A Breakfast Book

I picked up Felicity Cloake’s Red Sauce, Brown Sauce because it sounded like what Bill Bryson’s books would be if he wrote about food (and if he liked cycling). She travels Britain on a bicycle to experience all aspects of a full English breakfast, and to gather opinions on which sauce should accompany it. (I’m still a little unclear on what brown sauce is, but I definitely want to try it). The book was funny and hit exactly the right balance for me of travel stories, scenery description, food description, and commentary on it all, and her rotating cast of friends who traveled with her were a delight.

I fell in love with a full British breakfast years ago when Joe and I traveled through England, Scotland, and Wales. Food is one of my favorite things about travel, and while I was not an especially devoted breakfast person, the first morning that I presented myself at our hotel restaurant was a revelation. This avowed coffee drinker pretty much abandoned my morning cup for the whole trip in favor of the most delicious tea I’ve ever had, with plenty of cream. I filled my plate with whatever was on offer: toast, eggs, sausage, tomatoes, beans (everything except haggis in Scotland–I did draw the line there), and found it all so wonderful. I set out into every day happy, which definitely had to do with the gorgeous country I was exploring, but was also helped by the absolute delight a full English breakfast is.

Felicity Cloake obviously understood it all better than I did, as she was exploring her homeland and the food she has loved for her whole life, and was willing to eat haggis. I will admit that there were some foods I had to google to find out what she was talking about (I never remember what bangers and mash are, for one), but I loved her writing style, her humor, and above all, her love of food. She made even the most simple breakfast of a bacon sarnie tucked into a bike bag for a roadside snack sound like the one thing that’s been missing from my diet, and made me wish I could load a bike and set out. 

This is why I love food books in general and this one specifically: the glimpse into another life, another place and culture, and other foods, as well as the push back out into food adventures of my own. This book was so much fun, and I can’t wait to read Felicity Cloake’s other food writing.