The Full English

One of the first mistakes that first-time visitors in the UK make is ordering the "Full English" for breakfast.  I saw people doing it all over. Eggs, bacon, sausage, baked beens, tomato, toast and black pudding. Oddly I never saw anyone eat their black pudding.

So allow me to give my impression item by item.  First the bacon which is a different cut than the bacon strips.Americans are used to.  Bacon in the UK is about the size of the palm of one's hand and it isn't cooked until it is crisp.  A little crispness would be welcome because as it is it's almost undercooked.

Baked beans have never struck me as a breakfast food.  Actually they have never struck me as a food that should accompany anything.

I'm not a fan of hot tomatoes except of course for tomato sauce.

The toast was always good.  Though I knew that most of the time it was a commercial bread, it was always a better quality than American commercial bread. A side note is that many places made their own croissants.  Those were always great.

You can't ever go wrong with eggs, however if have scrambled eggs you quickly find that they have found a way to take them in a terribly wrong direction.  They add something creamy to their scrambled eggs and the creamy texture ruins them.

The biggest disappointment were the sausages.  This was all due to the texture.  It wasn't meaty, but more like a bready texture.  The texture just wasn't right and the taste was bland in comparison to American, German or Polish sausages.

Finally the black pudding.  Perhaps because it is common knowledge that it is made from pigs blood, it is also called blood pudding.  The ingredients are: 4 cups fresh pig's blood, 2 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 1/2 cups steel-cut pinhead) oatmeal, 2 cups finely diced pork fat (or beef suet), finely chopped,1 large yellow onion, finely chopped,1 cup milk,1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper,1 teaspoon ground allspice.

My only regret of my trip was that I never sampled the black pudding.  It actually may have been the highlight of breakfast in the UK.  Perhaps next time.

The most non-conflicted breakfasts I had were of juice, fruit a slice of bacon and maybe a fried egg.  Croissants were always a bonus to breakfasts.

Belgian breakfasts were much better.  You got a selection of cheeses, Bree and solid slices with prosciutto and salami.  Good coffee in small cups, freshly baked croissants,breads and cakes with home-made jams. 

Breakfast is an odd meal that usually centers around 10 to 15 items; all of which you can get tired of quickly.  However there is one item I could have for breakfast every morning and never tire of it.  Cold pizza.