A brief history of the English Breakfast

Today is English Breakfast Day and to celebrate it, One Stop is putting on some Great offers so you can have the best start to the day. After all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day! English Breakfast Day takes place on December 2nd every year and is celebrated by millions of people internationally.

So what is National English Breakfast Day?

English breakfast day was originally started to drum up support for a centuries old Anglo tradition and teach others about the history of the full English breakfast.

“What nicer thing can you do for somebody than make them breakfast?” – Anthony Bourdain

The Full English is a pillar of popular British food. It can be found almost anywhere in the country, from posh establishments to dreary high-street cafés. Variations of this ‘full breakfast’ exist across the United Kingdom and Ireland, and they have done for decades – if not centuries. The full English breakfast is an iconic dish in British culinary culture, that started centuries ago by the upper class and aspiring middle classes and has slowly transformed over time as a truly national breakfast dish enjoyed by the working class.

How the English Breakfast Began

The history of the English breakfast can be dated back to the 14/15th century in the country houses of the English gentry. The gentry were a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate.

The Anglo Saxon tradition of hospitality was to provide hearty full breakfasts for visitors passing by, neighbours, family and friends. They also liked to indulge in full English breakfasts before they went out to hunt and typically before a long journey. It was an opportunity for the rich to display the wealth of their estates through the quality of the meats and vegetables produced on their surrounding lands. It was also a chance to show off the culinary skills of the cooks who prepared a selection of typical Anglo Saxon breakfast dishes for the residents and guests of the house to choose from and graze upon.

When the English Breakfast gained popularity

Then came the Victorian Era where the gentry as a social class were in decline. Instead wealthy merchants, industrialists and businessmen seeking to climb up the ranks of society studied the traditions of the gentry, and enthusiastically adopted their notion of the English breakfast as an important social event.

By the time the Edwardian era began the English breakfast was eaten on a regular basis by all classes as a traditional family meal as it would provide enough energy to get them through a full working day. It was commonly served in hotels, bed and breakfasts, on trains and at meetings across the country. Standard ingredients made it easier to prepare and so the ‘common’ English breakfast rapidly spread nationally, its standard ingredients of bacon, eggs, sausage, black pudding, baked beans, grilled tomato, fried bread and toast, served with a jams, marmalades, tea/coffee and orange juice.

“I went to a restaurant that serves ‘breakfast at any time, so I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance.” – Steven Wright

By the early 1950’s, around half of the British population began their day by eating the same English breakfast we would eat today. The English breakfast was famously served in what used to be called ‘greasy spoon cafes’ found on industrial estates and close to ports, where all the workers were. These cafe’s were the best places to get a real English breakfast, but over the last few decades they have fallen into decline along with British industry and manufacturing and real greasy spoon cafes are now rare.

The Present Day

For more than two centuries, the tradition of the full English breakfast has been enjoyed across the full spectrum of British society and it for this reason that the traditional full English breakfast is still being served to this day in family kitchens, hotels, bed & breakfast’s and pubs throughout Great Britain.

How you can get involved

You can get involved today by enjoying the beloved national dish and sharing photos and videos of your experience on social media using the official English Breakfast Day hashtag #EnglishBreakfastDay