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Traditional English Breakfast
Monday, October 23, 2006

The traditional English Breakfast -- talk about a greasy treat! And you thought that Americans had a fatty tradition!

I was once in England for a year as a student. Every Sunday we had Brunch in the college cafeteria instead of breakfast or lunch. The fare was always the same, a traditional english breakfast, although I think that in our college cafeteria it was greasier than in most cases. First imagine yourself on a sunday morning, sleepy eyes waking up late (always having to be careful to wake up in time for a brunch that closes at one!) to english weather (if you're not familiar, that means gray, dreary, cloudy, cold, possible rainy, and if not rainy, snowing). Wipe your eyes and then get yourself to the warm cafeteria where there is terrible coffee brewing and lots of companionship. This is the important thing about the english breakfast. You have to put it in context. Because even though some of the foods are similar to those found in the traditional American breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, and so on), the difference is, at least for me, when I think of the American breakfast tradition I think of a bright, sunny morning with a full day ahead, and a hearty breakfast to get ready. In England, you just need motivation to get out of bed. You need people huddling out of the cold together in the warm cafeteria. You need something to keep you going in those gray, gray British winters.

What's on offer in the cafeteria at brunch time? We have ham, baked beans, fried eggs, fried potatoes, croissants, jam, weak coffee or tea with milk, cool water, and maybe a piece of fruit with custard. The combination may not be glistening in the sunshine, but at least it makes you feel warm inside.

The ham is not really ham, it's called bacon there, which here in the US we call Canadian bacon I guess, which is more like a slice of ham than the crispy, strippy goodness we usually eat here, which would be why I called it ham in the first place. The baked beans, well that is a strange one. We don't do that here in the US for breakfasts. Only for cook outs and picnics with thousands of family members. At least in my family. I never could take the beans on a Sunday morning. But my friends loved it, and I suggest it not be left out. Then there were the fried eggs. Fried the whole way through. That introduced me for the first time to "over hard". An egg that looks over easy but seems to be over cooked. But the funny thing was, I loved it! I used to choose the burned ones on purpose. The eggs being over hard, I'm not sure if that's an English tradition or not. Or if it's just tradition for our college cook. But for me, it was an integral part of the breakfast or brunch. And I know that eggs must be there in some form or another, without question. The fried potatoes, strangely were more like french fries than like the hash browns that we make here in hot breakfasts. But they were less like french fries than they were like slices of potatoes fried like french fries. So, not crispy like french fries but with the same deep fried mushy potato consistency as fries. I used to pile them on, but mostly just because I love french fries and most of the fries in English dishes at restaurants are not tasty and come very few. The bread to go with the meal is important, I guess. We had croissants with butter, but I guess the tradition is with toast. And butter. And jam. And maybe a scone or something like that. And although it's weird, there's also sometimes included fruit and custard. Fruit itself certainly isn't weird in a brunch but fruit with custard is like a dessert. Dessert with breakfast? Sounds like something my mom wouldn't let me do when I was a kid. But, with English brunch, rules can be broken.

Last, to drink we have coffee or tea -- as I have said, those English weather mornings are terrible and you need something hot to get you going. The coffee in English is terribly weak, depending on what you are used to, and what country you are from. But it was fine for me. The strange thing is, though, that most people put milk not only into coffee, but also in tea. At the dinners where they serve you hot drinks with desert, they come around to the table and ask "tea or coffee? white or black?" where of course, "white" means with milk. I can't take milk in either, but anyway it's an important tradition I guess. As usual they also put sugar into either drink. Beside tea or coffee we just have water, unless you know someone crazy who wants to have a coke, but cokes are usually quite expensive over there, so it's not usually worth it. And who wants coke with breakfast anyway?

For me, English breakfast was something that I thought was kind of gross at first, but later became close to my heart. It was a time to share with friends, a way to meet up on the weekend, and a way to forget the treacherous grayness outside. It pulled me out of my bed and out of my dorm to civilization, which is also, it is needless to say, difficult to do in that weather. In the end, the english breakfast also turns out to be a pretty good tasting, full meal. Served with friends, it's a dish of happiness.

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