An English Breakfast (Fry Up)
February 15, 2019, edited slightly to include a link to my article about English beans, as that article was originally published after this article about an English breakfast.
This really isn't a recipe in the true sense, but rather the components of an English Breakfast, although these components are not all used by everyone, and other components, like fried mushrooms, blood sausage (black pudding), and/or "white pudding" (no blood, but ground meat with grain, often oats, as a filler), are included, or replace some of those listed. It is commonly known as a "Fry Up" in England and other parts of Britain.
So, an English breakfast, or fry up, typically includes: eggs (fried or scrambled), bacon (which is meatier than American bacon in England, as it includes more from the loin, and only a small part of the fat from the 'belly' used in American bacon, and it is called "back bacon"), baked beans in tomato sauce, which most often are not really "baked," and they aren't really quite the same as American baked beans,* fried ripe tomato (tomato halves typically fried in the bacon fat), fried potatoes, fried bread (fried in butter or in the bacon fat) and sausages.
* For homemade English beans, here is the link to the article: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2016/09/english-beans.html
From the top: bacon, fried ripe tomato half, fried potatoes, fried bread, Heinz English-style beans, fried sausages and scrambled eggs.
WORD HISTORY:
Fast-This word, closely related to the verb "fasten," "seems" to go back to Indo European "pehst," which had the notion, "firm, solid, fixed in place." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "fastuz," with the same meanings; thus also, "secure." This gave Old English "fæst," meaning: "steadfast, secure, firm, strong." This then became "fast," and it has remained such for many centuries. While the original meaning has remained, the further meaning of "quick" began to develop in the 1200s and 1300s, "perhaps" from use of "fast" with words of motion (fast runner, fast horse, fast wagon), but it didn't fully develop until the 1500s. Generally the word is pronounced "fahst" in British English, but with the more nasalized "a" in American English. The meaning, "not to eat for a period of time," comes from the notion of "holding 'fast' to a diet for some observance," not just to lose weight. And its use in the compound "breakfast" means just that, "break the overnight fast." Common in the other Germanic languages, all with the same or similar meaning to their English cousin, but none with the further meaning "quick," which only developed in English: German has "fest" (the German noun "Festung," means "fortress;" that is, "secure/strong place"), Low German Saxon "fest," West Frisian "fêst," Dutch "vast" (the 'v' is pronounced as an 'f'), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian "fast," Icelandic "fastur" (somewhat more limited modern meaning "solid, tight").
This really isn't a recipe in the true sense, but rather the components of an English Breakfast, although these components are not all used by everyone, and other components, like fried mushrooms, blood sausage (black pudding), and/or "white pudding" (no blood, but ground meat with grain, often oats, as a filler), are included, or replace some of those listed. It is commonly known as a "Fry Up" in England and other parts of Britain.
So, an English breakfast, or fry up, typically includes: eggs (fried or scrambled), bacon (which is meatier than American bacon in England, as it includes more from the loin, and only a small part of the fat from the 'belly' used in American bacon, and it is called "back bacon"), baked beans in tomato sauce, which most often are not really "baked," and they aren't really quite the same as American baked beans,* fried ripe tomato (tomato halves typically fried in the bacon fat), fried potatoes, fried bread (fried in butter or in the bacon fat) and sausages.
* For homemade English beans, here is the link to the article: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2016/09/english-beans.html
From the top: bacon, fried ripe tomato half, fried potatoes, fried bread, Heinz English-style beans, fried sausages and scrambled eggs.
Fast-This word, closely related to the verb "fasten," "seems" to go back to Indo European "pehst," which had the notion, "firm, solid, fixed in place." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "fastuz," with the same meanings; thus also, "secure." This gave Old English "fæst," meaning: "steadfast, secure, firm, strong." This then became "fast," and it has remained such for many centuries. While the original meaning has remained, the further meaning of "quick" began to develop in the 1200s and 1300s, "perhaps" from use of "fast" with words of motion (fast runner, fast horse, fast wagon), but it didn't fully develop until the 1500s. Generally the word is pronounced "fahst" in British English, but with the more nasalized "a" in American English. The meaning, "not to eat for a period of time," comes from the notion of "holding 'fast' to a diet for some observance," not just to lose weight. And its use in the compound "breakfast" means just that, "break the overnight fast." Common in the other Germanic languages, all with the same or similar meaning to their English cousin, but none with the further meaning "quick," which only developed in English: German has "fest" (the German noun "Festung," means "fortress;" that is, "secure/strong place"), Low German Saxon "fest," West Frisian "fêst," Dutch "vast" (the 'v' is pronounced as an 'f'), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian "fast," Icelandic "fastur" (somewhat more limited modern meaning "solid, tight").
Labels: bacon, beans, breakfast, Britain, eggs, England, English, English beans. British beans, English breakfast, etymology, fry up, Germanic languages, potatoes, recipes, sausages
posted by Randy at 11:01 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home