# Explain to a Yank how to prepare a "Full English Breakfast" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 14, 2004, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042 "2004-07-14T08:08:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Grimpen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/82dd89/32.png) [@Grimpen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grimpen)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/41 "2004-07-17T18:30:02Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Not at all; indeed a good tinned tomato (firm, flavourful, deep red with no attached tatters of skin is often a better option in a catered full engligh (in a hotel perhaps), than an acrid pithy, yet somehow mushy and slimy fried fresh one. You’re quite right. Bear in mind that unless you have access to locally-grown farm or garden produce, a “fresh” tomato is probably a variety bred for impact resistance and picked while still green, whereas tinned tomatoes are more likely to have been bred for flavor. Regarding sausages: speaking as an American, my experience at English Bed & Breakfasts is that sausages are both larger than I would expect at breakfast in the United States, and less flavorful, with a lower percentage of meat. Another note commented that English sausages rely more on herbs than on spices, and I suspect that’s accurate. A very lightly spiced and finely ground bratwurst might come close. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/42 "2004-07-17T18:57:18Z")
[Here](http://www.abc.net.au/occasionalcook/recipes/s478849.htm) is a recipe for a miniature “full English breakfast” that can be cooked in a covered pan over a campfire. Usually I serve it on toast. It is best not to mention what you are making just tell folks that you have breakfast covered for the morning. The looks of ravenous glee are well worth the small effort. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/43 "2004-07-17T19:46:55Z")
Most of the tinned tomatoes we get in the UK are from the south of Italy and are a special variety called “plum tomatoes”. They are certainly much sweeter and tastier than much of the fresh sort available in most shops. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/44 "2004-07-17T20:23:33Z")
> [@Jake](#): > > Would someone explain what HP sauce consists of? Well, **Ultraviolet** pretty much covered it… HP sauce _ **is** _ much like A1, only better in my book. Some some reason. _every_ grocery store I’ve ever been in in the US carries it in the steak sauce aisle… even the craptacular Winn Dixie in Belmont, NC - which surprises me, since THAT store probably puts bottled spagheiit sauce in the “international foods” section… :mad: HP also makes a killer curry sauce… you use it like ketchup, only it’s… well, curry! ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/45 "2004-07-17T20:26:01Z")
:smack: Yes, I know how to spell “spaghetti”. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/46 "2004-07-17T20:36:28Z")
:salivate: (anticipating the creation of a salivate smiley) ---
**Author:** ![dbygawdcapn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dbygawdcapn/32/3995_2.png) [@dbygawdcapn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dbygawdcapn)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/47 "2004-07-17T22:34:10Z")
> [@Spavined Gelding](#): > > I have experienced the Full Irish Breakfast, which sounds a lot like the Full English except we got coffee and finished it off with a neat shot of _Paddy’s Whiskey_, so help me. My brother ordered the Full Irish Breakfast on his last visit and was terribly disappointed that it did not include a bowl of Lucky Charms. He was also quick to grumble about the state of the _ruins_ noting that “back in the US when things start to deteriorate, we fix them back up!” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/48 "2004-07-17T23:27:29Z")
I rarely eat a full breakfast - it’s too much hassle for a singleton. Some notes: Whoever suggested that you use vegetable oil should be shot: you use lard or fat saved from other cooking. The tomato is sliced laterally, not vertically. It is entirely acceptable to not eat the skin… A good trick is to crack the egg into a large cookie-cutter ring (different shapes are good for getting kiddies to enjoy it). The fried bread is there to soak up the fat; you don’t need to add more. Toast is served warm, not cold: it’s not served straight from the toaster so some of the water has time to evapourate and is a comfortable temerature to handle. The Kosher/Halal variation - beef sausages and beef bacon - is drier but really rather good. In between the juiciness of the mushrooms, the tea, and the runny egg yolk, there should be no need for sauces… Lashings of strong tea! None of your ‘herbal infusion’ rubbish or even Lapsang Souchong, but a good strong tea. Add potatoes or chips and you’ve got a good lunch. Alternatively, something I do all too rarely is to take some big beefsteak mushrooms, remove the centre stalk, crush garlic over them, and cook. While the mushrooms are cooking, fry or poach one large egg per mushroom. Serve the egg on top of the mushroom on a warm or hot plate. Yummm ---
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/49 "2004-07-18T01:59:20Z")
> [@Spavined Gelding](#): > > I have experienced the Full Irish Breakfast, which sounds a lot like the Full English except we got coffee and finished it off with a neat shot of _Paddy?s Whiskey_, so help me. Maybe these were modifications to accommodate a tourist?s tastes and expectations. In any event it ballasted me for the rest of the day and I didn?t really feel like eating until about noon the next day. > > In England we usually go for the half breakfast with tomatoes, soft boiled egg and that God Damned cold English toast. If nothing else cold, dry English toast is full justification for the American Revolution. > > Don?t you people ever get any fruit in you? Technically, Full Irish has shad roe and both black and white puddings. No less than James Joye pointefd this out in one of his essays. And potato scones or cakes are essential, but that means declaring whit part o’Irlan ye frae, and I don’t hold with that Ulster rubbish, b’cause everone knaw that the’ Ulster Scots were the ones whit stirred up the Troubles, don’t kcnknaw. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/50 "2004-07-18T02:38:45Z")
**False God** , what on earth is going on with your coding? How do you get question marks to replace apostrophes in the “copy” function. There is something very strange, even inarticulate, in your post. Are you alright? ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/51 "2004-07-18T02:58:32Z")
> [@](#): > > …just cook anything that looks fryable and stick it on a plate. I don’t know the first damn thing about English breakfasts, but this was also the breakfast theory of my German-Russian grandma who grew up on a farm. Take the grease leftover from the night before’s cooking, and fry potatoes, sausage, bacon, ham, eggs, tomatoes, rhubarb, onion, and peppers. The toast wasn’t fried however, It was more of an eating implement than a part of the meal. Then take the grease created from that to cook dinner. I always figured there were a few molecules in her grease pot that were older than me. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/52 "2004-07-18T06:23:11Z")
Fried Rhubarb ? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![vexinvixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/df705f/32.png) [@vexinvixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vexinvixen)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/53 "2004-07-18T18:31:10Z")
[\ Baked beans, mushrooms, sautee potatoes, kidneys, kippers, kedgeree are optional items for me. [/QUOTE] Someone please tell me – what IS kedgeree??? ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/54 "2004-07-18T18:38:40Z")
Kedgeree :- [http://www.ivillage.co.uk/food/tools/recipefinder/display\_recipe/0,,4170,00.html](http://www.ivillage.co.uk/food/tools/recipefinder/display_recipe/0,,4170,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/55 "2004-07-18T18:49:52Z")
> [@InvidiousCourgette](#): > > For my 2p’s worth, black pudding is not only an important ingredient, it is an essential ingredient for a good FEB. My preference is for black pudding with oats as an ingredient - they taste soooo much nicer. And they must be fried! I am not a big fan of Wall’s products, but I have recently accepted that they produce the best black pudding known to man or beast. 1/4 inch and fried to death. The best black puddings come from Burnley. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/56 "2004-07-18T18:56:54Z")
In the immortal words of _Ripping Yarns_ " It was so black even the white bits were black" ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/57 "2004-07-18T18:58:38Z")
> [@+MDI](#): > > The best black puddings come from Burnley. God, I’m an idiot, Bury is famous for its black puddings, not Burnley. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/58 "2004-07-19T00:01:28Z")
Bury is also “562” /puts pint glass down. ---
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/59 "2004-07-20T13:10:57Z")
> [@Spavined Gelding](#): > > **False God** , what on earth is going on with your coding? How do you get question marks to replace apostrophes in the ?copy? function. There is something very strange, even inarticulate, in your post. Are you alright? Looks all right to me, but maybe someone fixed it. I even previewed and everything. And my post was a (probably failed) attempt to approximate a Dublin accent based on what I remember it sounding like when I lived there. Plus, I had had some wine that night and my typing hand still isn’t healed fully. Thanks for your concern, I’m fine. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mycroft\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_H)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042/60 "2004-07-20T18:27:15Z")
This is great! I have been wanting to cook up a Proper Breakfast for my wife, but had not thought to ask Dopers how to do it. This thread will be _so_ helpful. I’ve heard that there is a local store that sells British bangers. I need to do some scouting. I hope they have HP sauce too. One question. White pudding has been mentioned a few times, and I’ve liked it when staying at B&Bs. What is it? Black pudding I know, but what are the main ingredients in white pudding? And **Rayne Man** , I loved the _Ripping Yarns_ quote. I haven’t seen it for ages. They won’t show it on the telly here. Instead they’ll put on _Are You Being Served_ for the hundredth time. :mad: Well anyway, this weekend will be a good time to try out the wonderful advice that has been proffered. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-to-a-yank-how-to-prepare-a-full-english-breakfast/255042.md?page=4)