When you talk to your neighbour and they say “we’re losing our identity, Muslims are taking over… what about our full English breakfasts?”, it does make you wonder just what people are watching on X and TikTok.
However, it also got me wondering just how ‘English’ is a full English breakfast? Well, not very as I found out – and it was certainly not originally a working class thing, either.
The full English breakfast: a dish of the gentry
So, the idea of a ‘full English breakfast originally began in the 14th and 15th century by the gentry, who considered themselves the guardians of the traditional English country lifestyle.
This consisted of meats, vegetables, and ingredients sourced from surrounding lands. Effectively it was a show of wealth.
The fried breakfast didn’t become popular until the Victorian era, which itself was a scaled down version of country breakfasts of the upper classes; an affordable option to the emergent middle classes, able to be prepared and consumed in a shorter time before work.
It wasn’t until after the Edwardian period and WWII, that food shortages and new technologies allowed the storage of food helping this meal to become a staple in the working classes.
But how English is the fried breakfast as we now know it now?
Not very British
It turns out, a full English breakfast is barely English at all.
Sausage
The sausage invented by the Sumerians in Mesopotamia over 4,000 years ago. Sausages were not introduced to Britain until around 400 AD. The word sausage comes from the word salsus which means salted.
Bacon
Bacon is almost always associated with a full English breakfast. Although wild boar are native to Britain they were hunted to near extinction during the middle ages. Actual pigs didn’t start being farmed until the 7th century – and even they came from Europe.
Eggs
Chickens are not native to the UK, they were introduced around the 3rd to 5th century BC during the Iron age.
Beans
Baked beans are made using Haricot beans. Haricot beans originated in central and southern America. As they are difficult to grow in the UK they are often imported from the US, Canada, Ethiopia, and China.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes, another staple of the full English breakfast, are originally native to south America. It is believed that the Mayans and Aztecs cultivated and traded them from as far back as 7,000 BC.
Black pudding
Black pudding actually originated in Europe and was originally brought to the UK by European monks. There are similar versions of this that was eaten by ancient Romans, in France and in Spain.
Toast
Bread originated in the Middle East and North Africa. It is believed to have been around 8,000 BC in Egypt – likely made using grains of wheat, barley, and flour mixed with water and laid on hot stones to heat.
But if none of that is the English part of a full English breakfast – then what is?
Full English breakfast: enjoy your mushrooms
Mushrooms
Yes, mushrooms are native to the UK, with over 15,000 species of fungi or wild mushroom, including field mushrooms.
So, enjoy your plate of mushrooms if you truly want a full English breakfast.
How’s that for taking back control?
Featured image via the Canary
