Rachael Davis
When it comes to assortments of meat, carbs, and a smattering of token vegetables, nobody does it better than the British.
The roast dinner is a miracle of being more than the sum of its parts, and the same goes for the breakfast equivalent: the Full English.
With such fine contributions to world cuisine come the need to defend their sanctity. If the Italians are in uproar over a Good Food recipe suggesting adding cream to a cacio e pepe, it’s only right that we British split hairs over what belongs in a roast or Full English.
So, what are your essentials and, more importantly, what are the absolute no-gos?
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As far as the generative AI results on Google go, the typical Full English contains the following:
You might notice that the AI overlord didn’t make mention of one aberrant favourite, and experts agree that it doesn’t belong on a Full English plate.
That’s right, you read the headline correctly: it’s hash browns.
The blend of potato and onion, baked to golden crispness, is a fine addition to a Full English. They go with all the ingredients, and they’re a solid alternative on the carbs front if you’d rather swerve the fried toast.
But suitability isn’t tantamount to membership, and the English Breakfast Society is having none of it.
Hash browns, it says, are a ‘lazy American replacement’ for bubble and squeak. The classic English dish is a fried mash of potatoes and cabbage, which isn’t a million miles from a hash brown, but it’s fair to say it’s got more on the ‘English’ credentials than the New York-born hash brown.
And, let’s face it, it’s much easier to find a bag of frozen hash browns than a bubble and squeak equivalent.
“Hash browns are not part of a traditional English breakfast,” said the English Breakfast Society.
This presumably shadowy cabal of English grub traditionalists continued: “Frozen hash browns are a lazy American replacement for traditional bubble and squeak, served by those who lack pride in the English breakfast tradition.
"Somebody has to draw the line somewhere and say 'no hash browns' because if we let the hash browns thing slide and become part of the tradition what's next? Fish fingers? Kebab meat?"
So there you have it. If the assertions of a group you’ve likely never heard of – populated by people you didn’t vote for – are enough to sway your views on how to conduct a Full English in your own home, then it’s time to throw the hash browns out.