British vs American cooked breakfasts

[seeley]

Cold pizza, anyone? It's the breakfast of champions! I'm American by the by.

I usually have cereal for breakfast during the week, but on weekends we bake. My husband baked blueberry muffins on Saturday, and I made cinnamon rolls on Sunday. 

[AmethystAnne]

Sunday morning breakfast is my favorite meal of the week - creamed chipped beef over toast(for DH) or soft bread (for me).

[lady_disdain]

As a Brazilian, these breakfast foods make me slightly queasy. Breakfast, for us, tends to lighter, uncooked food. Perhaps some scrambled eggs or, in country hotels, porridge but that is pretty much the line. Potatoes? No way.

Our breakfast would be something along the lines of:
- Fresh fruit (pear, cantaloupe, papaya, kiwi, etc or a fruit salad)
- Fresh french bread with butter, cream cheese (ours is particularly runny and delicious), sliced deli ham or turkey, some cheese
- Cottage cheese
- Light, fluffy corn bread
- Cheese bread
- Fruit jam
- A simple cake (chocolate, carrot, orange, lime or vanilla) without frosting or anything like that (I think this is what Americans would call a coffee cake)

To drink, coffee with plenty of milk in it and juice (generally orange, but watermelon, passion fruit, guava, etc are also common). Tea is becoming more common as well.

[DuBois]

As a Brazilian, these breakfast foods make me slightly queasy. Breakfast, for us, tends to lighter, uncooked food. Perhaps some scrambled eggs or, in country hotels, porridge but that is pretty much the line. Potatoes? No way.

Our breakfast would be something along the lines of:
- Fresh fruit (pear, cantaloupe, papaya, kiwi, etc or a fruit salad)
- Fresh french bread with butter, cream cheese (ours is particularly runny and delicious), sliced deli ham or turkey, some cheese
- Cottage cheese
- Light, fluffy corn bread
- Cheese bread
- Fruit jam
- A simple cake (chocolate, carrot, orange, lime or vanilla) without frosting or anything like that (I think this is what Americans would call a coffee cake)

To drink, coffee with plenty of milk in it and juice (generally orange, but watermelon, passion fruit, guava, etc are also common). Tea is becoming more common as well.

I have to say that that breakfast sounds rather delicious. I think that you have to have been brought up around cooked breakfasts to 'get' them. I certainly couldn't eat a cooked breakfast every morning (except something light like scrambled eggs and mushrooms, on toast)

[Dindrane]

As a Brazilian, these breakfast foods make me slightly queasy. Breakfast, for us, tends to lighter, uncooked food. Perhaps some scrambled eggs or, in country hotels, porridge but that is pretty much the line. Potatoes? No way.

Our breakfast would be something along the lines of:
- Fresh fruit (pear, cantaloupe, papaya, kiwi, etc or a fruit salad)
- Fresh french bread with butter, cream cheese (ours is particularly runny and delicious), sliced deli ham or turkey, some cheese
- Cottage cheese
- Light, fluffy corn bread
- Cheese bread
- Fruit jam
- A simple cake (chocolate, carrot, orange, lime or vanilla) without frosting or anything like that (I think this is what Americans would call a coffee cake)

To drink, coffee with plenty of milk in it and juice (generally orange, but watermelon, passion fruit, guava, etc are also common). Tea is becoming more common as well.

I have to say that that breakfast sounds rather delicious. I think that you have to have been brought up around cooked breakfasts to 'get' them. I certainly couldn't eat a cooked breakfast every morning (except something light like scrambled eggs and mushrooms, on toast)

I think weather could play into it as well.  Being cold can sometimes make you hungry (it takes more calories to keep warm), so the idea of a large hot breakfast sounds pretty good when it's cold out.  But whenever I spend time in warmer places (even just visiting my family in Houston during the summer), all I want is some iced coffee and maybe a bagel, and I'm good to go.  Lighter, uncooked foods are a lot more appetizing when it's hot and/or humid than anything that feels heavy.

[Shea]

American here. I'm not a big breakfast person most of the time, my normal breakfast is oatmeal/porridge and tea. However, on the rare occasions when I go out for breakfast, I favor waffles or pancakes and bacon. I must defend American style or "streaky" bacon, cooked right it's soooooo good. You need to get the fat to the right amount of crispiness, but not actually burned. If it flops over when you pick it up, it's not cooked enough, if it crunches it's too well-done. Living in Canada, I've found that breakfasts are pretty much the same, although around here you're very likely to get real maple syrup rather than the fake "pancake syrup" that's common in most of the US. Good thing too, because I can't stand the fake stuff.

I've never had grits in my life, but I'm very fond of buttermilk biscuits. Though not gravy, I prefer my biscuits with butter and honey or jam.

I lived in France for awhile, and I love the breakfast there. Coffee, fresh baguette with butter or Nutella, and maybe a piece of fruit. Perfect. I also loved the breakfasts served at most of the various inns I stayed at while visiting Morocco, which was very strong coffee and a kind of bread that the hosts invariably insisted was a crepe, but was far thicker, oilier and chewier than any crepe I'd ever encountered before, served with honey. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

Right, that's it, I'm having waffles and bacon for dinner tonight!

[Thipu1]

Cold pizza, anyone? It's the breakfast of champions! I'm American by the by.

I usually have cereal for breakfast during the week, but on weekends we bake. My husband baked blueberry muffins on Saturday, and I made cinnamon rolls on Sunday. 

Ah, yes.  The cold pizza. 

In college, my roommate would put the left-over pizza from Friday night under her bed and enjoy breakfast in bed on Saturday morning.

Some years ago, SIL and her husband stayed at our place while attending a Wedding.  SIL's DH is a pizza addict and we have quite a few pieces of art around the place. 

While SIL was sleeping in, her DH looked like an aesthete In a gallery.  He walked around in a contemplative manner, enjoying the exhibition.  The only jarring note was that he was holding a slice of pizza in one hand and a can of coke in the other. 

Oh, yes.  He was also wearing a pair of boxer shorts and a tee-shirt. 

We had no problem with this.  When people visit us, they have the run of the fridge.  When we got up he had his coffee and juice but the Pizza was the important part of his morning.

[MERUNCC13]

Chiming in from the Southeast US - in this area, biscuits with gravy (usually pork sausage) or filled with meat (I have to have a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit on occasion), grits (which can be seasoned with anything except sugar!) eggs, liver mush (fried) are a must for breakfast.  I usually don't and can't eat grits so I have oatmeal or cream of wheat. 

[bestimw]

US here.

Regarding British scrambled eggs.  I saw a Gordon Ramsey special where he was making Christmas foods.  And one of the things he made was "scrambled eggs" but I did not recognize them.  He seemed to take a saucepan of milk, heat that up, and then stir an apparently equal volume of eggs into it. 

The resulting eggs looked very loose to me. 

I'm used to scrambled eggs that are mostly eggs, sometimes a tablespoon or so of milk added while mixing them up. I personally don't add anything, just whip them up and cook them in butter.  (Which I'll have to modify, having just started Weight Watchers.  Grrr!)

Anyway, was Gordon's recipe typical of British Scrambled Eggs?

[Sophia]

I wouldn't start a thread on this, but since it is here...
As a kid, my husband was served Spaghetti-O's on Toast for breakfast.  His mother told him it was "an English breakfast".  Not THE traditional English breakfast, but a side version.  I expressed disbelief that anything involving Spaghetti-O's would be English.  He was told it was a post-war rationing thing where spaghetti-O's were available when other stuff wasn't. 
So, anyone old enough to remember the rationing?  Is my MIL off her knocker?

p.s. He claims it is great.  I have noticed all foods remembered from childhood are either loved or hated.  So, that is my theory on why he likes it. 

[faithlessone]

US here.

Regarding British scrambled eggs.  I saw a Gordon Ramsey special where he was making Christmas foods.  And one of the things he made was "scrambled eggs" but I did not recognize them.  He seemed to take a saucepan of milk, heat that up, and then stir an apparently equal volume of eggs into it. 

The resulting eggs looked very loose to me. 

I'm used to scrambled eggs that are mostly eggs, sometimes a tablespoon or so of milk added while mixing them up. I personally don't add anything, just whip them up and cook them in butter.  (Which I'll have to modify, having just started Weight Watchers.  Grrr!)

Anyway, was Gordon's recipe typical of British Scrambled Eggs?

I'm a Brit, and I've always been taught 2 eggs and a dash of milk. TV chefs always seem to go overboard on something though.

[veryfluffy]

I don't get scrambled eggs in the UK. This is Delia's recipe:
http://www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/eggs/how-to-scramble-eggs.html

which seems pretty typical -- in my view this results in what I call "congealed eggs" -- just sort of an egg splodge. I can't even look at it.

I grew up in Canada, and scrambled eggs involves eggs with a bit of salt and pepper (and maybe a spoonful of water -- when this heats up and steams it makes the eggs fluffier), butter or oil in a frying pan and cooking them on high heat until they are firm and golden. My Austrian family made them the same way (Eierspeise), and we had a special enamel frying pan that was never used for anything else.

[blue2000]

I wouldn't start a thread on this, but since it is here...
As a kid, my husband was served Spaghetti-O's on Toast for breakfast.  His mother told him it was "an English breakfast".  Not THE traditional English breakfast, but a side version.  I expressed disbelief that anything involving Spaghetti-O's would be English.  He was told it was a post-war rationing thing where spaghetti-O's were available when other stuff wasn't. 
So, anyone old enough to remember the rationing?  Is my MIL off her knocker?

p.s. He claims it is great.  I have noticed all foods remembered from childhood are either loved or hated.  So, that is my theory on why he likes it. 

My opinion? MIL is pulling his leg.

According to Wikipedia, Spaghetti-Os were introduced in the US in 1965. They are not sold in the UK, but similar things are. So it is possible that people had some unusual meal choices during and after the war, but not this one.

Maybe she saw people eating canned beans on toast and thought Spaghetti-Os were close enough?

[Anniissa]

I wouldn't start a thread on this, but since it is here...
As a kid, my husband was served Spaghetti-O's on Toast for breakfast.  His mother told him it was "an English breakfast".  Not THE traditional English breakfast, but a side version.  I expressed disbelief that anything involving Spaghetti-O's would be English.  He was told it was a post-war rationing thing where spaghetti-O's were available when other stuff wasn't. 
So, anyone old enough to remember the rationing?  Is my MIL off her knocker?

p.s. He claims it is great.  I have noticed all foods remembered from childhood are either loved or hated.  So, that is my theory on why he likes it.

In the sixties and seventies in particular this was quite popular either as a breakfast or supper meal for children. They're not spaghetti-O's - over here they are called spaghetti hoops which are basically very similar to spaghetti-O's. Spaghetti hoops on toast were an alternative to the other perenially popular beans on toast. Spaghetti hoops have been sold in tins over here since before the war I think.

I don't get scrambled eggs in the UK. This is Delia's recipe:
http://www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/eggs/how-to-scramble-eggs.html

which seems pretty typical -- in my view this results in what I call "congealed eggs" -- just sort of an egg splodge. I can't even look at it.

I grew up in Canada, and scrambled eggs involves eggs with a bit of salt and pepper (and maybe a spoonful of water -- when this heats up and steams it makes the eggs fluffier), butter or oil in a frying pan and cooking them on high heat until they are firm and golden. My Austrian family made them the same way (Eierspeise), and we had a special enamel frying pan that was never used for anything else.

I guess it depends on your definition of firm on the egg front but Delia's recipe does say they should be cooked until there is no liquid runny egg. It's difficult to tell without a picture of what the finished dish should look like. I do think, typically, that in the UK it is more common to get a slightly less set scrambled egg than you get in the US. Although it does vary and I've seen everything from so loose as to make me concerned that the egg was cooked enough to so set and rock hard I think the kitchen sponge would have yielded a nicer texture  I like mine somewhere in between - eggs, splash of milk, a little butter melted in the pan then scrambled over heat until the liquid has all but gone then removed from the heat (as they will continue to cook anyway) so that the texture is reletively firm but still moist. I think it's one of those things where everyone has a personal preference kinda like how cooked a steak should be.

[Sophia]

I was browsing the cookbook area at my library.  There was a Julia Child cookbook, I think it was about eggs.  One recipe was how she likes scrambled eggs.  The next was how her husband likes scrambled eggs.  My mind boggled at someone having easy access to Julia's cooking and preferring it some other way. 

I think this is the definative example that proves there is room for personal preference in scrambled eggs. 

Note, my way was very close to Julia's way except I was cooking too hot.