Yes here we are again in our small but popular section on British Cuisine though for the benefit of those constitutional lawyers among our extensive and diverse readership we should point out that strictly speaking this is English though a variation is served in Ireland usually including a sausage that includes pork and/or beef check wrapping for percentages.
Here we see our ingredients and our feeble attempt at some sort of still life incorporating a jar of Marmite and Bovril just to show we do get it wrong sometimes.Interestingly Bovril and Marmite are made from the residues of the yeast after the brewing process and believe you me there is a national surplus.For vegetarians they both represent an excellent source of vitamin B with Bovril being used in football reports to denote the break between the halves as in.
�Both teams served a display that gave the crowd plenty to talk about aver their half time Bovril" when in reality most of them are trying to get to the toilets regretting having that extra pint before going to the ground and possibly thinking that they are not getting any younger and perhaps they should b thinking of starting a family rather than paying good money to watch this rag bag outfit.� The reporters never talk about this of course probably because the listeners would get the wrong idea.
Moving on swiftly we see a bottle HP sauce dominating the top centre which has an interesting history. The HP stands for Houses of Parliament as in the one in London which Baroness Thatcher of Kirsteven (former Prime Minister.) named the �Mother of Parliaments� around the time of the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution. She will have to eat her words as the brand now under the ownership of CAC 40 quoted Dannone group oh and by the way EDF (Electricte de France) supply the electricity for the building (may have changed) but she was a politician after all so like economists they are allowed to be wrong in hindsight.
On the bottom left we see a black pudding � formerly only available in Northern England it is now sold South of Stoke-on-Trent as for the contents well I�m not sure but put it this way don�t expect it to improve your sex life though you never know ..
Topping off our list of ingredients we see two eggs and some mushrooms. We didn�t have any tinned baked beans but they are cheap and all you do is open the tin and warm them up stirring and making sure they don�t boil.
As regard to sources in Mainland Europe you could always drive to Calais where they are freely available from the UK supermarkets there or ask a friendly ex-Pat as they tend to know sources of these things.
Art lovers may like to come back as I may do some more work on this one.
Warm the pan and add a covering of oil � we use olive oil but before you complain of ex-Pat decadence if used sparingly a bottle can last around 3 months.
Warm up the oil in the pan on a high heat.
Add the bacon (usually Danish.) A useful tip is to dangle the bacon into the oil and if it sizzles the oil is hot enough � also good for steaks that one.
Add the black pudding and just before the bacon is cooked add the egg(s).� The trick here is assertiveness � be firm but controlled so the egg breaks cleanly.
Once again life�s not perfect and the yoke (yellow part) of the egg breaks � nothing to worry about but cook has to have that one.
That�s better � the perfect fried egg shape. A trick here is to pour the yoke out quickly then pour the white out slowly giving a more circular shape. Motorway Service Stations use a circular tool but it makes the egg look too perfect and unnatural.
Here we see everything frying away nicely � turn the heat down a bit and leave it on until the liquid on the tops of the eggs solidifies.
Slide the spatula under the egg taking care not to break the yoke.
And here we have it well it�s not Cordon Bleu or Nouvelle Cuisine but good to have as a treat particularly when you are going out exercising in the cold. We served bread on a side plate which can be fried in oil but as it soaks it up is incredibly unhealthy and not generally done. We�ve talked about the beans but HP sauce can be replaced by Tomato sauce if you feel the Far Eastern (and no we don't mean Upminster) spices are too powerful for your palate.� Consult your etiquette guide on whether it is OK to mop the egg yoke up with the bread as you would a floor.