Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
101
Our planned “outings” so far will take us south to Worcester (Premier Inn buffet breakfast) in a couple of weeks or so. And north to Carlisle and Hexham, where we’re going to explore Hadrians Wall for a few days. The latter trip is not a particularly gastro area - the likely hotel in Hexham looks like it does a decent cooked brekkie (https://www.countyhotelhexham.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Hotel-Breakfast-May-21.docx.pdf)
Cambridge could be good in the summer. University towns usually have decent hotel rates during the uni holidays. And July/August is our celebration season - both birthdays and anniversary all within a couple of weeks or so.
3 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
102
Because we’ve not yet had the best ever “Full English” quote, here it is.
In the words of the late Hovis Presley (who came from Bolton, in my metro area)
“Bacon, sausage, black pudding, egg, mushrooms, beans, tomato, toast -t’s almost a meal in itself really”.
7 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
103
And the wonderful Felicity Cloake has written a book about the British brekkie, due out in a couple of weeks. But here’s a taster from today’s Guardian.
4 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
104
I should have been off on a cruise today, but the bastard Covid has intervened and we’ve been cancelled by the cruise line. So, I’m planning where I might go to eat once we’re feeling better. One such is is Ate Days A Week, which has moved from being a cafe in Stockport to a slightly more upmarket affair in Manchester’s city centre.
They are still going to major on pies and breakfasts. Which is what brings me here.
Take the vital ingredients of a “Full English” - streaky bacon (just “bacon” to American readers), sausage, hash brown, black pudding and beans. Wrap it all in shortcrust pastry and what have you got? Yeah, you’ve got a breakfast pie. Now, bake that. And, when it’s done, split open a bread roll (we call them barms or barmcakes round here but 10 miles away where I used to work, the same bread roll is a bap). Shove your pie in there and top with a fried egg.
They’re good on puns here. This menu item is I Just Died in Your Barms.
I’m doing my GenX part to help HP sales in Canada.
I’m going to Google English Breakfast near me now.
Slight tangent:
I enjoyed a bacon butty with HP on sourdough at Emmer Bakery on Harbord in Toronto. HP on Bacon Sandwiches is good, with or without an egg on it.
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
111
Like many of our long established brands, HP is now owned by the American company, Heinz.
I am going to buy a glass bottle of imported British HP to see how it compares to Canadian-made HP.
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
113
The regularly eaten “Full English” has been in decline since the 1950s.
My guess is that a significant driver will have been the move away from heavy manual industrial work - fewer calories needed for office work. And maybe the increase in women going out to work, so fewer “housewives” with the time or inclination to cook a breakfast for hubby.
I think also, the work force has changed in terms of cultural background, and what’s for breakfast. The British cafes (as in British greasy spoons) disappearing. People getting fatter so attempting to avoid things like fat and sausage (speaking from my own perspective, as someone always Battling the Bulge while being a food lover)
About 15 years ago, if I wasn’t staying at a British hotel that included breakfast, I’d often get egg bacon and toast at a Polish run Cafe/ greasy spoon in London, or other variation with less food and less calories, for a few GBP, rather than paying 12 or 18 GBP at a posh hotel.
On my last 3 or 4 visits between 2011 and 2018, I started including the breakfast upgrade with my hotels, partly because I liked seeing the variations in fry-ups.
Most of my favourite fry-ups have been those included at b&bs and small hotels in the smaller towns in the UK , Ireland and eastern Canada. I splurge on a restaurant or pub fry-up maybe 3 times a year in Canada.
I’ve never made a full fry-up at home.
3 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
115
I have a theory (which I hope doesnt come across as too elitest).
When I volunteered at the hospital, I would always reckon that folk comin gto my information point, who were significantly overweight would be working class (usually confirmed by the district they lived in). My theory is that they were probably still cooking the meals that their parents & grandparents made but were no longer burning off the calories in the factories.
FWIW, my fullest of Full English breakfasts was at a Polish run greasy spoon (wooden bench seating). in the Brentford area of London - bacon, black pudding & white pudding, a sausage, beans, mushrooms, tomato, fried bread, fried egg, bubble & squeak, toast and coffee.
Also, portions.
Muffins, butter tarts, sandwiches, especially in Canada are so much bigger than they were 40 years ago.
The British premade sandwiches at EAT, M&S, are roughly the size of what sandwiches used to be in Ontario. Restaurant sandwiches in Ontario are twice that size, lately, usually.
The burger I ordered yesterday- without fries- was big. Twice as big as a burger would have been 20 years ago. Prices have gone up, and while a standard restaurant needs to make $15 or $20 off each customer, they want the customer to feel like they’re getting value, and I think it’s easier to increase the amount of food on the plate. My dc’s burger with fries came with close to 2 cups of fries. Maybe 1/4 were eaten.
And of course, food is a comfort. Most of us eat when we want to be comforted. We have been living in stressful times, and it’s been much harder on those who are working class or not working.
I read a bit about the food here and was surprised, as I used to think alcohol was always served there.
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
118
Where? In the UK & Ireland?
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
119
Since April, restaurant, cafe and takeaway businesses in England must now publish the calories of each dish on their menu. And it has actually affected my selection a couple of times - you look at the count and think that’s the whole of the recommended daily intake.
Happened to me a few weeks ago. I was in a pub near the in laws and I was going to order the Korean chicken burger , but it was pushing 1,300 calories according to the menu. This was in the evening. We went for Sunday lunch a few days later and no calorie count on the menu at all. A blessed relief when it’s a roast.
From what I understand a business will only be fined if they are issued with notices for not displaying calories and they have 250 or more employees. It wouldn’t be surpised if some places stop displaying them.
