An English breakfast consists of sausages (pork), bacon, fried tomatoes and fried mushroom, eggs (as you like it – fried, boiled, scrambled, sunny side up) with fresh fruit or canned juice and some tea or coffee. Traditionally the spread is served along with English muffin, toasted or fried bread with some marmalade, butter and ketchup on the side.

Since most of the items are fried it is also known as a “fry-up”. It is a complete meal and ideal for a brunch or lunch. It is also referred to as a “Full English” or “Full Monty”. There is no satisfactory proof on the origin of English breakfast.

A similar breakfast is served in Ireland and Scotland with white and black pudding. White or oatmeal pudding is a meat dish, consists of pork meat and fat, suet, bread, and oatmeal formed into the shape of a large sausage. It does not contain any blood unlike the black pudding. The dish exists in various cultures from Asia to Europe.

Scottish and Irish breakfast also include:

Soda bread – a quick bread made with sodium bicarbonate instead of yeast.

Fruit pudding – is a mixture of wheat flour, beef suet or rusk, brown sugar, currants and/or sultanas, glace cherries, peel, salt and cinnamon, like in a fruitcake, formed into the shape of a large sausage.

Oatcake – is a type of a pancake or a cracker made from oatmeal flour.

Laverbread – a seaweed found in parts of Ireland and is supposed to be highly nutritious, it is traditionally fried.

English breakfast is more about assembling all the ingredients with hardly any cooking time. An English breakfast will not be complete without some good quality bacon and sausages.

Ingredients for a Full breakfast

Difficulty: easy

Serves: 1

2 slices of Toast
2 small or 1-2 big Sausages
2-3 slices of Bacon
3-4 button mushroom
1 can of baked beans in tomato sauce (enough for 4 people)
2 tbs BBQ Sauce (optional)
1tbs fresh oregano, finely chopped (optional)
2 tbs Olive Oil
1 tomato, cut in half
salt and pepper, to taste
1 scrambled or fried Egg
Butter/ jam
1 glass canned or fresh juice
One small pot of tea or coffee

1. Start toasting.
2. Get the sausage and bacon cooking on medium-high heat in the same pan.
3. Pour the baked beans and BBQ sauce into a pot and cook over medium heat until heated through (about 10 minutes).
4. Pour olive oil in pan. Salt and Pepper cut side of tomato halves. Place them face down on the pan. Add mushrooms, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Cook until mushrooms are softened. Cook tomatoes until faces are crisp for about 5 minutes. Garnish the tomato and mushrooms with chopped oregano.
5. Cook your egg in the same pan you just used.
6. Serve all on your plate and it’s ready to eat.

You can twist the recipe by adding herbs like oregano, rosemary, parley or basil to bring out some fresh flavours. Rosemary roasted potatoes can also be a good addition to your plate. Diced yellow or red peppers sautéed with mushrooms will give your meal a different twist. You can grill or oven-roast the above. Since, English breakfast is good as a brunch, you can lay out your barbeque and have a brunch party with some chilled beers.