It's emerged recently that the Full English Breakfast is in danger of dying out, as youngsters increasingly spurn the dish. Research has found that one in ten health conscious 18 to 34 year olds never tuck into one, whilst 14% only scoff one once a year. A further 20% only get their chops around eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, tomatoes and toast once every couple of months.
Almost a third think it all takes too long to prepare, whilst four in ten young people say it's simply too fatty and calorific to enjoy more often. Have they never heard of closing your eyes, so the calories don't count?
In the end, it turns out the research was commissioned not entirely without an agenda by Breville. I can only assume they were logging to bolster sales of their air fryers, which - hey presto! - can be used to cook a lower calorie version of the Full English. Let's be honest, the air fryer has been doing a lot of heavy lifting in the Channel 5 TV schedule in recent months, with more one hour specials than any other subject I can think of.
Life is short, and I honestly think a Full English is one of its little pleasures, along with a pot of tea, a read of the newspaper, and people actually smiling back at you when you say hello whilst out on a walk at the weekend rather than scowling. I learned in 2022, when following the Slimming World regime a bit more closely, that you can easily make a syn-free Full English, and it absolutely doesn't have to be a gut-buster to be tasty. Beans are syn-free, folks! Sadly, the black pudding is not.
Having said that, though, if you fancy a slice of fried bread and some black pud, I say go for it. The odd decadent treat every now and then will do no harm in the long run, in my humble opinion, and life would be pretty dull without them. I'm not sure if this is true, but I read somewhere that Victoria Beckham, who's just turned 50, basically eats the same tea every night. Steamed fish and veg, every single evening. Can you imagine how dull that must be for poor David?! If he ever hears those magical words "shall we get a pizza tonight, love?", I bet he celebrates like he's just scored the winning goal at a World Cup game
I used to really enjoy stopping at the side of random A roads for a Little Chef Olympic breakfast. It's a shame this culinary classic can't be revived to celebrate the forthcoming Paris Olympics. Do you remember that show where Heston Blumenthal tried to make the Little Chef menu a bit more contemporary, yet more customers opted for the griddled classics? I'd love someone to revive that brand, but sadly it looks unlikely.
It's all well and good eating healthily, but after a session on the craft beer, there is simply nothing in the world like a Full English to sort you out the next morning. Served with builder's tea and plentiful toast dripping in butter, it's most definitely the food of the gods. Keep your smashed avo on toast, young people, and embrace the fried bread! If you're veggie, I might permit it, but to be honest a stack of hash browns sounds far more tempting.
To close on this topic, YouGov did a very important survey in 2017, and found that bacon is the single most important item on a Full English plate, followed by sausage, toast, and beans. They also found that men prefer anything with the word 'fried' in it, and mushrooms are not that popular amongst millennial types.
I'm pleased to report as well this week that I kept my pledge of leaving my mobile phone in a locker, switched off, at home for a week whilst Sofia and I enjoyed some sunshine in the Canaries. It was weird for the first day or so, but I quickly grew to appreciate the ping-free life, and living in the moment. Luckily, she brought her phone, so we were able to receive photos of Colin Cann our kitten on his holiday. Nobody quite prepared me for the heart-wrenching moment we said goodbye to him for a week. My heart dropped as if I was riding the Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. I missed him so much.
Right, Colin cuddles, and a trip to Little Chef. Sounds like that's my weekend mapped out.
Alex Cann's weekly blog - 9th January
