BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS: THE FULL ENGLISH
Post by Judith Schrut - email Judith
To eat well in England you should have breakfast three times a day, according to writer Somerset Maugham. The Full English is the world's most famous breakfast and the only one named after a country. Also known as ‘the Fry Up‘ and ‘the Full Monty‘, this enormous, traditional morning meal, I must warn you, is not for the fainthearted, for those watching their cholesterol or for eating every day of the week. Nowadays your average Brit is likely to limit intake of The Full English to a special treat on weekends or holidays.
It's a meal which will keep you full for the entire day and, according to The Breakfast Bible requires key components of eggs, bacon, sausages, grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, black pudding, baked beans, plenty of toast with jam or marmalade, ideally washed down by triple strength mugs of tea. Optional add-ons include porridge, potatoes, kippers, bubble and squeak and, if you dare, lashings of deep fried bread. In Victorian times, when British breakfast took pride of place on the menu, you might also find hashed mutton, kidney omelette, tongue and guinea fowl in jellied aspic. Calories? What calories?
Nowadays you can eat your way round the country on The Full English, as it's easily found in every town, village, hotel and farmhouse bed and breakfast. A few scrumptious options in London include Hawksmoor, Bill’s, The Regency Cafe and The Wolseley; outside the capital I've heard great things about The Market Diner in Brighton ('Home of the Original Gutbuster'), Cafe Al Fresco in Dartmouth and Tebay Motorway Services near the Lake District.
And if you'd like to know more about The Full English, I recommend you to the London Review of Breakfasts. Here you'll find frank, reliable and frequently sidesplitting reviews from dedicated breakfasteers like Chris P. Bacon, Malcolm Eggs, Salmon De Beauvoir, Homefries Bogart and Rhys Chris-Peese.
The Hawksmoor, with four London locations: Seven Dials, Spitalfields, Air Street & Guildhall. Visit thehawksmoor.com
The London Review of Breakfasts londonreviewofbreakfasts.blogspot.co.uk
