An Ulster Fry

Ok, so here is another interesting tid bit of Irish life that most people would not know about unless they visited Ireland.

So this is the traditional breakfast+lunch (it keeps you so full you don't need to eat till dinner!) here in Ireland or England. Its known as an Ulster Fry in Northern Ireland, English Fry Up in Great Britain, and an Irish Fry in....Ireland! They do slightly differ...but mostly are the same.

Here she is....

This is classified as an "Irish Fry"

So Yum! I have to admit, the first time a fry was put in front of me, I was a bit skeptical. But there is something over-whelmingliny tasty about the combination of all the flavors going on at once. You see when you eat a fry, you don't eat the egg, then the bacon, and then the bread. You eat tiny bits of each ingredient all in one bite. The combination is magical :)

Here is a list of ingredients most commonly found in a fry: fried egg, sausage, back bacon, black pudding, white pudding, beans, soda bread, potato farls, fried mushrooms, friend tomatoes, bread (white, brown, or wheaten), possibly some sort of fried potato, and about 3/4 cup of oil. All this is served with a sauce they call brown sauce. I'm not really sure what it is exactly. I just know its brown and doesn't need to be kept in the refrigerator.

My first experience ever with a fry was when I was visiting Ireland for the first time.  My husband and I were staying in a hotel in Donegal.  The first thing that I found very strange was the serving of beans with breakfast. Very odd! But I cracked on with a true tourist spirit! Always try everything once! I remember coming back to the table with this round black thing asking my husband what it was and saying I figured I would try everything up there. Luckily he didn't decide to play a wee trick on me and told me the truth. Wikipedia explains... "Black pudding, blood pudding or blood sausage is a type of sausage made by cooking blood or dried blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled" VOMIT!!!! So glad I didn't eat this. And plan to never eat it as well! White pudding isn't quite as gross, its pretty much the same thing minus the blood. These two in the picture are the two circular things on the bottom right corner. 

Ok so eggs, sausage, back bacon, fried mushrooms, potatoes...not so weird. Other than you wouldn't eat mushrooms or potatoes for breakfast, eggs must be actually fried in oil, the sausage comes with the skin on it and you have to take it off...another eww!, and the bacon isn't strip bacon..its actually off the back of the pig so its healthier.

Fried tomatoes is weird. Doesn't frying a tomato in oil kinda defeat the purpose of eating a tomato? And for breakfast?

Now the thing that really makes these breakfasts a new experience is the breads used. I had never eaten or heard of any of them until I was here. But now I must say I quite like my fry breads :)



Soda Bread

Here is soda bread. This is normally sliced in half to make two thinner bits. If you didn't do that you would literally use a cup of oil to fry this. This bad boy soaks op the grease like crazy. To cook this you put loads of oil in the pan, turn to low heat, and fry 'er up!

Potato Farl

There is a bit of potato farl, affectionately known as a 'tatty farl'. Potato bread is a form of bread in which potato replaces a portion of the regular wheat flour.  Mix this with a bit of egg, bacon, and beans and you have a heavenly combination!  If we ever move, I will have to master the art of making potato farls for my husband as he will not be about to function without a fried farl every so often.

Well eat a plate of all that and it will definitely 'keep you ticking over' as they say here. This heart attack on a plate is one of the many things I would miss about Ireland. Even though you feel sick an hour after eating it due to the large consumption of oil, fat, and grease....it really is so, so good.  Although I have actually become quite good at making a fry, it wouldn't be the same eating it anywhere other than here.