The story of the English breakfast begins in the country houses of the English gentry and their tradition of hospitality.
The idea of the English breakfast as a unique national dish, stretches back to the thirteenth century and an English institution called the gentry, who could be considered to be the guardians of the traditional English country lifestyle and a group of people who saw themselves as the cultural heirs of the Anglo-Saxons.
The gentry were considered to be a distinct social class, made up of the 'high born and people of noble and distinguished blood', its members were the senior members of the clergy, those with social connections to landed estates, relatives of titled families with no title of their own, landowners and 'genteel' families of long descent.
The gentry saw it as their duty to keep alive the traditional practices, values, cuisine and the English country lifestyle. The great country houses of England, owned by members of the gentry and the centre of huge country estates, were important hubs of local society, where breakfast was considered to be an important social event.
The breakfast table was an opportunity to display the wealth of the estate and the quality of the meats, vegetables and ingredients produced on the surrounding land and a chance to show off the skills of the cooks who prepared a vast selection of typical English breakfast dishes every morning, for the residents and guests of the house.
The gentry used to love their breakfast feasts and in the old Anglo-Saxon tradition of hospitality, used to provide hearty full breakfasts for their visiting friends, relatives and neighbors. The gentry used to enjoy a full breakfast before they went out to hunt, before a long journey, the morning after their parties and when reading the mail and periodicals of the day.
Breakfast was always a leisurely affair and considered to be a splendid way to start the day, if you wanted to get an idea of what members of the gentry were like, take a look at Mr Algernon Moncrieff and his best friend, Mr John Worthing.
Breakfast served in these country houses was made up of ingredients sourced from farmers based on the estate, the meats were cured and cooked using regional recipes and methods. Their breakfasts were made up of traditional English dishes, cooked in a typical English way and it was here that the idea of the traditional English breakfast began.