I lived in Scotland for a time and worked at a few hotels, so not only did I eat a European breakfast every day, I got to cook it, as well. I have a feeling, though, that breakfast in the rest of Europe isn’t quite as heavy as in Britain.

Standard Scottish breakfast seemed to be bangers (small mild pork sausages), which kind of taste like bratwurst. Black pudding, bacon (more like thin sliced ham…what we would call bacon they call ‘streaky bacon’), fried egg, toast, and a grilled tomato or mushroom cap. Other items are porridge (served with salt and milk, brown sugar is blasphemy) and flounder or halibut. I never opted for the fish, as I’m not a huge fish fan to begin with, especially not for breakfast. I used to have to wake up early to let in the fishmonger…those halibuts are massive. There’s also ‘fried bread’ which is basically a piece of bread soaked in the drippings from the fried breakfast. Scottish breakfast is a heart attack waiting to happen.

At the end of breakfast the patrons would return to their rooms or leave, and we’d get the left overs. Toast with black pudding, butter, and bangers is to die for. Black pudding, if you know what it is, sounds pretty gross but it’s so good. I’ve searched and searched for places in the US that make it but I can’t seem to find any.

The Scottish woman who owned the hotel did most of the cooking. She told me ‘We only fry eggs one way in Scotland…none of that eggs flapty do like you have in America!’