English muffins or scones
- French toast
- Fried, poached or scrambled egg
- Fruit pudding in Scotland
- grits in the Southern United States
- hash browns
- kippers
- fried mushrooms
- pancakes (in the USA, Canada, and Ireland)
- sautéd potatoes
- potato bread (also called "fadge" or tattie scone)
- butcher's sausages, sausage links or patties
- scrapple (in the Midatlantic US)
- soda bread
- fried, grilled, or tinned tomatoes
- white pudding
- Sliced sausage (also known as Lorne sausage or square sausage, popular in Scotland)
Regional variants
Full English breakfast
The normal ingredients of a traditional full English breakfast are bacon, eggs, fried or grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, fried bread or toast, baked beans and sausages, usually served with a mug of tea. Black pudding is added in some regions as well as fried leftover mashed potatoes (called Potato cakes). Originally a way to use up leftover vegetables from the main meal of the day before, bubble and squeak, shallow-fried leftover vegetables with potato, has become a breakfast feature in its own right. Baked beans (from a tin) and hash browns are modern additions.
When an English breakfast is ordered to contain everything available it is often referred to as a Full Monty. The OED states that "Perhaps the most plausible (explanation) is that it is from a colloquial shortening of the name of Montague Maurice Burton (1885-1952), men's tailor, and referred originally to the purchase of a complete three-piece suit".
Full Irish breakfast
In Ireland, as elsewhere, the exact constituents of a full breakfast vary, depending on geographical area, personal taste and cultural affiliation. Traditionally, the most common ingredients are bacon rashers, sausages, fried eggs, white pudding, black pudding, toast, sauteed, sliced potato, and fried tomato. Baked beans, grated cheddar cheese, and mushrooms are sometimes included, as well as liver (although popularity has declined in recent years), and brown soda bread. A full Irish breakfast is normally accompanied with a strong Irish Breakfast tea such as Barry's Tea, Lyons Tea, or Bewley's breakfast blend served with milk. Fried potato bread, farl, potato farl or toast is often served as an alternative to brown soda bread.
Ulster Fry
See also: Culture of Northern IrelandAn Ulster Fry is a dish similar to the Irish fry popular throughout Northern Ireland and the three counties of Ulster which lie in the Republic of Ireland (Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal).
A traditional Ulster Fry consists of bacon, eggs, sausages (either pork or beef), the farl form of soda bread (the farl split in half crossways to expose the inner bread and then fried with the exposed side down), sometimes Pancake and potato bread Other common components include mushrooms or wheaten bread. All this is traditionally fried.
The Ulster Fry is often served for lunch and dinner in households and cafés around the province. Emigrants have also popularised the serving of an Ulster Fry outside Northern Ireland.
Between 2001 and 2007 a BBC Two Northern Ireland station ID was used during these opt-outs and featured the BBC Two logo eating an Ulster Fry.
Full Scottish breakfast
In Scotland, the traditional breakfast is porridge, but the "Full Scottish Breakfast", along with the usual eggs, bacon and sausage, is usually differentiated by Scottish-style black pudding, haggis and tattie scones. In may also include fried tomato, baked beans, fruit pudding (also fried), and oatcakes. In some instances, the regular "link" sausage is replaced with square sliced sausage also known as Lorne sausage.
Full Welsh breakfast
The traditional Welsh breakfast includes laverbread, a seaweed purée which is then mixed with oatmeal, formed into patties and fried in bacon fat. Cockles are also often eaten.
North America
A full American breakfast consists of bacon, eggs, hash browns or home fries, toast or some other bread, fruit or juice, and coffee. It is often referred to as a "country breakfast" in many areas of the Midwestern United States. The terms "fry" and "full breakfast" are not generally used in North America, though hotels generally distinguish between a light "continental breakfast" and a hot, cooked breakfast.
In the Southern United States the meal is typically known as a "big breakfast" or "Sunday breakfast" and usually contains some combination of eggs, grits, toast or biscuits with white gravy, hash browns, potato pancakes or "breakfast potatoes", bacon, sausage, ham or steak, other meats such as scrapple or liver pudding, pancakes, cinnamon rolls or similar sweet pastries, all served with coffee and juice (usually orange or grapefruit).
In Canada, a full breakfast would be very similar to an American breakfast, but would sometimes contain Back bacon instead of strip bacon (although strip bacon is still common).
Central America
Ingredients include ham, sausage or bacon, eggs, much like a full breakfast elsewhere. A distinguishing feature is that fry jacks are also eaten. Fry jacks are fried pieces of dough, similar to beignets or sopapillas. Can also include items like toast, pancakes, or hashbrowns. Fresh orange juice is often added as a drink. Guatemala's version of the full breakfast includes fried plantains, tortillas, and refried black beans.
See also
References
- David Else, 2003, Britain, Lonely Planet, ISBN 1740593383
- Fried Rashers of Bacon and Poached Eggs Recipe - Mrs Beeton Revisited from The Foody
- BBC NEWS | UK | R.I.P. Full English Breakfast
- The Great British Breakfast
- The Great British Breakfast
- News Wales > Agriculture > Welsh breakfast in Brussels
- UKTV Food: Recipes: Ulster Fry and Steamed Fried Eggs
- "Freud's Nephew and the Origins of Public Relations". National Public Radio. April 22, 2005. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
Bernays used his Uncle Sigmund Freud's ideas to help convince the public, among other things, that bacon and eggs was the true all-American breakfast.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - Entry from OED Online - Series One - Oxford English Dictionary
- Traditional Irish Breakfast recipe from Food Ireland
- Traditional Irish Breakfast recipe from Barry's Tea
- BBC - h2g2 - Great International Breakfast Dishes
External links
- Ulster Fry and Eggs recipe
- Why the great British breakfast is a killer
- In-Depth site covering Irish Breakfasts in Ireland and elsewhere
- Site listing local fry-ups around the United Kingdom
