0:00:04 > 0:00:07'Forget about the stories you've read in history books.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11'Our food customs are our most direct connection
0:00:11 > 0:00:13'to the world of the past.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17'This is history that you can touch,
0:00:17 > 0:00:20'smell and above all, taste.'
0:00:20 > 0:00:21It's lovely!
0:00:21 > 0:00:25'The rituals of breakfast, lunch and dinner
0:00:25 > 0:00:28'are something I think we take for granted
0:00:28 > 0:00:31'as if they have always existed as they are now.'
0:00:32 > 0:00:34I think I'd prefer it fried.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37You'd have a heart attack by lunchtime!
0:00:37 > 0:00:40'But unpick the stories of our three main meals
0:00:40 > 0:00:43'and you discover gastronomic revolutions,
0:00:43 > 0:00:46'technological leaps
0:00:46 > 0:00:49and sometimes, gruesome realities.'
0:00:49 > 0:00:51Decay, that would cause really bad breath.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53Yes, I think I've had boyfriends like that.
0:00:55 > 0:01:00'I never miss a good meal, but food is about more than just filling up.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05'There's a rich and complex history to our daily mealtimes
0:01:05 > 0:01:08'and that's what I'm setting out to explore.'
0:01:11 > 0:01:13Right, dig in!
0:01:31 > 0:01:33Of all our daily meals,
0:01:33 > 0:01:38the first of the day has the most mysterious history.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42The origins of some of the best-loved breakfast ingredients
0:01:42 > 0:01:47that I'm going in search of are buried deep in our collective past.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50But I want to start with what we think of now
0:01:50 > 0:01:52as a traditional breakfast
0:01:52 > 0:01:56and so I've come to the kind of establishment
0:01:56 > 0:02:00where it still takes pride of place - the British caff.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03In this case, a biker's caff.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10The so-called English breakfast, or Full English,
0:02:10 > 0:02:14is our best-known contribution to international cuisine.
0:02:16 > 0:02:17This is, I suspect,
0:02:17 > 0:02:21what most of us think of as the quintessential morning meal.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25But there's something unexpected going on here
0:02:25 > 0:02:29because this isn't the start of the working day,
0:02:29 > 0:02:30it's the end of the week.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34So, Friday night in a bikers' cafe, what could be nicer?
0:02:34 > 0:02:36And you're having a Full English.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39You can't beat a full English just after a long ride.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44- 500?- It's not only a meal that you can eat in the morning, you know,
0:02:44 > 0:02:46you can eat it pretty much at any point during the day
0:02:46 > 0:02:49and I don't believe that they say it's unhealthy for you.
0:02:49 > 0:02:54I don't believe that either, but do you ever have it for breakfast?
0:02:54 > 0:02:56Most weekends, we have a fry-up of some kind.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58Do you like your full English yourself?
0:02:58 > 0:03:00I have been known to have one or 12, yes,
0:03:00 > 0:03:01in fact, I got accused by my wife,
0:03:01 > 0:03:03I'm actually on a diet at the moment,
0:03:03 > 0:03:05but I was accused of living on them at one point.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09- I can't think of anything better myself.- Me neither!
0:03:09 > 0:03:12The full English has become so iconic, in fact,
0:03:12 > 0:03:17that it's now a dish to be enjoyed at any time of day or night.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23For sure, we'll witness strange mixtures at this time of the day
0:03:23 > 0:03:28when people are ordering a breakfast with a glass of Stella.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Personally, I prefer to eat mine in the morning
0:03:33 > 0:03:35and nowadays without the pint of lager.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40The phrase "bacon and eggs" is so familiar to us now,
0:03:40 > 0:03:43you might never have wondered
0:03:43 > 0:03:45how or why they were first put together on a plate.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51But it's a story intricately bound up
0:03:51 > 0:03:55with the customs and rhythms of life in a much earlier age,
0:03:55 > 0:03:59back in the day when our morning meal first got its name.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14In the Middle Ages,
0:04:14 > 0:04:19the Catholic Church determined what you could eat and when.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22One of the most important rules
0:04:22 > 0:04:25was that no-one should eat until after morning mass.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29Only then could you break your fast.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33We also have the clergy to thank
0:04:33 > 0:04:37for creating the combination of bacon and eggs,
0:04:37 > 0:04:40although it came about almost by accident
0:04:40 > 0:04:43because for roughly half the days of the year,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46the church forbade people to eat meat at all.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53On the days when you couldn't eat meat,
0:04:53 > 0:04:56you would have to face something like this.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58Eugh!
0:04:58 > 0:05:00What's this?
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Well, this is salt fish,
0:05:03 > 0:05:08which has been...prepared
0:05:08 > 0:05:12in a manner that would have been common in the Middle Ages,
0:05:12 > 0:05:15so it's salt fish, which has been soaked
0:05:15 > 0:05:18and served here with mustard and honey.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22Do you that think grace would improve the smell?
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Erm, probably not.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27But it might be a good thing to do.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29Bless us, O Lord, in these thy gifts...
0:05:29 > 0:05:32'Father Tim Gardner is a member of the Dominican order,
0:05:32 > 0:05:35'which was founded in the 13th century
0:05:35 > 0:05:40'and he's something of an expert on mediaeval religious strictures.'
0:05:40 > 0:05:45- Actually, it's better than it looks. - It's a lot better than it looks.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48Was the belief that a piscarian diet
0:05:48 > 0:05:53was somehow...more virtuous?
0:05:53 > 0:05:54There certainly was an idea
0:05:54 > 0:05:59that certain kinds of food had physical effects
0:05:59 > 0:06:02and, you know, we know that's true nowadays,
0:06:02 > 0:06:04I mean, it's not such a strange idea,
0:06:04 > 0:06:08you know, chocolate, double cream, they make you feel happy...
0:06:08 > 0:06:10- That's the serotonin.- Absolutely.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13So, meat,
0:06:13 > 0:06:14- well, meat is flesh.- Mmm.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18There was an idea around
0:06:18 > 0:06:24that because meat is the product of sexual reproduction,
0:06:24 > 0:06:30there was a clear connection between meat in particular and sex,
0:06:30 > 0:06:35so you know, you eat meat, you're going to be thinking about sex,
0:06:35 > 0:06:39which is not what you want monks and friars to be thinking about.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43- Not if you take the bow of celibacy. - Absolutely.- That is fascinating.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45I never actually thought of,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48you know, the constrictions on meat eating
0:06:48 > 0:06:53as being because meat was the product of obvious reproduction.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55One of the reasons, yeah.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57No, that's a new one to me.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59PRAYERS ARE CHANTED
0:06:59 > 0:07:03Nuns and monks had to observe the rules more strictly than most
0:07:03 > 0:07:06but they applied to everyone
0:07:06 > 0:07:09and the most intensive period of abstinence in mediaeval times
0:07:09 > 0:07:10was Lent.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16It became traditional to fill up immediately beforehand
0:07:16 > 0:07:18on all the things you would not be allowed to eat,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21which is why we have pancakes.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25But this is also the point at which bacon and eggs comes into the story.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30In Lent, it's a time when you can't eat eggs
0:07:30 > 0:07:33and that's a significant source of protein.
0:07:33 > 0:07:38Something else, of course, that you can't eat during Lent is meat,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41so it's not just the butter and milk and eggs
0:07:41 > 0:07:44that we use up on Shrove Tuesday,
0:07:44 > 0:07:45but meat too,
0:07:45 > 0:07:50- so the day before Shrove Tuesday used to be known as Collop Monday.- Really?
0:07:50 > 0:07:54- "Collop" meaning a bit of meat.- Yeah.
0:07:54 > 0:07:59And that was a time when scraps of meat might be used up,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02so if it was pork, bacon,
0:08:02 > 0:08:06you'd also have eggs that you were trying to use up
0:08:06 > 0:08:08so there you have it.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10- Your Full English.- Bacon and eggs.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15So that's how it all began, with a single day of indulgence
0:08:15 > 0:08:18in the mediaeval calendar just before Lent.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26But why have bacon with your eggs
0:08:26 > 0:08:27and not some other kind of meat?
0:08:36 > 0:08:38To find out more about the origin
0:08:38 > 0:08:40of our best-known breakfast ingredient,
0:08:40 > 0:08:44I've come to see an old friend of mine, Jan McCourt.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46He's a pig farmer.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49So what breeds have we got here?
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Mainly purebred British Lops,
0:08:52 > 0:08:55which is the rarest of the British rare breeds.
0:08:55 > 0:08:56And they do us very well,
0:08:56 > 0:08:59they have good, large litters, they're very hardy,
0:08:59 > 0:09:03- and they taste very good. - Yes! Absolutely, do they.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05My favourite pig, British Lops.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07And a couple of saddlebacks.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13Looking at Jan's happy herd,
0:09:13 > 0:09:17it's not hard to imagine the scene in a mediaeval village
0:09:17 > 0:09:20when almost every cottager would have kept pigs.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23They are wonderfully low-maintenance animals
0:09:23 > 0:09:25and, given enough space,
0:09:25 > 0:09:28they can be largely left to forage for themselves,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31which is very much how Jan likes to do things.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35What is your philosophy of stock rearing?
0:09:35 > 0:09:39- Well, when I approached farming from a different life...- From banking.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42Yeah. I mean, I'd always wanted to farm
0:09:42 > 0:09:47and to take as extensive as opposed to intensive an approach as possible,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50and so rear pigs, for example, in family groups,
0:09:50 > 0:09:52use the woodland as much as possible.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54But that's very mediaeval, isn't it?
0:09:54 > 0:09:59Yeah, it is. Pigs were kept in small numbers by individuals
0:09:59 > 0:10:03and there was almost a ritual as you ran into the winter,
0:10:03 > 0:10:06where the family pig would be killed
0:10:06 > 0:10:11and the whole rota of using every little bit of the animal started.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15Having killed one of their pigs,
0:10:15 > 0:10:17someone in the mediaeval family
0:10:17 > 0:10:20would have had the job of butchering it and curing it,
0:10:20 > 0:10:21'just as Jan does.'
0:10:22 > 0:10:24- Ah!- Here we have half a pig!
0:10:24 > 0:10:26Excellent. What's that off?
0:10:26 > 0:10:30That's a British Lop/ Gloucester Old Spot cross.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32So we count three ribs in,
0:10:32 > 0:10:33pop the knife in,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36feel the way through, alongside the bones,
0:10:36 > 0:10:38mind yourself, there.
0:10:39 > 0:10:40Just bring it over.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Of course, there'll be lots of butchers watching this
0:10:43 > 0:10:45who will be incredibly critical.
0:10:45 > 0:10:46I'm not a butcher,
0:10:46 > 0:10:50- I'm a poet.- A poet(!)
0:10:50 > 0:10:52And we just take that out,
0:10:52 > 0:10:54to leave the leg.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57So there you have loin of pork.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04This is a mixture of the salt and saltpetre
0:11:04 > 0:11:07and the various ingredients that you need
0:11:07 > 0:11:09to dry out the loin.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13This process takes a minimum of a week.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17'Most mediaeval families wouldn't be able to afford
0:11:17 > 0:11:21'to eat a whole pig in one go, naturally.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25'They would have had to make it last, perhaps for several months,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28'and so to preserve the meat, they cured it.'
0:11:28 > 0:11:31'Cured pork is, of course, bacon.'
0:11:32 > 0:11:35Now, I've left the rind on
0:11:35 > 0:11:38as traditionally, obviously, rind should stay on the bacon
0:11:38 > 0:11:40and it's one of the delights of it.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42Now, I can feel the moisture
0:11:42 > 0:11:45already beginning to leach out because of the salt
0:11:45 > 0:11:48so normally, that would have been done in a container,
0:11:48 > 0:11:51and then it would go into the tub
0:11:51 > 0:11:54and you turn it every day for a week.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58So do you have one you cured earlier?
0:11:58 > 0:12:00I have. We'll nip over to the kitchen in a minute
0:12:00 > 0:12:04- and I've got it all sliced up and ready to get the sizzle going.- Yes!
0:12:04 > 0:12:07BACON SIZZLES
0:12:10 > 0:12:12The smell of breakfast.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14In a lovely hot griddle pan,
0:12:14 > 0:12:16it almost needs no time at all.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21'But there's an important fact to remember in all of this.'
0:12:21 > 0:12:24'Apart from Collop Monday, most mediaeval families
0:12:24 > 0:12:28'probably couldn't afford to have bacon for breakfast.'
0:12:28 > 0:12:31- Shall we give it a go?- Absolutely.
0:12:31 > 0:12:36'Their pigs were, after all, their main source of meat of any kind.'
0:12:36 > 0:12:38Like the piece we cured,
0:12:38 > 0:12:41this is just the short back.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Help yourself.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48Mmm. It's lovely.
0:12:48 > 0:12:53We think of bacon as breakfast now,
0:12:53 > 0:12:57but historically, it was the staple food of almost everybody
0:12:57 > 0:13:00and it would have tasted something like this.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04But also, the whole pig is curable.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07You could literally bone the whole pig out from top to tail
0:13:07 > 0:13:09and bury it in salt.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12There are records of people doing it in old Roman sarcophagi,
0:13:12 > 0:13:14especially in the Savernake Forest.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18- I kind of couldn't think of a better way to go, really.- No, quite.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27Bacon, in fact, only became associated with breakfast
0:13:27 > 0:13:31in the 17th century, an age of relative prosperity
0:13:31 > 0:13:33when people were no longer so tied to the land.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38'Which leads me to wonder what, if anything,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41'do we know about our earliest breakfast customs?'
0:13:46 > 0:13:49This is University College London,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52my old alma mater, and I've come
0:13:52 > 0:13:56to meet Dr Ian Mortimer, a fellow of the Royal Historical Society,
0:13:56 > 0:14:00to find out what constituted a mediaeval morning meal
0:14:00 > 0:14:02and who ate what.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04Dr Mortimer, breakfast -
0:14:04 > 0:14:07did everybody eat the same sort of breakfast
0:14:07 > 0:14:11or was it very divisive by structure and class?
0:14:11 > 0:14:15It is hugely divided, from the top of society down to the bottom.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18Mediaeval society is hugely hierarchical.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21An aristocrat would pay seven shillings for a fish
0:14:21 > 0:14:24at a time when a working man would earn fourpence in a day.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26At the top end of society,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29it can be a matter of choice whether you have breakfast.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32At the bottom end of society, people still starve to death
0:14:32 > 0:14:35so for them, it's not a question of whether they have any breakfast,
0:14:35 > 0:14:37it's whether they have any food at all.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41What's the earliest reference you've found to breakfast?
0:14:41 > 0:14:44I have come across one reference which is possibly 12th century,
0:14:44 > 0:14:46to choristers at St Paul's
0:14:46 > 0:14:50being given breakfasts if they'd been up singing at night,
0:14:50 > 0:14:52and that's quite specific, in bread and ale.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56What's the first aristocratic reference?
0:14:56 > 0:14:59As far as I can see, it's 1297,
0:14:59 > 0:15:04when the Countess Joan de Valence is recorded to have had breakfast
0:15:04 > 0:15:07and it's not just a little breakfast for her,
0:15:07 > 0:15:10it's for her whole household,
0:15:10 > 0:15:12which may have been as many as 100 people.
0:15:12 > 0:15:13She also had 20 poor people along,
0:15:13 > 0:15:19so this was a big breakfast and clearly a certain degree of ceremony,
0:15:19 > 0:15:22much more like a formal dinner.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28So it seems that if you were part of an aristocratic household,
0:15:28 > 0:15:30breakfast came with the job.
0:15:31 > 0:15:36And the more extravagant the lord or lady was, the better the breakfast.
0:15:37 > 0:15:42By far the best account of what aristocrats might eat for breakfast,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45and everybody else in their household who was of a certain rank,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48comes from the Earl of Northumberland's account,
0:15:48 > 0:15:50which is 1512
0:15:50 > 0:15:52and to give you an idea of what
0:15:52 > 0:15:55the Earl of Northumberland and his lady might sit down to,
0:15:55 > 0:15:57first a loaf of bread in two trenchers,
0:15:57 > 0:16:00then two manchetts, which was very high-quality white bread,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03a quart of beer, so a couple of pints to begin with,
0:16:03 > 0:16:06a quart of wine, because of their status, of course,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09half a chine of mutton,
0:16:09 > 0:16:11or else a chine of beef.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15Beef has always been the favourite food of the English aristocracy,
0:16:15 > 0:16:19in fact, I notice Edward IV also having beef for his breakfasts,
0:16:19 > 0:16:24- so if you could afford it, in their day, you could eat pretty well.- Hmm!
0:16:27 > 0:16:32Breakfast in a 16th-century aristocratic household, then,
0:16:32 > 0:16:34'was likely to be a substantial meal.'
0:16:36 > 0:16:39And that trend continued after the Reformation,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43which did away with the Catholic Church's restrictions
0:16:43 > 0:16:46on eating food like eggs, milk and cheese.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52Before long, recipes for dishes like scrambled eggs began to appear
0:16:52 > 0:16:56and even boiled eggs were a novelty.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01I've come to Gainsborough Old Hall in Lincolnshire
0:17:01 > 0:17:04to meet historic food specialist Caroline Yeldham
0:17:04 > 0:17:08and she's going to begin by demonstrating for me
0:17:08 > 0:17:11the old mediaeval way of cooking eggs,
0:17:11 > 0:17:12which was to roast them.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19- Hello, I'm Clarissa.- Hello.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21- Caroline.- What are you up to?
0:17:21 > 0:17:24Well, we're starting with some roasted eggs,
0:17:24 > 0:17:26which I've got sitting in the ashes.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30This is a very ancient way of cooking eggs.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33Whenever I cook them, I always find them a bit indigestible.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36But it's why boiled egg's become much more popular.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38And how long do you cook them for?
0:17:38 > 0:17:41Well, that depends on how hot the ashes are
0:17:41 > 0:17:43and that's a matter of trial and error
0:17:43 > 0:17:46because if you make them too hot, then the eggs will explode,
0:17:46 > 0:17:47so there is a risk!
0:17:49 > 0:17:50Do we think it's done?
0:17:50 > 0:17:53- Definitely.- Do we think it's digestible?
0:17:53 > 0:17:55You're welcome to try it.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57I will try it.
0:18:00 > 0:18:01Mmm. Not bad at all.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03- Oh, good.- Not bad at all.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08I think I'd have preferred it fried, but...
0:18:08 > 0:18:10CAROLINE LAUGHS
0:18:10 > 0:18:13Thankfully for egg lovers, help was soon at hand
0:18:13 > 0:18:16in the distinguished form of Robert May,
0:18:16 > 0:18:21who in 1660 published the first comprehensive English cookery book.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27The Accomplished Cook contained over 1,000 recipes,
0:18:27 > 0:18:32including instructions on fried eggs, a early form of scrambled eggs
0:18:32 > 0:18:35and 21 kinds of omelette,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38a recently imported French dish.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42Omelettes are now a breakfast favourite
0:18:42 > 0:18:46but you'd be hard-pressed to go to work after May's recipe
0:18:46 > 0:18:48according to the Turkish mode.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50It calls for expensive luxuries
0:18:50 > 0:18:53like lemons imported from Spain or North Africa,
0:18:53 > 0:18:56which were only available to the rich,
0:18:56 > 0:18:59cinnamon from Ceylon
0:18:59 > 0:19:02and a particular type of roasted meat.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Hare omelette, that's something out of the ordinary, isn't it?
0:19:06 > 0:19:09There seems to be an explosion in the 17th century
0:19:09 > 0:19:11of people finding different things to put in omelettes.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14I've got some chopped almonds here
0:19:14 > 0:19:16and chestnuts.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21And pine kernels.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25Gosh, this is going to be very dramatic. What's that?
0:19:25 > 0:19:27This is cinnamon.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30- Nutmeg...- And some freshly grated nutmeg.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35So that needs to go be mixed
0:19:35 > 0:19:37- and popped on the fire and heated through.- Mm-hmm.
0:19:41 > 0:19:46The principle of making an omelette might seem straightforward to us
0:19:46 > 0:19:50but although the basic ingredients weren't new,
0:19:50 > 0:19:51the equipment to cook them was.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55After centuries of literally roasting in front of an open fire,
0:19:55 > 0:20:00cooks now had access to a new piece of kitchen technology.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04With a brazier they could cook with charcoal
0:20:04 > 0:20:07and that meant they had much more control over temperature.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14Well done! Hooray!
0:20:14 > 0:20:17- This is the hare mixture.- Mmm.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22Put these on the edge
0:20:22 > 0:20:27and slices of lemon, which, of course, are very extravagant and fashionable.
0:20:29 > 0:20:34- Scatter some...- Marigold petals?- Yes.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36Very exciting.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41- Give you a good layer.- Never would have thought of doing hare this way.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52Gosh, that's nice. Gosh, that's really, really nice!
0:20:52 > 0:20:55I love all the different nuts, as well as the hare.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00Mmm, wouldn't mind another one of those!
0:21:00 > 0:21:05Robert May's omelette is almost certainly too elaborate to be
0:21:05 > 0:21:10an early morning dish, but it shows how enthusiastically our cooks
0:21:10 > 0:21:15took up those basic recipes we now think of as breakfast food.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17And when it came to eggs at breakfast,
0:21:17 > 0:21:22a physician of the time, Tobias Venner, urged restraint.
0:21:23 > 0:21:29Venner's medical book on the right way to a long life was the first
0:21:29 > 0:21:31to use the word obesity,
0:21:31 > 0:21:35and he recommends for breakfast just "a couple of poached eggs"
0:21:35 > 0:21:39together with some bread and butter and a good draught of claret!
0:21:45 > 0:21:49Wine or beer was the traditional morning drink for centuries,
0:21:49 > 0:21:52but our early morning drinking habits began to change with
0:21:52 > 0:21:54the arrival of coffee in the 1620s.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00Before coffee became a breakfast pick-me-up, it was a social drink
0:22:00 > 0:22:05served in coffee houses which first appeared in the 1650s.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12But it was tea imported from China and first sold publicly in 1657
0:22:12 > 0:22:15that was adopted more quickly
0:22:15 > 0:22:20as a domestic drink, not least because it was easier to prepare.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28Tea was certainly the beverage of choice in this London household
0:22:28 > 0:22:31when it was the home of Dr Samuel Johnson,
0:22:31 > 0:22:33the renowned author and lexicographer.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39But, surprising as it may sound,
0:22:39 > 0:22:44tea-drinking became a serious social concern during the 18th century
0:22:44 > 0:22:46'amongst a certain class of person...'
0:22:46 > 0:22:48Thank you. How lovely!
0:22:48 > 0:22:53'..as historian Jane Pettigrew explained to me.'
0:22:53 > 0:22:57We're in Dr Johnson's house,
0:22:57 > 0:23:02and he was a man who, without being harsh, was addicted to tea.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04He called himself a shameless and hardened tea drinker.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08And he drank it right through the day and well into the night, I think.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11- Not everyone was quite so keen on tea, were they?- No.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14It's interesting that as the labouring classes began to drink
0:23:14 > 0:23:18more tea, some people seemed to thoroughly disapprove
0:23:18 > 0:23:22and you wonder whether it was because they really seriously thought
0:23:22 > 0:23:23tea was bad for people,
0:23:23 > 0:23:27or because they disapproved of it being brought down into the lower classes.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30This was an aristocratic drink, a luxury and expensive beverage.
0:23:30 > 0:23:31How dare these people drink tea?!
0:23:31 > 0:23:34But some quite prominent people wrote very serious tracts
0:23:34 > 0:23:37against tea drinking.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41Jonas Hanway, social commentator, decried the fact that
0:23:41 > 0:23:44chambermaids and housemaids were losing their bloom
0:23:44 > 0:23:47because of tea-drinking!
0:23:47 > 0:23:50This was quite an argument that was rattling around in the background.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54At the same time, other people promoting tea
0:23:54 > 0:23:57as a health-giving beverage.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00So, by what date would it have become regular at breakfast,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03or more normal at breakfast?
0:24:03 > 0:24:07I think probably by the late 1740s, 1750s, it's beginning to appear
0:24:07 > 0:24:12at the breakfast table, and breakfast rooms are actually a separate room
0:24:12 > 0:24:15in the house, so this was where you went in the mornings
0:24:15 > 0:24:17to actually have your breakfast tea.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25The arrival of the breakfast room, the breakfast table
0:24:25 > 0:24:28and breakfast tea completed the picture of the morning meal
0:24:28 > 0:24:30as we recognise it today,
0:24:30 > 0:24:34although with rather more niceties than we have now.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40So, tea and breakfast.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43Yes, here we are at the beginning of the 19th-century
0:24:43 > 0:24:48and tea has taken its place at breakfast as the recognised drink.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52The soft boiled egg is particularly relevant,
0:24:52 > 0:24:59because the first reference anywhere in literature to a soft boiled egg is Jane Austen's Emma.
0:24:59 > 0:25:04Mr Woodhouse is proposing to Mrs Bates that she should have
0:25:04 > 0:25:05a soft boiled egg.
0:25:05 > 0:25:10"Serle understands the boiling of an egg better than anyone.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13"I would not recommend an egg boiled by anyone but Serle."
0:25:13 > 0:25:16So how do we know these are the sort of things that Jane Austen
0:25:16 > 0:25:18and her contemporaries would have been eating at breakfast?
0:25:18 > 0:25:23Literally references. I mean, wonderful source,
0:25:23 > 0:25:25the boiled eggs in Emma,
0:25:25 > 0:25:29the brioche, I think in Northanger Abbey, where she said,
0:25:29 > 0:25:33"I wish you would not talk so much about the French bread
0:25:33 > 0:25:36"served at Northanger", and that, of course, is the bread.
0:25:36 > 0:25:37The brioche.
0:25:37 > 0:25:42And literary references seem to infer that it was a stretched meal.
0:25:42 > 0:25:43Just suited your lifestyle.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47I suppose, but then also, breakfast parties became very fashionable
0:25:47 > 0:25:49and started at ten and ran through until three,
0:25:49 > 0:25:52four, maybe five o'clock in the afternoon,
0:25:52 > 0:25:57so not breakfast at all, but a party, a major all-day party!
0:25:57 > 0:26:01- How funny! There's something that could catch on again!- Yes!
0:26:03 > 0:26:07But the offerings of a Jane Austen breakfast party are mere morsels
0:26:07 > 0:26:12compared with that most lavish expression of our morning meal -
0:26:12 > 0:26:15the English country house breakfast.
0:26:19 > 0:26:24Country houses were important fixtures in the aristocratic social circuit,
0:26:24 > 0:26:27and parties based around shooting or hunting
0:26:27 > 0:26:30might last for days or even weeks at a time.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36Chatsworth House in Derbyshire
0:26:36 > 0:26:40is a monument to the most refined kind of country living
0:26:40 > 0:26:45and it's a place where, in the 19th century, English breakfast
0:26:45 > 0:26:47reached new heights of extravagance.
0:26:50 > 0:26:55Christine Robinson is the current head housekeeper.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58She has worked here for more than 30 years
0:26:58 > 0:27:03but her knowledge of the history of the house goes back much further.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11- Here we are in the Great Dining Room. - Wow! Look at this!
0:27:11 > 0:27:14- It is an amazing room, isn't it?- Incredible.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20The table is set here for dinner but this is where the guests
0:27:20 > 0:27:23would have come down and had their breakfast.
0:27:23 > 0:27:28And there would have been a buffet on the side as there is here,
0:27:28 > 0:27:32which would have been laden with cold meats, game pie, probably pheasant,
0:27:32 > 0:27:35as they would have been shooting, after all, over the weekend.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37- Lot of pheasant. - Lot of pheasant, yes.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40And devilled pheasant legs, delicious for breakfast.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44The main dining table would have had freshly prepared foods,
0:27:44 > 0:27:49different ways of cooked eggs, fish, there would have been lots
0:27:49 > 0:27:54of different sorts of breads and also tea, coffee and also hot chocolate.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56Why did people come here in particular?
0:27:56 > 0:27:59- Because this was a winter house, wasn't it?- It was a winter house.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01The family were staying in their other houses
0:28:01 > 0:28:03at different times of the year.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06They came to Chatsworth from October through probably until February,
0:28:06 > 0:28:10and so it would have been an opportunity really to gather their friends
0:28:10 > 0:28:14and acquaintances together, to go shooting, to show what Chatsworth
0:28:14 > 0:28:19had to offer, and part of that was the lavishness of the breakfast table.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22- You've a family association with Chatsworth?- Yes, I have.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25My grandmother was the youngest of 11 children born at Beeley,
0:28:25 > 0:28:29which is three miles away, and her mother, my great-grandmother,
0:28:29 > 0:28:32used to come and help out in the kitchens when they were
0:28:32 > 0:28:35really busy at this kind of fabulous house party we're talking about.
0:28:35 > 0:28:40We had a cook when I was growing up who trained at Chatsworth,
0:28:40 > 0:28:44and this was regarded as being a very good reference, because the amount of experience
0:28:44 > 0:28:49she'd have had training here, and she was a very good cook.
0:28:49 > 0:28:51I owe it all to her.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56But despite all the sumptuousness on offer,
0:28:56 > 0:28:59if you were a lady, you might prefer to start the day
0:28:59 > 0:29:01with breakfast in bed.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06Just coming now into the Wellington bedroom named in honour
0:29:06 > 0:29:10of the Duke of Wellington, one of the many guests who came to stay.
0:29:10 > 0:29:13- Fabulous room, isn't it?- Fantastic. I mean the wallpaper is just stunning.
0:29:13 > 0:29:18It's hand-painted Chinese wallpaper, and then wonderful bed here, where
0:29:18 > 0:29:22the lady's maid would have brought her mistress tea and toast in bed.
0:29:22 > 0:29:28'And of course, breakfast is the one meal of the day a lady can
0:29:28 > 0:29:32'still eat in bed without being thought of as slovenly.'
0:29:32 > 0:29:33What's through there?
0:29:33 > 0:29:36We've got the dressing room, and this is where
0:29:36 > 0:29:38the gentleman would have slept if he had a late night at cards.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41Rather than come in and disturb his wife,
0:29:41 > 0:29:45he would have slept in the smaller bed in here.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49If he was late at cards or perhaps sleeping in somebody else's room!
0:29:49 > 0:29:51Oh, well! I wouldn't like to say!
0:29:51 > 0:29:54A lot of corridor creeping, I think!
0:30:00 > 0:30:02If the Chatsworth corridors did creak,
0:30:02 > 0:30:05they must have been at their noisiest in the days
0:30:05 > 0:30:10when the notorious Marlborough House set and the future King Edward VII
0:30:10 > 0:30:12were frequent guests.
0:30:12 > 0:30:13THEY CHATTER
0:30:15 > 0:30:18'Hannah Obee is the curator at Chatsworth
0:30:18 > 0:30:23'and she's been making a study of the social life of the house.'
0:30:23 > 0:30:26- Althorp, Earl Spencer? - Yeah, exactly.
0:30:26 > 0:30:31Chatsworth, of course, was famous for country house parties with
0:30:31 > 0:30:34country house breakfast as part and parcel of the celebrations,
0:30:34 > 0:30:38but tell me a bit more about the parties.
0:30:38 > 0:30:42The parties, I think, really took off in the eighth Duke's time,
0:30:42 > 0:30:45but towards the end of his life, because he had his 30-year
0:30:45 > 0:30:49love affair with Louise, who was Duchess of Manchester, and after
0:30:49 > 0:30:53her husband died, they got married and she brings all these amazing
0:30:53 > 0:30:57people up from London and have these incredible house parties,
0:30:57 > 0:31:02so it really is a high point of Edwardian high octane glamour!
0:31:02 > 0:31:05High octane glamour! What have we got here?
0:31:05 > 0:31:10What we've actually got here is an illustration from 1901,
0:31:10 > 0:31:14when there was a house party for Edward VII and Queen Alexandra,
0:31:14 > 0:31:17but also present was his mistress Mrs Keppel.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19You've got the eighth Duke of Devonshire
0:31:19 > 0:31:23and you've also got his new wife Louise or Lottie, as she was known,
0:31:23 > 0:31:26so she and Mrs Keppel are flanking Edward VII.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29One of Edward VII's favourite breakfasts and I don't know
0:31:29 > 0:31:33if he had it here, was you hollowed out an onion,
0:31:33 > 0:31:36boiled an onion and hollowed it out,
0:31:36 > 0:31:41and then filled it with a dish of chicken livers cooked in cream
0:31:41 > 0:31:45and brandy, put it back in the onion, put the lid on, just give it
0:31:45 > 0:31:49a little longer in the oven, and then he'd have that for breakfast.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53I just can't imagine having that for breakfast,
0:31:53 > 0:31:55but when you think about how many pheasants
0:31:55 > 0:31:58he was going out to shoot when he left at about ten o'clock
0:31:58 > 0:32:01in the morning, that might actually make a bit of sense.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04We've got a wonderful photograph of him just on the back of a pony,
0:32:04 > 0:32:09going over the moors, looking very... very heavy going, I think it was.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12Maybe that's why he needed a good breakfast in the country,
0:32:12 > 0:32:15but I'm not sure so much in London his excuse would have been.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17I think gluttony!
0:32:19 > 0:32:24All the same, Edward VII's hugely indulgent breakfast
0:32:24 > 0:32:27was very much in keeping with the spirit of the age.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32A recommended menu for a large party would typically have more than
0:32:32 > 0:32:36two dozen hot and cold dishes, including such delights
0:32:36 > 0:32:39as eggs in aspic,
0:32:39 > 0:32:42coquilles of shrimp...
0:32:43 > 0:32:45..hashed venison
0:32:45 > 0:32:48and broiled pigeons.
0:32:50 > 0:32:55I've chosen the very particular Victorian breakfast speciality,
0:32:55 > 0:33:00and I'm going to ask Chatsworth's current head chef Dan Brazill
0:33:00 > 0:33:01to cook it for me.
0:33:01 > 0:33:06- Hello. You must be Daniel.- Hello. - I've got a chore for you.- OK.
0:33:06 > 0:33:11I have here a rather strange book by an anonymous Victorian gentleman
0:33:11 > 0:33:13called Major L,
0:33:13 > 0:33:19and he gives breakfasts for large parties for the month of August.
0:33:19 > 0:33:24Kidneys, lobster and a sole colbert.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26Ah, sole a la colbert.
0:33:26 > 0:33:32Elme Francatelli, chef to Queen Victoria, gives a recipe
0:33:32 > 0:33:36for sole a la colbert, which is sole fried
0:33:36 > 0:33:40and then you take the bone out,
0:33:40 > 0:33:44stuff it with maitre-d'hotel butter, pour over some maitre-d'hotel sauce.
0:33:44 > 0:33:50- Seems like a lot of butter for breakfast.- Well, over to you!
0:33:50 > 0:33:53Do you not have a cooked breakfast?
0:33:53 > 0:33:57I very rarely have time for a cooked breakfast, these days.
0:33:57 > 0:33:58I don't think many people do.
0:33:58 > 0:34:05Maybe a treat on the weekend, on a Sunday or perhaps the birthday
0:34:05 > 0:34:08if the wife is feeling generous!
0:34:08 > 0:34:10So, I've got some seasoned flour here.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12You've rubbed it over with flour
0:34:12 > 0:34:15and you're painting it with the beaten egg.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18We're using lemon sole today.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21I would imagine Queen Victoria would have had Dover soul.
0:34:21 > 0:34:26And then you're going to dip it in some breadcrumbs,
0:34:26 > 0:34:31fry it in very hot lard or frying fat
0:34:31 > 0:34:32to swim it.
0:34:32 > 0:34:34Swimming in fat.
0:34:34 > 0:34:38He says cook it until it's well done.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41I couldn't cook fish until it was well done.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45When done cleverly, cleverly - we're relying on you to be clever -
0:34:45 > 0:34:50remove the backbone without deforming the fish.
0:34:51 > 0:34:53It's coming.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55Look at that.
0:34:56 > 0:34:58I am most impressed!
0:35:00 > 0:35:03Finally we're told to fill the fish
0:35:03 > 0:35:06with two ounces of maitre-d'hotel butter,
0:35:06 > 0:35:09that's butter with chopped parsley and onion,
0:35:09 > 0:35:13and then serve it with maitre-d'hotel sauce -
0:35:13 > 0:35:17a white sauce made with another two ounces of butter.
0:35:21 > 0:35:23- Sole a la colbert.- Amazing.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26Extraordinary to think they ate that for breakfast.
0:35:26 > 0:35:28You'd have a heart attack by lunchtime!
0:35:34 > 0:35:39Mmm. Very nice, but not, I think, for breakfast.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42Yes, I think as a dinner dish, it's very nice,
0:35:42 > 0:35:45but for breakfast, not for me.
0:35:45 > 0:35:46Nor me, neither.
0:35:47 > 0:35:51And in case you are wondering, a dish of sole a la colbert
0:35:51 > 0:35:55comes in at a little over 1,800 calories.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58'The perfect start for a day on the moors.'
0:35:58 > 0:35:59Well done!
0:36:03 > 0:36:07In the meantime, throughout the 19th-century our cities
0:36:07 > 0:36:09were growing and a new middle class was emerging.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16They may not have had country estates, but they did want a few
0:36:16 > 0:36:20luxuries to go with their bacon and eggs, and so they went shopping.
0:36:20 > 0:36:25And there was one establishment that prided itself on knowing
0:36:25 > 0:36:28exactly what the right sort of person should have
0:36:28 > 0:36:29on their breakfast table.
0:36:32 > 0:36:38Fortnum and Mason was founded by a former royal footman in 1707,
0:36:38 > 0:36:42but by the 19th century, it was providing the newly rich
0:36:42 > 0:36:46with access to goods that had once been the preserve of the gentry
0:36:46 > 0:36:51'as the store's archivist, Andrea Tanner explained to me.'
0:36:52 > 0:36:54It's lovely to be here again.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58I spent a lot of my childhood coming round Fortnum's with my mother.
0:36:58 > 0:36:59- Welcome back.- Thank you very much.
0:36:59 > 0:37:03When I was a child, Fortnum's was a great place
0:37:03 > 0:37:07if you needed it for pointing you in the right direction.
0:37:07 > 0:37:12Yes, I think the shop has always had an educative role.
0:37:12 > 0:37:17When the shop began, its customers were only the aristocracy
0:37:17 > 0:37:21and the landed gentry, but you know, the British Empire grew,
0:37:21 > 0:37:25people became more prosperous and those who had a bit of money
0:37:25 > 0:37:29and a bit of leisure wanted to have what the aristocracy had.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32They wanted to know the right thing to eat,
0:37:32 > 0:37:35the right thing to wear, the right thing to say.
0:37:35 > 0:37:38So the sort of thing Fortnum's would do would be,
0:37:38 > 0:37:43you know, someone wants to know what sort of tea the Duke of Grafton has,
0:37:43 > 0:37:47gently you would be directed towards a suitable sort of tea,
0:37:47 > 0:37:49a suitable blend of coffee,
0:37:49 > 0:37:52particular made up dishes for breakfast,
0:37:52 > 0:37:55because we had an enormous department,
0:37:55 > 0:38:00where if you weren't up to making your veal pates and croquettes
0:38:00 > 0:38:02and so on, we would make them for you and get them to you
0:38:02 > 0:38:04in plenty of time for breakfast.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07But even when I was young and you came to Fortnam's,
0:38:07 > 0:38:09it wasn't like this, you didn't handle things.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12No, you weren't allowed to touch things. Heaven forfend.
0:38:12 > 0:38:16You were met at the door by a gentleman in a frock coat
0:38:16 > 0:38:19who would bow to you, and he had a little notebook.
0:38:19 > 0:38:24He'd determine your name if he didn't know who you were and determine
0:38:24 > 0:38:28what you would like to buy, and then he would lead you around and make
0:38:28 > 0:38:32suggestions to you, but you weren't allowed to actually touch anything.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35You were allowed to taste things but no, no, and then of course,
0:38:35 > 0:38:38no money passed hands at Fortnum's in those days.
0:38:38 > 0:38:42Everything was on account, so you got to enjoy the goods a good month
0:38:42 > 0:38:45or two before you actually paid for them.
0:38:47 > 0:38:51Another thing you could definitely want for your breakfast table
0:38:51 > 0:38:56was marmalade, a delicacy which was probably first brought to
0:38:56 > 0:39:00this country in the 1660 s by one of my great heroines,
0:39:00 > 0:39:03the Portuguese Princess Catherine of Braganza
0:39:03 > 0:39:06'when she married Charles II.'
0:39:06 > 0:39:08Wonderful sight.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13This is our oldest marmalade, which is Burlington breakfast marmalade.
0:39:13 > 0:39:19You can see the peel in there, and this was made for
0:39:19 > 0:39:23the first Earl of Burlington, and made to a recipe that actually
0:39:23 > 0:39:29was his chef's recipe, so we were given the recipe in the 1730s.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32- Have you always sort of made marmalade?- No, we haven't.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35It wouldn't have occurred to us to make marmalade,
0:39:35 > 0:39:40because our customers had staff who made home-made marmalade,
0:39:40 > 0:39:44but we'd have sold them the sugar and also the citrus fruits to make it.
0:39:44 > 0:39:46How brilliant. I love that!
0:39:46 > 0:39:48But it was really the First World War,
0:39:48 > 0:39:51and the demands of the Western Front,
0:39:51 > 0:39:54that's when we started making our own marmalade.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57But we didn't put them in jars, we put them in tins,
0:39:57 > 0:40:01because it was much safer to send it out to the officers.
0:40:01 > 0:40:02We used to send it to my father.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04I have letters - or had letters -
0:40:04 > 0:40:07which say things like, "I need some more marmalade,"
0:40:07 > 0:40:10or, "That fruit cake was particularly good.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13- "That Fortnum's one - can you send me another one."- Excellent.
0:40:13 > 0:40:14Well, he was in good company,
0:40:14 > 0:40:18because Clemmie used to send Winston Churchill marmalade from Fortnum's
0:40:18 > 0:40:20- during the First World War. - Excellent.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26Throughout the Victorian and Edwardian eras,
0:40:26 > 0:40:30the country house breakfast was the model of early-morning refinement.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33And the Victorians in particular
0:40:33 > 0:40:37kept on inventing and adapting new dishes.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40Andrea and I are going to sample two of the best known.
0:40:42 > 0:40:43Thank you very much.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47Of course, everybody thinks that kippers are really old,
0:40:47 > 0:40:50that it's an old method of curing fish.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52Yes, it almost looks mediaeval,
0:40:52 > 0:40:56but it's a 19th-century English invention, yes.
0:40:56 > 0:40:591861 in Craster.
0:40:59 > 0:41:03Today, we smoke herring in the way in which the Scots smoke salmon.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05- Oh, really?- Yes.- Right.
0:41:05 > 0:41:10So it's, what, 150 years old? That's it. But very delicious.
0:41:10 > 0:41:11Very delicious.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14And, of course, now very much associated with breakfast.
0:41:14 > 0:41:15Indeed. Indeed.
0:41:15 > 0:41:20Much older on the table would be what I'm having, which is kedgeree.
0:41:20 > 0:41:22Yes, it's a very ancient dish.
0:41:22 > 0:41:27It was originally the preferred breakfast of the poor in India,
0:41:27 > 0:41:30made up of just rice and lentils.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34It was taken up by the Mughal emperors during their fasting period.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36They had it for breakfast, too.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40They were the people who first added fish to it.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44'But, of course, it was those intrepid officers
0:41:44 > 0:41:46'who set off to build the British Empire
0:41:46 > 0:41:49'who brought the recipe for kedgeree
0:41:49 > 0:41:51'back to their breakfast tables at home.'
0:41:54 > 0:41:59So, you've got this coming back from India as early as the 18th century.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02Yes. But, of course, you've got smoked haddock in your kedgeree,
0:42:02 > 0:42:06and that is a Victorian introduction.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09The fish in India was never smoked, it was always fresh.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11But by the time kedgeree
0:42:11 > 0:42:16became part of the Great British country house breakfast
0:42:16 > 0:42:19smoked haddock became absolutely de rigueur,
0:42:19 > 0:42:22you could not use another form of fish
0:42:22 > 0:42:24or it wasn't a proper kedgeree.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26Really? And lentils had long since gone.
0:42:26 > 0:42:27They had long since gone.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29I think the lentils disappeared on the boat
0:42:29 > 0:42:32coming from India to Tilbury.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36So, it was a combination of staple foods,
0:42:36 > 0:42:40aristocratic customs and imported influences
0:42:40 > 0:42:44that gave rise to the rich and varied traditions
0:42:44 > 0:42:46of our morning meal.
0:42:46 > 0:42:51But then, just as the culinary crescendo of the English breakfast
0:42:51 > 0:42:55reached its climax at the end of the 19th century,
0:42:55 > 0:42:59from over in America came the first rumblings of a revolution
0:42:59 > 0:43:05that would make the country house breakfast history.
0:43:09 > 0:43:14The man in the hat is Dr John Harvey Kellogg.
0:43:14 > 0:43:15His name is synonymous
0:43:15 > 0:43:18with the best-known breakfast cereal in the world -
0:43:18 > 0:43:21although it was not the first.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25Today, cornflakes of all brands are a breakfast staple,
0:43:25 > 0:43:30but they were conceived as part of a much grander scheme
0:43:30 > 0:43:33to convert us all to vegetarianism.
0:43:35 > 0:43:39Dr Kellogg pursued this aim with evangelical fervour,
0:43:39 > 0:43:42because he was a member of an energetic new Christian church,
0:43:42 > 0:43:44the Seventh-day Adventists,
0:43:44 > 0:43:48who interpreted passages from the Book of Genesis
0:43:48 > 0:43:53as an instruction from God that mankind should not eat meat.
0:43:55 > 0:43:58Like many of history's most important moments,
0:43:58 > 0:44:03the invention of the cornflake in 1894 was an accident
0:44:03 > 0:44:08and it's one I'm going to see recreated here in Leeds
0:44:08 > 0:44:11at the University's School Of Food Science And Nutrition.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16Dr Kellogg and his brother, Will,
0:44:16 > 0:44:19had been working with wheat rather than corn.
0:44:19 > 0:44:23'And these three young students, Callum, Zach and Charlotte,
0:44:23 > 0:44:27'are going to repeat the experiment for me.'
0:44:29 > 0:44:31So, Callum, what have we got here?
0:44:31 > 0:44:34This is the raw wheat grain,
0:44:34 > 0:44:37which John Harvey Kellogg actually made his first flake from.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40Everybody knows he was famous for using corn,
0:44:40 > 0:44:42but his first experiments were with wheat.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44- It's quite hard.- It is very hard.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46In its raw form,
0:44:46 > 0:44:49you can't really do much with it, with regards to eating.
0:44:49 > 0:44:51So this is it soaking, is it?
0:44:51 > 0:44:54Yes, it is. The grain will take up some water
0:44:54 > 0:44:58and it will hydrolyse some of the starch and soften it a little bit.
0:44:58 > 0:45:00And this is typically kept
0:45:00 > 0:45:03at approximately 5 to 15 degrees overnight.
0:45:05 > 0:45:07After soaking the wheat grain,
0:45:07 > 0:45:10the Kellogg brothers boiled it for one hour.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16And then they dried it again,
0:45:16 > 0:45:18which is where Zach takes over.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22And how does this dry them?
0:45:22 > 0:45:24Hot air just passes over the top of them,
0:45:24 > 0:45:27and that just helps remove some of the excess moisture
0:45:27 > 0:45:29that you've got, built up on the surface.
0:45:30 > 0:45:34- So it's a giant hairdryer, really? - It is a giant hairdryer.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37Initially, one of the problems faced by the Kellogg's Brothers,
0:45:37 > 0:45:40when they were producing the first wheat flakes,
0:45:40 > 0:45:44was that if there was too much moisture, when they put them through the roller,
0:45:44 > 0:45:47it just mushed into a horrible mass and a bit of a sludge.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51And if they're too dry, after this - if you dry them too much -
0:45:51 > 0:45:52when you roll them through,
0:45:52 > 0:45:54they'll just crack like hard bits of rice.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57- Oh, really? - I'll just pop the dryer on now.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03'The Kellogg brothers didn't have a hairdryer, naturally,
0:46:03 > 0:46:07'and they struggled to get their grain to the right consistency.
0:46:07 > 0:46:08'Until, that is,
0:46:08 > 0:46:12'they accidentally left a batch standing for several hours.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15'By the time the brothers noticed their mistake,
0:46:15 > 0:46:17'the grains were mouldy,
0:46:17 > 0:46:22'but they were also the perfect consistency for rolling into flakes,
0:46:22 > 0:46:24'as these are now.'
0:46:24 > 0:46:26Now we've laid them all out on the sheet,
0:46:26 > 0:46:31it's just time to cover them over and pass them through the roller.
0:46:31 > 0:46:33And that's my job.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35Just like an old-fashioned mangle.
0:46:42 > 0:46:43Look at that!
0:46:43 > 0:46:45A couple of them have merged into each other.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48It doesn't look a lot like cornflakes.
0:46:50 > 0:46:54So, Charlotte, you've got the flakes here,
0:46:54 > 0:46:56beautifully rolled by me.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59- Yes, very well done. - What are you going to do now?
0:46:59 > 0:47:00Lay it on a baking tray
0:47:00 > 0:47:03and that is what I'm going to be doing right now.
0:47:04 > 0:47:06It takes a lot of patience, actually.
0:47:06 > 0:47:08Extraordinary. You would think by this stage
0:47:08 > 0:47:10they'd have given up, really.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13How long do you bake them for?
0:47:13 > 0:47:15About 15 to 20 minutes.
0:47:16 > 0:47:17'Now, remember,
0:47:17 > 0:47:22'the first batch of wheat that the Kellogg brothers rolled was mouldy.
0:47:22 > 0:47:24'But they soon developed their own drying technique
0:47:24 > 0:47:27'to produce edible flakes.'
0:47:28 > 0:47:31All right. It looks like we've got a full tray,
0:47:31 > 0:47:34ready to be popped into the oven.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46All right. So these are nice and warm, right out of the oven.
0:47:46 > 0:47:48If you would like to give a taste.
0:47:54 > 0:47:56It doesn't taste all that wonderful.
0:47:56 > 0:47:58It doesn't really evoke something
0:47:58 > 0:48:01that you would want to have for breakfast, does it?
0:48:01 > 0:48:03And so, after a range of experiments,
0:48:03 > 0:48:08we found out that if we mashed up the wheat grains...
0:48:08 > 0:48:14- Mm-hmm.- ..and we chop it up to break up the husk a bit more...
0:48:16 > 0:48:19..and we roll it up, follow the same procedure as before,
0:48:19 > 0:48:23and with that, we end up with the end result of this.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25- That's much better, isn't it, visually?- Yes.
0:48:28 > 0:48:30That actually tastes considerably better.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35- How extraordinary. Well done. - Thank you.- That's fascinating.
0:48:35 > 0:48:40So that's how they were invented, but it doesn't explain
0:48:40 > 0:48:44why Dr Kellogg's Corn Flakes became SO popular.
0:48:44 > 0:48:48- This is the ten gates of digestion... - 'I've come to meet another doctor.'
0:48:48 > 0:48:50..without saying constipation once...
0:48:50 > 0:48:55'Dr Kaori O'Connor is a historian from University College London.
0:48:55 > 0:48:59'She grew up eating Kellogg's cereals
0:48:59 > 0:49:03'and she has a very full knowledge of the man behind them.'
0:49:05 > 0:49:09John Harvey Kellogg, Victorian obsessive.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12Corn Flakes was where he kicked off, was it?
0:49:12 > 0:49:15No, he started back with grains of all kinds,
0:49:15 > 0:49:18because the Seventh-day Adventists belief was
0:49:18 > 0:49:23God's own food was grain, vegetables, nuts.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26- Nuts being the obvious word. - Yes, indeed so.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29He invented peanut butter while he was at it.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33He was a very, very innovative and inventive man,
0:49:33 > 0:49:37but mainly he was trying to save America through a change of diet.
0:49:37 > 0:49:42So he wanted to invent all sorts of grain-based foods
0:49:42 > 0:49:45and he was particularly challenged by breakfast,
0:49:45 > 0:49:48because it was the beginning of the day
0:49:48 > 0:49:50and the beginning of the digestive cycle
0:49:50 > 0:49:54and he wrote a wonderful book called The Itinerary Of A Breakfast,
0:49:54 > 0:49:56where he charts breakfast
0:49:56 > 0:50:00as it goes through the ten gates of the body, and exits.
0:50:00 > 0:50:04And he thought that nature should provide the perfect laxative
0:50:04 > 0:50:05in the way of grain.
0:50:05 > 0:50:07So from the beginning,
0:50:07 > 0:50:12he was always trying to develop good grain-based ways to start the day.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16The Victorians were completely obsessed with their bowels
0:50:16 > 0:50:19and constipation and regularity.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21It was the thing of the age.
0:50:21 > 0:50:24Well, absolutely, and he was prime among them.
0:50:24 > 0:50:28He also began to think that oatmeal porridge, cooked porridge,
0:50:28 > 0:50:32which was the great Victorian standby, was no good,
0:50:32 > 0:50:36because it gets stuck on its way through the ten gates of the body.
0:50:36 > 0:50:37So what was really needed
0:50:37 > 0:50:40was something that was quick, easy and cold.
0:50:40 > 0:50:44The testing ground for the Corn Flakes recipe
0:50:44 > 0:50:47that Dr Kellogg and his brother devised
0:50:47 > 0:50:52was the Sanitarium, a health spa in Michigan that the doctor managed.
0:50:54 > 0:50:55It was the guests here
0:50:55 > 0:51:01who were the first to try the original cornflake in 1895.
0:51:05 > 0:51:10So this is the foundation of the Kellogg's empire,
0:51:10 > 0:51:14these golden flakes of corn - very, very light.
0:51:14 > 0:51:18Now, when they first did the Corn Flakes,
0:51:18 > 0:51:20they were slightly tasteless.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23So one day, when the doctor was on a trip,
0:51:23 > 0:51:27the brother decided to improve on the recipe
0:51:27 > 0:51:30by adding malt and sugar to the flavouring.
0:51:30 > 0:51:34This is the Corn Flake we have now, transformed it -
0:51:34 > 0:51:35instant success.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39But the doctor never, ever wanted to sell any of these cereals,
0:51:39 > 0:51:43he just wanted to let them be for the people in the Sanitarium
0:51:43 > 0:51:46and do them by mail order.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49And the brother said, "My God, we could make a fortune,
0:51:49 > 0:51:51"why don't we sell them to the world?"
0:51:51 > 0:51:54And...they fell out.
0:51:55 > 0:51:59The decision to sell Corn Flakes as a product
0:51:59 > 0:52:03drove a wedge between the two Kellogg brothers.
0:52:03 > 0:52:05It was the younger one, Will Keith,
0:52:05 > 0:52:09who founded the cereal company in 1906
0:52:09 > 0:52:12and became a multimillionaire.
0:52:12 > 0:52:16The principle of adding sugar to cereals
0:52:16 > 0:52:20to stop them tasting like horse food, as Will K once said,
0:52:20 > 0:52:23created a breakfast bandwagon.
0:52:23 > 0:52:28The doctor's idea of an unadulterated grain-based meal
0:52:28 > 0:52:31was transformed into a whole range of products,
0:52:31 > 0:52:34some of which, the Kellogg company found,
0:52:34 > 0:52:38could be marketed very effectively to children.
0:52:41 > 0:52:43And this is their masterstroke.
0:52:45 > 0:52:46BOTH: Frosties!
0:52:46 > 0:52:47Yes, with Tony the Tiger.
0:52:47 > 0:52:52One of the most iconic characters ever created for anything -
0:52:52 > 0:52:54the king of the breakfast table.
0:52:54 > 0:52:56- Grrr-eat!- Grrr-eat! Right - that's it.
0:52:56 > 0:53:01Compare this, which is a sugar-covered cornflake,
0:53:01 > 0:53:03to a standard cornflake.
0:53:05 > 0:53:10Well, this is twice as heavy - it must be the sugar. But there we are.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13- And the child is going to want to rush for the sugar.- Absolutely.
0:53:15 > 0:53:18Sugar Frosted Flakes, as they were known in America,
0:53:18 > 0:53:21were launched in 1952,
0:53:21 > 0:53:24but the sweetening of cereals didn't stop there.
0:53:24 > 0:53:27Six years later, an even more tempting
0:53:27 > 0:53:30child-friendly product appeared.
0:53:30 > 0:53:32Coco Pops.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36So you not only have something that's sugared, but you have it with cocoa.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39And then you put on milk and it turns into chocolate milk.
0:53:39 > 0:53:42I mean, who can resist that?
0:53:42 > 0:53:44Erm... Me?
0:53:44 > 0:53:47And think of what the doctor is saying by this time -
0:53:47 > 0:53:50spinning in his grave like a turbine, I should think.
0:53:50 > 0:53:54'I don't know if I agree with the doctor's prognosis
0:53:54 > 0:53:59'that everyone would benefit from a grain-based laxative.
0:53:59 > 0:54:05'All the same, even though there's less sugar in many Kellogg's cereals now than there used to be,
0:54:05 > 0:54:10'I have to say, a sweetened cereal for breakfast isn't for me.'
0:54:17 > 0:54:19I've come, finally, to a place where
0:54:19 > 0:54:24almost every conceivable kind of morning meal is on offer -
0:54:24 > 0:54:26the hotel breakfast room.
0:54:30 > 0:54:34I'm meeting writer Tom Parker Bowles,
0:54:34 > 0:54:36a food-lover after my own heart.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39- Morning, Clarissa. - Ah, Tom. How are you?
0:54:39 > 0:54:41Lovely to see you.
0:54:41 > 0:54:43Right. Breakfast.
0:54:43 > 0:54:46Absolutely. You have that one.
0:54:46 > 0:54:48'I've asked Tom to join me
0:54:48 > 0:54:53'to reflect on what has happened to our idea of an English breakfast.'
0:54:53 > 0:54:56- Duck eggs with soldiers. - Thank you very much.
0:54:56 > 0:54:59- Bacon and eggs, sir.- Thank you very much.- You're very welcome, sir.
0:54:59 > 0:55:01So, very traditional, Tom, bacon and eggs.
0:55:01 > 0:55:02I think bacon and eggs
0:55:02 > 0:55:05is one of the great breakfast combinations of all time.
0:55:05 > 0:55:08Pig and egg - sublime.
0:55:08 > 0:55:12- And bacon is a great British art, isn't it?- What was that lovely thing?
0:55:12 > 0:55:16The hen is involved, but the pig is totally committed.
0:55:18 > 0:55:20This is a proper breakfast.
0:55:20 > 0:55:22It provides you with...
0:55:22 > 0:55:24Admittedly, I'm not off now to go and work the fields,
0:55:24 > 0:55:28or go down the mine, or anything particularly physical.
0:55:28 > 0:55:31But to start the day with a breakfast like this puts you in a good mood.
0:55:31 > 0:55:35Whenever I go away and stay at a hotel,
0:55:35 > 0:55:37I always have the full English,
0:55:37 > 0:55:41because it's something quite wonderful and glorious.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44And do you think, when people go to hotels,
0:55:44 > 0:55:47even people who don't normally eat breakfast,
0:55:47 > 0:55:49that they'll have breakfast?
0:55:49 > 0:55:53Yes. It's luxury to have breakfast now, I think,
0:55:53 > 0:55:55to have a cooked breakfast.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58If you're obsessed with fats and meats and that sort of stuff,
0:55:58 > 0:56:02well, you're not going to get any pleasure out of it, are you?
0:56:02 > 0:56:04But my wife never eats a cooked breakfast,
0:56:04 > 0:56:06but if we go somewhere she'll always have it.
0:56:06 > 0:56:08I saw the most extraordinary thing the other day,
0:56:08 > 0:56:11there was a Frenchman sitting in the hotel where I was,
0:56:11 > 0:56:15and he had a plate of bacon and a couple of boiled eggs turns up,
0:56:15 > 0:56:17and he breaks open the boiled eggs
0:56:17 > 0:56:20and scoops them on top of the bacon and eats them.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23I said, "Why are you doing that?" And he say, "This is what I like."
0:56:23 > 0:56:26I tell you what, that's a very rare thing -
0:56:26 > 0:56:28to see a Frenchman who understands a good English breakfast.
0:56:28 > 0:56:30Cos you go the Continent
0:56:30 > 0:56:32and there are many great things about the Continent,
0:56:32 > 0:56:34but breakfast ain't one of them.
0:56:34 > 0:56:37We could not have built an empire on croissants and rubbish pastries.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40You know, this is empire-building stuff.
0:56:40 > 0:56:41The Battle of Waterloo
0:56:41 > 0:56:43was won over a plate of bacon and eggs.
0:56:43 > 0:56:47- It probably was!- Can you imagine going to war on a croissant?
0:56:47 > 0:56:52That's why they always lost, I think, to be honest. Good old pig and egg...
0:56:52 > 0:56:55I mean, pig is the key to a good breakfast, isn't it?
0:56:55 > 0:57:00What do you think influences people's choice of breakfasts?
0:57:00 > 0:57:01Sadly, these days, time.
0:57:01 > 0:57:06I mean, everybody is in a rush in the morning, for various reason.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09They're rushing to work, they're rushing to get the children to school,
0:57:09 > 0:57:11they're rushing to everything.
0:57:11 > 0:57:13It's just quick - rush, rush, rush.
0:57:13 > 0:57:15When I give the children boiled eggs,
0:57:15 > 0:57:17you know, I'm rather rushing them through,
0:57:17 > 0:57:19whereas you wouldn't do that at dinner.
0:57:19 > 0:57:21So therefore, going back to the big full English breakfast,
0:57:21 > 0:57:24it is a treat, because you need time to cook it, to eat it,
0:57:24 > 0:57:27dare I say, to digest it, as well.
0:57:27 > 0:57:29We spend three hours over dinner,
0:57:29 > 0:57:31why not spend a bit of time over breakfast?
0:57:35 > 0:57:40Breakfast cereals have been around for more than 100 years,
0:57:40 > 0:57:42but I prefer our older cooked traditions,
0:57:42 > 0:57:45although maybe not so "a la Colbert".
0:57:47 > 0:57:52Like all good food, a good breakfast comes at a cost,
0:57:52 > 0:57:57and as much as anything, the real cost these days is time,
0:57:57 > 0:58:01which is perhaps why we mostly restrict our morning indulgences
0:58:01 > 0:58:03to when someone else is doing the cooking.
0:58:09 > 0:58:11Next week, I'll be looking at lunch,
0:58:11 > 0:58:15a meal that 300 years ago didn't even exist,
0:58:15 > 0:58:17but which has been adapting
0:58:17 > 0:58:21to the changes in our working lives ever since.
0:58:29 > 0:58:32Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd