Book review – The Breakfast Bible
The Breakfast Bible
By Seb Emina & Malcolm Eggs
Bloomsbury, £16.99
I love breakfast, but so often when eating it in a hotel, I am disappointed by what is offered. Usually, it is the quality of the key ingredients or lack of imagination for the periphery elements that let it down. It is such a missed opportunity, as the food you encounter first thing in the morning will impact your lasting impression of a property.
The first half of the book focuses on what we all know as the iconic full English breakfast, made up, according to the author, of nine key ingredients: eggs, bacon, sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes, black-or-white pudding, toast, potatoes and beans.
You may wonder how a book can devote 78 pages to these all too familiar ingredients, but the advice on cooking the ultimate fry-up is fascinating. Take, for instance, the late Bernard Loiseau's tip for cooking the perfect fried egg, which involves separating the yolk from the white and cooking for no longer than three and a half minutes.
Meanwhile, every breakfast chef should follow the recipe for impeccable poached eggs to ensure I never again have to endure the rubberised version which so often comes my way.
The latter half of the book features a selection of global recipes, which would help create added interest on the breakfast menu of any establishment. I particularly like the sound of a Swedish version of porridge served with an apple sauce, chorizo hash from Madrid, and a host of delicious sounding muffins, pastries and pancakes.
Compiled by the unlikely sounding Seb Emina (also known as Malcolm Eggs) and fellow contributors to the London Review of Breakfasts blog, this book is one that you will want to repeatedly dive into again and again for inspiration for a meal that is so frequently overlooked. In addition, the user friendly recipes are interspersed with humorous anecdotes about breakfast etiquette, famous last breakfasts and much more to amuse the reader.
This is a book written by breakfast lovers, which is both fun and useful.
By Janet Harmer
If you like this, you might like these:
â- Breakfast at the Wolseleyâ¨AA Gill
â- Clinton Street Baking Company Cookbook: Breakfast, Brunch, and Beyond from New York's Favorite Neighborhood Restaurantâ¨Dede Lahman and Neil Kleinberg