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
4 comments:
Are crumpets something you can make at home? If so, do share a certified english recipe with those of us unlucky enough to live in the promised land.
You should turn your blog into a daily review of tasty English treats. my mouth is watering. then again, if i were to read something like this every day, eventually i would start gaining weight by osmosis. they would have to peel my bloated body out of my chair with a spatula. as i lay in the hospital, dying from the high blood pressure and clogged arteries that came not from real food but from my imagination, would you please bring me a crumpet smeared in lemon curd? if it was my dying wish, would you do it?
and i agree-- we need a recipe!
we're on it.
we have done some looking into the crumpet and lemon curd issue over the last few months. and here is what we've found:
1. the vast majority of crumpets consumed in brittain are purchased in packaged form from the grocery store, due largely to the fact that it is so much easier to buy them than to make them.
2. adding a lot of extra eggs to pancake batter does not a satisfactory crumpet make.
3. home-made lemon curd is awesome and not very difficult to make--see recipe below. (thanks to mom legler for charming the recipe out of a sweet welsh lady at a farmer's market.)
4. Trader Joe's carries crumpets! i'm not sure how authentic they are, seeing as they offer a "cinnamon crumpet," which just simply does not exist here. but there you have it.
LEMON CURD CHEPSTOW MARKET LADY
1 lb. 9 oz. sugar
4 ½ oz. butter
10 fl. oz. lemon juice (5, 6, 7 lemons, depending on their size)
lemon zest from the lemons used for the juice
10 fl. oz. eggs
1. Melt the sugar, butter, and lemon juice & zest in a double boiler.
2. Add eggs and stir until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. DO NOT BOIL.
3. Pour into jars with food wrap over the top. Good in fridge for 6-8 wks. (We used cleaned-out jam and honey jars and screwed on their lids instead of using the wrap.)
Makes about 4-5 medium jam jars.
*Use only fresh lemons and real butter.
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