British Culture - The Great British Breakfast

The Full English Breakfast

You’re in the UK. You get up in the morning. You’re hungry. So, what do you have for breakfast? Well a full English breakfast of course!* Whether you’re a meat eater or a vegetarian there’s no better way to start the day than to have this sort of breakfast. Whilst it’s not a good idea to have it every day, having it once or twice while you’re here is fine and it does set you up for the day. But what exactly does this substantial dish consist of?

As mentioned above you can have a breakfast which comes with meat or not. Both types normally have some or even all of the following: fried eggs, baked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms and hashed browns. The meat version will also include bacon, sausages and possibly black pudding. This last food is not a pudding at all but is the British variation on ‘blood sausage’! The vegetarian dish will substitute meat sausages for vegetarian ones. Occasionally the breakfast will come with another very British food, bubble and squeak. This is a dish made from left over mashed potatoes and cabbage which has been combined and then fried. Accompanying this very full plate will be toast and butter, washed down with lots of tea or coffee.

The popularity of this dish means that many cafes, restaurants and pubs will offer a full English breakfast (it’s also simply called a ‘full English’ or a ‘fry up’) up to and including lunch time and some will even offer it as an all-day meal. Trendy cafes will offer ‘artisanal’ versions of the dish. If however you wish to get the full British experience, try to find a ‘greasy spoon’. This is not as the name suggests a very dirty piece of cutlery but instead a cheap cafe or restaurant which specialises in fried food.

Many eateries today will have a full English breakfast on their menu and normally at a very competitive price. Most places will also offer alternatives to the ‘full’ meal with just a few of the main ingredients. In some you can ask for your eggs to be cooked in a particular way: fried, scrambled or poached.

Whichever way you choose to have your full English breakfast, enjoy it!

*You can also get a ‘full Welsh’, a ‘full Scottish’ and a ‘full Irish’. There are regional variations as to what you will find on your plate, though the main ingredients are mostly the same.