A full breakfast or fry-up is a substantial cooked breakfast meal often served in Great Britain and Ireland. Depending on the region, it may also be referred to as a full English,[1] a full Irish, full Scottish,[2] full Welsh[3] or Ulster fry.[4] The fried breakfast became popular in Great Britain and Ireland during the Victorian era, with the full breakfast appearing in Isabella Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861).
Many of the ingredients of a full breakfast have long histories, but "large cooked breakfasts do not figure in English life and letters until the 19th century, when they appeared with dramatic suddenness".[5] Across the British Isles and Ireland, early modern breakfasts were often breads served with jams or marmalades, or else forms of oatmeal, porridge or pottage.[6] Eggs and bacon started to appear in breakfasts in the seventeenth century,[6] but they were not the only meats consumed in breakfasts at that time.[6] The rising popularity of breakfast was closely tied to the rise of tea as a popular morning drink.[5] Of note were the lavish breakfasts of the aristocracy, which would centre on local meats and fish from their country estates.[5][7]
The fried breakfast became popular in Great Britain and Ireland during the Victorian era. Cookbooks were important in the fixing of the ingredients of a full breakfast during this time,[5] and the full breakfast appeared in the best-selling Isabella Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861). This new full breakfast was a pared-down version of the country breakfasts of the upper-class, affordable to the emergent middle classes and able to be prepared and consumed in a shorter time before a day's work.[5][6][8] The full breakfast reached its peak of popularity in Edwardian Britain,[8] and despite a decline following the food shortages of World War II,[5] new technologies of food storage and preparation allowed it to become a staple of the working class in the 1950s.[8] Since then the full breakfast has reduced in popularity as a daily meal, due to perceived concerns about health and its lengthy preparation compared to convenience-food breakfasts.[5] However, the meal remains popular as an occasional, celebratory or traditional breakfast.[5][8]
The British cafe (such as this one in Islington, London, with a "breakfast served all day" sign) typically serves the full breakfast throughout the day.Full English breakfast with fried bread served at a cafe in Brighton
A poll by YouGov in 2017 found the following to be on more than 50% of 'ideal' Full English breakfasts: bacon; sausage; beans; bread (either toast or fried); eggs (fried, scrambled or poached); hash browns; mushrooms (fried or grilled); and tomatoes (fried, grilled or tinned).[14] Black pudding was the least popular of the traditional ingredients, chosen 35% of the time,[14] and 26% of people included either chips or sautéed potatoes.[14]
Buttered toast, and jam or marmalade, are often served at the end of the meal, although toast is generally available throughout the meal.[15]
As nearly everything is fried in this meal, it is commonly known as a "fry-up". In the UK it is sometimes referred to as a "Full Monty". One theory for the origin of this term is that British Army general Bernard Montgomery, nicknamed 'Monty', was said to have started every day with a "Full English" breakfast while on campaign in North Africa during the Second World War.[16][17]
The "breakfast roll",[22] consisting of elements of the full breakfast served in a French roll, has become popular in Ireland due to the fact it can be easily eaten on the way to school or work.[22] The breakfast roll is available from many petrol stations and corner shops throughout Ireland.[22]
Ulster
An Ulster fry served in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The potato bread is under the eggs, with the soda bread (soda farl) at the bottom.
In Ulster, the northern province of Ireland, the "Ulster fry" variant is popular throughout the province, where it is eaten not only at breakfast time but throughout the day. Typically it will include soda breadfarls and potato bread.[23]
Two key ingredients that distinguish the Welsh breakfast from the other "full" variations are cockles (Welsh: cocs) and laverbread (Welsh: bara lafwr or bara lawr) (an edible seaweed purée often mixed with oatmeal and fried).[29] Fried laver with cockles and bacon was the traditional breakfast for mine workers in the South Wales Coalfield, but a breakfast may have also included Welsh sausages, mushrooms and eggs.[3][30][31]
This style of breakfast was brought over by Irish and Britishimmigrants to the United States and Canada, where it has endured.[32]
Hong Kong
A few establishments in Hong Kong offer all-day breakfast or brunch options (hybrid of English and North American items) from formal restaurants to low-frills establishments.[33][34]
^ abcdefghiO’Connor, K. (2009). Cuisine, nationality and the making of a national meal: The English breakfast. In Nations and their histories: Constructions and representations (pp. 157-171). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK.
^ abcdAnderson, H. A. (2013). Breakfast: a history. AltaMira Press.
^Gerald, Paul (12 July 2012). "The Full English". Memphis Flyer. Contemporary Media, Inc. Retrieved 30 July 2012. The Irish might have soda bread, a potato pancake called boxty, white pudding (what you're used to, but with oatmeal in it) or black pudding (the same, but with blood cooked in).
^Gerald, Paul (12 July 2012). "The Full English". Memphis Flyer. Contemporary Media, Inc. Retrieved 30 July 2012. The Scots like to have tattie (potato) scones, fruit pudding (actually a sausage made with very little fruit), and, of course, their curse on the earth, haggis.
^Foyster, Elizabeth and Whatley, Christopher A. (2009). A History of Everyday Life in Scotland, 1600 to 1800. Edinburgh University Press. p. 139. ISBN978-0748621576.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Davidson, Alan and Jaine, Tom (2006). The Oxford companion to food. Oxford University Press. p. 185. ISBN0192806815.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Welsh Government. "Wales.com – Food". Government of Wales. Archived from the original on 1 June 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012. Laverbread, not actually bread at all but seaweed, is rolled in oatmeal, fried into crisp patties and served with eggs, bacon and fresh cockles for a traditional Welsh breakfast.
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