The Last shall be First

So I was going to write my last Welsh posting about the first meal of the day.  I was going to comment (See editor’s notes below) that most anywhere you go in the UK the “Full Breakfast” is pretty much standard.  That is, you get eggs, usually scrambled, link sausages (quite fine grained), black and white pudding, back bacon, stewed mushrooms, roasted or grilled tomatoes, beans (like our baked beans), cold and hot cereal available (usually granola type and porridge), generally a cold plate with assorted meats (sliced ham, Genoa type sausages, maybe smoked salmon) and cheeses (some regional variations, but sometimes a foil wrapped Laughing Cow or Babybel red wax encased type is in there).  

The general practice is that you check in to the breakfast room by giving a front person your room number who will then seat you (God forbid you try to bypass this step, you uncivilized American colonists!) whereupon a server will come and ask if you would like tea or coffee, and do you care for toast?.   The buffet is pointed out, although most places do have an a la carte menu if you care for an omelet or maybe kippers.  Since the “full breakfast” buffet is normally included in the tour package we usually go for that (breakfast is the only time I appreciate a buffet) because you can pick and choose and control your own portion size.

Speaking of which, the offered tea and coffee is pretty much always brought to each individual in a rather large pot, one even if you both have tea.  And the toast is generally served in one of those rack affairs that holds approximately 279 slices of bread of different varieties.  One soon learns that when touring the countryside in a coach, limiting the intake of the liquids might be wise.  Yes the coach has a loo, but that is an experience that soon gets relegated to “emergency only” status.  A detailed description of its use might be a little graphic for a such a genteel blog.

I could pretty much pick any picture of any of the breakfasts we’ve had in England, Scotland, or Ireland and they would be very similar, with maybe only variations in serving dishes and implements.   This may have been the nicest presentation we came across, at our first Hotel in Wales.

Alert readers will note that the Dutch Ovens are Le Creuset.  Excellent heat holding capability but users will know the lids are HEAVY (a fact acknowledged by chef behind the serving line), which only exacerbates the ritual of trying to lift the lid, grab the tongs, select your item, try to get it on the plate, and return same tongs and on to the next.  Being the first day out, I cut down some, staying with tried and true with the usual attempt at black pudding.

Which to be honest, kind of got pushed around the plate .  The bacon is always good, although you spend the rest of the days getting pieces of it out of your teeth.

As i said, there is a commonality for the "full" breakfast, so in line with that here's sort of a breakfast tour of the UK, starting with a lovely cold plate from Dublin in 2010

A lesser presentation from Scotland in 2012:

Or a really bare bones basic one also from Scotland:

Notice bacon is always popular..

We did sometimes order from the menu, which got us this lovely salmon and poached egg (in Scotland)

However, the menu approach wasn't always that successful;   here’s somebody’s menu – note the list under “Welsh Breakfast” all the stuff save sausage..

MFO chose the Eggs Benedict, and I decided to try (thinking or Scotland) the Scrambled Eggs and Smoked Salmon.  Eventually we were presented with

And

You will note that while the “Bene” dish looks okay, in fact the Hollandaise sauce was so viscous it wouldn't flow from the pitcher, perhaps because it was stone cold, as were the poached eggs which had a (cold) solid yolk.  The scrambled eggs were pretty consistent with others we had, kind of grainy.  The salmon, which appeared to be just slapped on the plate, had just a bit of tang to it.  Once that gets in your head, you’re done.  I am sure it was fine, but the thought kind of stayed in my stomach all day.

And finally, a special thanks to Cole Travel for arranging our travels this year.  They do it right. and yes, dear readers I always did

DFD

Okay, Some (Random) Editor Notes on this and that:

Welsh Laverbread:

In poking around about Welsh breakfasts, I discovered that the Welsh are quite nationalistic about what is considered “Full Welsh Breakfast”, and many authors pointed out that it is NOT the same as a Full English breakfast.  However, comma, the ingredients are all pretty much the same, it is just that the Welsh stress that the eggs, sausages, bacon, and so forth must come from Wales.  Okay.   BUT, I did find one unique item that should have found its way onto the buffet (if it did, I missed it..).  There is something called “Laverbread” and you can see it on the menu pictured above.  It apparently is traditionally served with Cockles and Bacon.. (as noted).  To quote one source:

“Laverbread or ‘bara lawr’ in Welsh is an important traditional food of historical value. A national delicacy made from seaweed, it is washed and then cooked to a soft greenish black paste. Made from laver, one of the most nutritious varieties of seaweed, laverbread is full of health benefits…Traditionally a miner’s breakfast of laverbread, bacon, eggs and cockles was eaten by hungry workers before a long day at the pits.”

Got to admit it doesn’t sound all that thrilling (soft greenish black paste??  Yikes)..The Penclawdd is a reference to a village famous for its cockles.   

Posting notes:

I suppose by this time most readers are growing tired of my ramblings and pictures of foreign lands.  I kind of am too, so I think now I will go back to my normal content of rants, restaurant reviews, and thoughts on proper service.

Emails:

Some of you occasionally respond with a comment on one thing or another from the blog, and is sent to my “Bill at Billsbottom Feeder” inbox.  And I really do appreciate that, I really do.  It lets me know that somebody out there actually does read the blog.  However, over the past few weeks somehow the address has spread far and wide, and the Outlook “junk mail filter” has quit being smart.  So I routinely get maybe 250 emails a day telling me that somebody has requested a background check on me, or my credit report has been comprised, or how I can make one million dollars by doing nothing, and several medical products that will enable me to…. Well, you know.  With the result that I do scan the inbox and if something catches my eye I will look at it, but most likely it will fall victim to mass deletions.  If you wish to comment (which I really, really value) send it to my wcmatpax email which most know about.  If not PM me on facebook. 

Local Foodie Stuff:

There has been lots of goings on here in the park with restaurants moving, opening, and so forth.  I hope to be able to yak about those, although a lot of the info can be gained through other outlets.  I did have a chance to experience Rex over in Leonardtown the other day and have a few things to say about that, and I also visited the “new” lighthouse on the Solomons.

Finale:

So that concludes our travel for this year (with the exception of our annual trek to Missouri), and we are already looking forward to next year’s journeys which will include a river boat (on Viking) trip to Amsterdam and Tulips, and then next fall a return to Ireland to visit Maryland historical related sites and also attend the Galway International Oyster Opening competition.  And yes, to experience Guinness in its home country. 

and, just to emphasize you must ALWAYS

DFD