Odds & Ends

Once again whilst attending to my morning ablutions recently, this time scrolling through the Daily Mail Online, I read more good news. According to a report by Venessa Chalmers, the Health Reporter for the Mail Online, eating a big (ie: a Full English) breakfast could help you burn double the amount of calories than if you eat a larger meal at dinner.

Although C&S have no medical qualifications whatsoever, this revelation only serves to confirm what we have suspected all along, that stuffing yourself with a Full English breakfast is the way ahead if you want to loose your beer-belly, or Bingo wings. I shall forward this vital information to Gwyneth Paltrow in the hope that she will see the light.

A woman travelled to meet her husband's British father and stepmother in UK. As a recent meat eater, she tried a full English but refused to try black pudding. The mother-in-law took offence to this and labelled the woman 'xenophobic'. Reddit commenters took the US woman's side until she called UK food 'bland'

Yet again the great debate over whether Black Pudding is an essential part of a Full English has caused controversy and an international dispute between a 28-year-old Indian American daughter-in-law, unaccustomed to this English delicacy, and a rather unsympathetic British stepmother.

As usual the Daily Mail (and if it’s in the Daily Mail it must be true) reported on Thursday 28 Oct 2021 that an American woman visiting Britain for the first time refused to try Black Pudding as part of the Full English breakfast prepared by her husband’s stepmother, also calling the rest of her cooking bland. This rejection prompted the stepmother to call her daughter-in-law ‘xenophobic’; the stepmother appears to have been particularly offended claiming the black pudding was made from a 100-year-old family recipe.

As a long-term supporter of a good black pudding with my Full English I feel it essential that I should enter this debate. However, my attention was immediately drawn to the claim that the Black Pudding in question was made using a 100-year-old family recipe passed down through the generations which frankly needs to be questioned. Unless I was on a farm that bred pigs, if I was presented with a piece of Black Pudding, apparently made using a 100-year-old family recipe, I would be more than a little cautious and don’t think this young woman should be criticised for refusing to eat it, I may well have done the same myself, after a brief taste to see if it passed muster.

The main ingredients for home-made Black Pudding are not easily obtained, particularly in Tesco, Sainsburys or any other UK supermarket. You can probably only buy Pork or Beef blood on request from an Abettoir. Supermarkets do stock pork fat or beef suet and oatmeal. A good butchers would also be able to supply you with the pork fat or beef suet. Nevertheless, having watched Hugh Ferning Whittingstall of River Cottage make black pudding in one of his cookery programmes on TV, I do wonder why anyone in their right mind would try to make black pudding at home, unless they absolutely had to, whether they are using a using a 100-year-old family recipe passed down through the generations or not. All good butchers sell their own black pudding, made themselves to their own recipe. Admittedly, some are much better than others and finding the one you like is a matter of personal individual taste.

Furthermore, it is extremely rude of the mother-in-law to object to her daughter-in-law’s refusal to eat black pudding and describe her as xenophobic, regardless of its provenance. I can think of a number of American dishes that I would politely refuse if they were offered to me and I wouldn’t expect to be criticised as a result of my decision. However, it’s also extremely rude of the daughter-in-law to call her mother-in-law’s cooking bland, some British dishes can be bland if they are deliberately prepared that way to suit a delicate palette, pour enough spices into almost any dish and it ceases to be bland, it’s just a matter of taste.

I believe the American daughter-in-law and the British mother-in-law are both at fault for displaying bad manners and both need to simply relax about their minor differences, accept them for what they are and not get wound-up.

The comedian David Baddiel has entered the great debate about the Full English Breakfast (FEB) in an article in the Times on Sunday 31 Oct 21 in which he states that the FEB is under threat.

As I have written in a previous post, the current ‘snowflake’ generation have been reported as preferring squashed Avocado on toast and muesli, in fact almost anything but a FEB. Baddiel goes on to state that he frequently posts a photograph of his morning FEB which can often stir up all kinds of comments from the FEB police, such as Rachel who commented over one photo that, “the beans are touching the eggs! THE BEANS ARE TOUCHING THE EGGS!” Another individual got very worked up over the fact that one of his FEBs included baked beans in a little bowel of toast.

Clearly some people don’t have enough to keep themselves occupied if they get worked up over the positioning of the FEB items – surely the essential point is that they should always include the classic items, cooked to a satisfactory standard. They’ll all get mashed up fairly quickly, so why people stress about positioning on a plate completely escapes me. The Fat Boys have also noticed that Baked Beans are frequently served in a small ramekin, presumably to allow the customer to decide where to position them on the plate. The only problem I have found with this method is that the portion of Baked Beans is often insufficient, but, in my experience, an additional portion has always been available on request. Where Baddiel and the Fat Boys part company is over the Sausage – he prefers a nasty, cheap, catering sausage, rather than a decent one from a local butcher, which is utter madness.

Nevertheless, it’s an interesting article, but I still don’t find him in the least bit funny.

According to a report in The Daily Star on 4 Feb 23 a Full English should be more expensive.

Fry up 'should cost Brits £50' says breakfast expert - and we've been doing them wrong

Top quality eggs, bacon and sausages should set Full English breakfast lovers back £50 according to one expert – who has claimed greasy spoons are dying because they've been doing the British staple the wrong way
A fabulous fry-up should set you back at least £50, says a breakfast connoisseur.
Guise Bule, chairman of the English Breakfast Society, believes the greasy spoon has killed off really good brekkies And he says top quality eggs, bacon, sausages, beans and buttered toast should cost way more than it does to give the classic English meal the credit it deserves. Guise, 43, has been head of the fry-up fan club for a decade and says cafes have killed the once great meal by buying in ingredients that are too cheap - and adding “wrong” items like saveloys. Mr Bule, of Hertford, said the fry-up has been “dragged through the mud” by cheap caffs and needs to return to its former opulence to get the credit it deserves.
He said: “I’ve been doing this volunteer English Breakfast game for a decade now and I’ve seen it all.
“The breakfast has slipped down the class system from being an opulent breakfast containing very high quality meat and multiple choices, which is expensive, to the middle classes in the 50s and 60s with bed and breakfasts and cruise ships “And then it slipped into greasy spoon territory.
“It’s gone from a peak where half the country was eating one every day - it’s been on the decline for the last 40 years.
“The tradition is so dragged through the mud that it’s not at all surprising that people are looking at what they think is an English breakfast these days and thinking it’s cheap and nasty “The greasy spoon is dead now - there are a few of them still around but it’s not widespread any more.
“The cheap breakfasts now sometimes come with Saveloys. It’s wrong!
“Why can’t I spend £50, £60, £70 on an English breakfast with three different kinds of sausages, three different kinds of bacon? Something really special.”
Mr Bule says the avocado eating “mafia” have had their part to play in the meal’s demise.
It comes as research found one in five of us believe the breakfast tradition is on its way out.
But the English Breakfast society believes that the fry up will prosper once again.
He declared: “People who love English breakfast love it emotionally. No-one is emotionally attached to avocado on toast.

And the fry up capital of the UK is...

Leicester has been crowned the full English capital of Britain.
A whopping 92% of folk from the city said a plate of bacon, sausages and eggs was their top choice of breakfast in a poll run for HelloFresh.
Just 75% of folk from Glasgow picked it as their favourite way to start the day.
Tim Porter, 33, from Leicester, said he couldn’t resist a full English, adding: “A fry-up is something you look forward to as soon as you think about it.
“I can’t say I have the same feelings for a bowl of granola.”

And the cheapest brekkie is....
Leeds is the most affordable city to eat a fry-up, averaging £8.28.
The city’s cheapest full English breakfast is £5.50.
Birmingham is the most expensive, where the average is £11.54 – more costly than even London’s £11.33. The dearest in Brum is £13.

By A DAILY MAIL REPORTER (and if it's in the Daily Mail it must be true)

PUBLISHED: 01:01, 27 January 2025 | UPDATED: 01:30, 27 January 2025

A traditional fry-up is better for you than fashionable breakfasts such as granola and fruity yoghurt, say scientists.The classic full English is bursting with protein, vitamins and nutrients, keeps you full-up for longer and is even good for your brain, research shows.

Meanwhile, many so-called 'healthy', 'low-fat' on-the-go breakfasts are commonly packed with sugar, corn syrup and fruit juice concentrate.These simple carbohydrates provide a short-lived energy boost but later on can leave us feeling sluggish and craving unhealthy treats.Experts found that cooked morning meals contained complex carbohydrates and healthy fats that helped sustain us all day long and a moderately portioned fry-up, using quality, unprocessed British ingredients, can contain as little as 600 calories - around a quarter of an adult's recommended daily intake.But some top-selling fruit and yoghurt bars have up to 220 calories per biscuit, meaning just three bickies could total more calories than a plate of eggs, bacon and sausage.

The report, commissioned by Ski Vertigo, warned Brits to beware of breakfast products high in sugar and simple carbs 'but marketed as 'healthy'.It said: 'To fuel your body properly, the key is balancing macronutrients - protein, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates.'A breakfast rich in these nutrients stabilises your blood sugar and keeps you full longer. 'This not only enhances energy levels but also supports weight management and cognitive function.'It added: 'Experts at Ski Vertigo, who specialise in providing balanced, nourishing meals at their full-service chalets, warn that a seemingly innocent choice could be a recipe for disaster, affecting energy, digestion and even long-term wellness.'Think granola bars, fruit-flavoured yoghurts and even some cereals boasting 'low-fat' or 'organic' labels.'

While these options might seem like smart choices, they can lead to a quick spike in blood sugar followed by an inevitable crash.'This rollercoaster not only leaves you feeling sluggish but also primes your body for cravings and over-eating later in the day.'English Breakfast Society chairman Guise Bule de Missenden said: 'We have long advocated for the nutritional merits of the traditional English breakfast.'He added: 'A well-prepared English breakfast provides anyone who needs real energy to sustain them throughout the day with healthy fats and complex carbohydrates, contributing to sustained energy release and satiety.'Assuming unprocessed quality British ingredients are the core components, the English breakfast can be quite healthy when eaten in moderation.'

In the current pandemic, caused by unhygienic Chinese people eating dead bats and other exotic and rather unhealthy animals, I thought it might be an appropriate time to provide some guidance on where and what to purchase for those wishing to make a Full English at home.

Bacon – Carini Butchers, Presteigne – sweet cure back bacon.
Sausage – D W Wall & Sons, Ludlow – small Ludlow original sausages.
Black Pudding – Wenlock Edge Farm Shop – they make their own delicious black pudding.
Hash Browns – McCain frozen hash browns.
Tomatoes – The Salty Dog, Presteigne – small cherry tomatoes
Beans – a tin of Branston Baked Beans
Mushrooms – The Fruit Basket, Ludlow – always good for fresh veg.
Egg – any fresh free-range egg will do
Bread – SC Price & Sons in Ludlow – their Ludlow Brown loaf is superb.

I decided to buy one of those 'cook it in one frypan' jobs and see how it would work. Here's the start.

Verdict: I cheated, so don't bother ordering one, it's much easier to cook everything separately.

English Breakfast Society - this is the official website of a bunch of people even more obsessed with a Full English breakfast than the Fat Boys.

The London Review of Breakfasts This is a blog with reviews of hundreds of establishments in London that serve a full English breakfast and much more. Some of the reviews are really amusing and probably written by journalists and other very well read Londoners.