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English Breakfasting

Crumpet. The word just sounds delicious. Like treacle, as in treacle tart and treacle golden syrup. Yum! But I digress. Now crumpet (not to be confused with strumpet) is "a thick, flat, savory cake with a soft, porous texture, made from a yeast mixture cooked on a griddle then toasted and buttered" (according to our dictionary widgit). Because of its porous nature, it soaks up the butter and whatever remotely viscous sweet gooey substance you decide to spread upon it whilst it is still warm from the toaster. For example, honey upon a buttered crumpet is divine. However, we have discovered a confectionary delight which rivals honey on the crumpet. Enter lemon curd.

Lemon curd is quite possibly the ambrosia of the Greek gods. It is basically the filling of a lemon meringue pie, though a little more spreadable, and infinitely more accessible, since you can purchase lemon curd in a jar at virtually any grocer around town. It is tasty in it's own right, and I'm not entirely sure how the English eat it, but seeped into the nooks and craters of a crumpet it is the very reason for which I hop out of bed each morning.

Unfortunately, as far as we've discovered, the crumpet is not a part of a traditional "full English breakfast". Said breakfast incorporates sausage, poached egg on toast, baked beans, a rasher of bacon (similar in appearance to a nice serving of a spiral-cut ham), and a broiled tomato. We've enjoyed full English breakfasts at each of the charming bed and breakfasts we've frequented in our travels--James even ordered a full Scottish breakfast when we visited Edinburgh (pronounced "e-din-BUR-a", of course), which is basically the same deal as the English. (Which begs the question: who is the true author of the Full Breakfast? Indeed.) Never at any of these opportunities for morning dining have we been proffered our beloved crumpets a la lemon curd. So it is not an official part of a traditional English breakfast, but it is a part of my English breakfast.

-m