It's the weekend, which means many Brits will be chowing down on a fry-up this morning. But if yours includes hash browns, you're apparently doing it wrong.
That's right, people are outraged after food experts claimed hash browns do not belong on a full English breakfast to the surprise and outrage of many.
The crispy and golden potato treats have lots of fans and it’s not unusual to see them alongside sausage, eggs, bacon, mushrooms and beans on a good old fry up.
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However, the English Breakfast Society – which is made up of academics and fans of the classic English breakfast - has claimed that hash browns are ‘a lazy American replacement’ to bubble and squeak – an old fried British dish made from cooked potatoes and cabbage.
An English Breakfast Society spokesperson said: “Hash browns are not part of a traditional English breakfast.”
They doubled down on their criticism for the American dish, explaining: “Frozen hash browns are a lazy American replacement for traditional bubble and squeak, served by those who lack pride in the English breakfast tradition.
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"Somebody has to draw the line somewhere and say 'no hash browns' because if we let the hash browns thing slide and become part of the tradition what's next? Fish fingers? Kebab meat?"
They didn’t mince their words, did they?
So, by adding the little fried golden potato nuggets to your brekkie you’re actually breaking tradition and it seems this realisation is almost too much to handle for many Brits.
The English Breakfast Society lists all the delicious and tasty components to make a proper full English, which includes sausage, bacon, fried egg, grilled tomato, mushrooms, baked beans, black pudding, and toast.
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Experts also say that the full English breakfast should be served with either tea or coffee along with a glass of orange juice and some newspapers (to read and not to eat, of course).
One commenter said hash browns have been part of the English breakfast line up ‘for years’, writing: “A bit late bringing it up now. Hash browns have been a feature of a full English for years. Personally I don't like me.”
One hash browns fanatic wrote: “I don't care. I love hash browns, I don't want bubble & squeak for breakfast.”
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Another pedantic breakfast lover shared: “You can certainly have hash browns as part of a cooked breakfast, but I wouldn't call it a ‘full English’ if they were included.”
And one comment which will surely rile up the Society said: “I'm British and my favourite part of cooked Breakfast are the Hash Browns, I often eat them just on their own with some HP sauce, love them."
The society’s website also states that the ingredients may vary slightly depending on where you are in Great Britain and they often get people writing in to say that the ingredients listed on its site are wrong.
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While the society acknowledges there are variations to the fry up, one thing that should never be invited to join the other foods on your brekkie plate is hash browns.
"We here at the Society believe that frozen hash browns and French fries are used as a cheap breakfast plate filler, served by people who probably buy cheap imported bacon and sausages to use in their so called English breakfasts, and who have probably never heard of bubble and squeak," the website states.
We'll never look at hash browns the same way ever again...
Topics: Food And Drink
Gregory Robinson