the full english

Cowboy and Cop (1940) WPA photo by Lee Russell

"[...] Then, delicious fried bread. An old-fashioned white loaf is best, as sliced bread contains sugar that burns when you fry it. It is the particular cooking of this final staple that is so important. First, never fry the bread in hot fat in a frying pan; this will make it too greasy. Instead, thinly spread both sides of the bread with dripping or bacon fat, or spray or brush them with oil. Let the bread cook quietly in a thick-based frying pan, turned once, until pale golden and crusted. Just gorgeous." — Simon Hopkinson, More Intelligent Life
Read more...

"The fried English breakfast was conceived during the Industrial Revolution (probably) as a form of fast fuel for a working class that actually worked. They ate 3,000 calories in the morning, then they burnt 3,000 calories by lunchtime. Or died when the mine collapsed. But you don't burn 3,000 calories driving a forklift truck, or answering the phone [...]" — Giles Coren, The Sunday Times
Read more...