Full breakfast

A full breakfast is a substantial cooked breakfast meal, often served in the United Kingdom and Ireland, that typically includes bacon, sausages, eggs, black pudding, baked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast, and a beverage such as coffee or tea. It appears in different regional variants and is referred to by different names depending on the area. While it is colloquially known as a "fry-up" in most areas of the United Kingdom and Ireland, it is usually referred to as a "full English" (often "full English breakfast"),[2] a "full Irish", "full Scottish",[3] "full Welsh",[4] and "Ulster fry",[5] in England, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, respectively.

"Full English" redirects here. For other uses, see The Full English.
"Bacon and eggs" redirects here. For other uses, see Eggs and bacon.

The full English breakfast often consists of bacon, fried egg, sausage, mushrooms, baked beans, toast, and grilled tomatoes, and is accompanied by tea or coffee.[1]
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History and popularity

On its origin, Country Life magazine states, "The idea of the English breakfast as a national dish goes right back to the 13th century and the country houses of the gentry. In the old Anglo-Saxon tradition of hospitality, households would provide hearty breakfasts for visiting friends, relatives and neighbours".[6] The fried breakfast became popular in Great Britain and Ireland during the Victorian era, and appears as one among many suggested breakfasts in home economist Isabella Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861). Its popularity soared post–World War II and became a staple of the working class.[7] The protein-centric full breakfast is often contrasted (e.g. on hotel menus) with the lighter, carbohydrate-based alternative of a continental breakfast.

It is so popular in Great Britain and Ireland that many cafes and pubs offer the meal at any time of day as an "all-day breakfast". It is also popular in many Commonwealth nations. The full breakfast is among the most internationally recognised British dishes along with bangers and mash, shepherd's pie, fish and chips, roast beef, Sunday roast, cream tea and the Christmas dinner.[8]

United Kingdom and Ireland
"Full English breakfast" redirects here. For the tea, see English breakfast tea.
"Irish breakfast" redirects here. For the tea, see Irish breakfast tea.

The "traditional" full breakfast[9] in the UK and Ireland includes back bacon[10] (or more rarely, streaky bacon),[11][12][13] sausage links (usually pork), eggs (fried, poached or scrambled), fried or grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms and fried bread. Black pudding and baked beans are also frequently included.[14][15] Buttered toast, and jam or marmalade, are often served at the end of the meal, although toast is generally available throughout the meal.[16] In recent years, hash browns have become a popular inclusion.[17] Breakfast cereal or porridge often precedes the breakfast dish.

As nearly everything is fried in this meal, it is commonly known as a "fry-up". In the UK it is sometimes referred to as a "Full Monty". One theory for the origin of this term is that British Army general Bernard Montgomery, nicknamed 'Monty', was said to have started every day with a "Full English" breakfast while on campaign in North Africa during the Second World War.[18][19]

England
The British cafe (such as this one in Islington, London, with a "breakfast served all day" sign) typically serves the full breakfast throughout the day

A full breakfast in England can include bubble and squeak, but this is rare.

In the North Midlands, fried or grilled oatcakes sometimes replace fried bread.

Ireland
A full Irish breakfast

In Ireland, brown soda bread, fried potato farls, white pudding and boxty are often included.[20]

The "breakfast roll",[21] consisting of elements of the full breakfast served in a French roll, has become popular in Ireland due to the fact it can be easily eaten on the way to school or work.[21] The breakfast roll is available from many petrol stations and corner shops throughout Ireland.[21]

Ulster
An Ulster fry served in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The potato bread is under the eggs, with the soda bread (soda farl) at the bottom.

In Ulster, the northern province in Ireland, the "Ulster fry" variant is popular throughout most of the province (chiefly in Northern Ireland and parts of County Donegal), where it is eaten not only at breakfast time but throughout the day. Typically it will include soda bread farls and potato bread.[22]

Scotland
A similar Scottish alternative

Distinctively Scottish elements of the full breakfast include Scottish style or Stornoway black pudding, Lorne sausage (sometimes called "square sausage" for its traditional shape), Ayrshire middle bacon and tattie scones. Occasionally haggis, white pudding, fruit pudding[23] or oatcakes are included.[24][25][26]

Early editions of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable referred to a Scotch breakfast as "a substantial breakfast of sundry sorts of good things to eat and drink".[27]

Wales

Two key ingredients that distinguish the Welsh breakfast from the other "full" variations are cockles (Welsh: cocs) and laverbread (Welsh: bara lafwr or bara lawr) (a seaweed purée often mixed with oatmeal and fried).[28] Fried laver with cockles and bacon was the traditional breakfast for mine workers in the South Wales Coalfield, but a breakfast may have also included Welsh sausages, mushrooms and eggs.[4][29][30]

North America
See also: List of American breakfast foods

This style of breakfast was brought over by Irish and British immigrants to the United States and Canada, where it has endured.[31]

Hong Kong

A few establishments in Hong Kong offer all-day breakfast or brunch options (hybrid of English and North American items) from formal restaurants to low-frills establishments.[32][33]

See also

References
  1. “The 15 most British foods ever. Full English Breakfast”. The Telegraph. Retrieved 31 October 2018
  2. "The full English". Jamieoliver.com. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  3. "Traditional Scottish Food". Visit Scotland. Archived from the original on 13 February 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  4. "So what is a 'full Welsh breakfast'?". Wales Online. 25 October 2005. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014.
  5. Bell, James (29 January 2014). "How to... Cook the perfect Ulster Fry". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  6. "10 reasons why the Full English Breakfast is one of the world’s great meals". Country Life magazine. Retrieved 21 February 2018
  7. "History Of The Traditional English Breakfast". English breakfast society. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  8. Spencer, Colin (2003). British Food: An Extraordinary Thousand Years of History. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-13110-0.
  9. in fact this "tradition" is rather new, probably developed since World War II. For the massive and varied Victorian Middle-class breakfast, see Flanders, Judith (2003) The Victorian House: Domestic Life from Childbirth to Deathbed, Harper Perennial, pp. 228–229. ISBN 0007131895
  10. "The Traditional full English Breakfast". The English Breakfast Society. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  11. "Full English Breakfast Recipe". BBC. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  12. "The Full English Breakfast – What Is It?". British Grub Hub. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  13. "What is a traditional English breakfast?". Fraser's Fryups. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  14. "The Full English". Jamie Oliver.com. 29 March 2018.
  15. "Stress-free full English breakfast". BBC. 29 March 2018.
  16. "How to make the perfect full English breakfast". 25 June 2015.
  17. Foad, David (1 December 2020). "Popularity of hash browns changing the face of traditional English breakfast". Public Sector Catering. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  18. Parkinson, Judy (2011). Spilling the Beans on the Cats Pyjamas: Popular Expressions – What They Mean and Where We Got Them. Michael O'Mara Books
  19. Dent, Susie (2009). What Made The Crocodile Cry?: 101 questions about the English language. Oxford University Press. pp. 151–152. ISBN 9780191650604.
  20. Gerald, Paul (12 July 2012). "The Full English". Memphis Flyer. Contemporary Media, Inc. Retrieved 30 July 2012. The Irish might have soda bread, a potato pancake called boxty, white pudding (what you're used to, but with oatmeal in it) or black pudding (the same, but with blood cooked in).
  21. McDonald, Brian (12 May 2008). "Top breakfast baguette rolls into Irish history". Irish Independent. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  22. "Is the Ulster fry the best cooked breakfast in the UK?". BBC. Retrieved 29 October 2018 Archived 24 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  23. Gerald, Paul (12 July 2012). "The Full English". Memphis Flyer. Contemporary Media, Inc. Retrieved 30 July 2012. The Scots like to have tattie (potato) scones, fruit pudding (actually a sausage made with very little fruit), and, of course, their curse on the earth, haggis.
  24. Foyster, Elizabeth and Whatley, Christopher A. (2009). A History of Everyday Life in Scotland, 1600 to 1800. Edinburgh University Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0748621576.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  25. Davidson, Alan and Jaine, Tom (2006). The Oxford companion to food. Oxford University Press. p. 185. ISBN 0192806815.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  26. Maw Broon's Cookbook. Waverley Books. 18 October 2007. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-902407-45-6.
  27. Brewer, E. Cobham. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable. New York: Harper & Brothers. p. 812.
  28. "This is how to cook the perfect full Welsh breakfast". Wales Online. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  29. Welsh Government. "Wales.com – Food". Government of Wales. Archived from the original on 1 June 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012. Laverbread, not actually bread at all but seaweed, is rolled in oatmeal, fried into crisp patties and served with eggs, bacon and fresh cockles for a traditional Welsh breakfast.
  30. Rodenas, Angeles (13 July 2021). "Welsh caviar: should we all start eating laver?". TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  31. "The Full English Breakfast Hops the Pond". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 21 February 2018
  32. "Hong Kong brunch: 10 best bargain all-day breakfasts". scmp.com.
  33. "Hong Kong's best-kept secrets: all-day breakfasts for HK$48 in a sleepy border village". scmp.com. 6 April 2016.

Reference bibliography
  • O'Connor, Kaori (2013). The English Breakfast: The Biography of a National Meal, with Recipes. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-0857854919.
  • Scotney, John (1 November 2009). Scotland - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture. Kuperard. ISBN 9781857336214.
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