Is the first meal of the
day, which literally breaks the fast of the night. Before the end of the
18th century, breakfast was taken very early in the morning and consisted
of cold meat, pâté, and cheese. In Victorian England,
breakfast consisted of a fairly prolonged family meal of ham, galantine,
omelette, ox tongue, kedgeree, or even roasted partridge, followed by
fruit, honey and biscuits and served with tea. Today the English breakfast
survise largely in hotels or on weekends, in peoples homes. Fruit juice
or cereal, such as porridge or cornflakes, is followed by eggs and bacon,
grilled (broiled) tomatoes and sausages, or sometimes kippers (grilled or
poached). The meal if finished off with the consumption of toast with
marmalade, that is served with tea or coffee. Some regional differences
may occur, such as lava bread and oat broth with buttermilk in Wales and
grilled black pudding (blood sausage) in Lancashire, however it still
looks like a meal fit for a king or queen.
This traditional breakfast is usually more than the average British
household can deal with on a daily basis, especially if all the family
members have to go out to work. Much more common today is a simple cereal,
followed by tea or coffee and toast with marmalade, or the so called
"continental breakfast", consumed in France, Switzerland and elsewhere.
The Continental could also be referred to as "petit
déjeuner".
