The beauty of breakfast
Cheese and leek pasties recipe
There are lots of expressions about breakfast, from it being “the most important meal of the day” to “Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper”. All of them seem to echo the same sentiment: breakfast should be celebrated.
It’s a feeling I share, as breakfast might just be my favourite meal of the day. That’s not to say that I have a giant breakfast every day, but rather that I really enjoy food associated with breakfast. My morning ritual (of course) starts with tea. The first cup is always the best one of the day. I’m not sure what sorcery makes this the case, but I spoke about it in previous issue of the newsletter, A Cup of Tea and a Cwtch. In truth, my breakfast doesn’t actually start until my second cup, perhaps 10 minutes or so later.
Everyday breakfast for me might be two rounds of toast with some sort of preserve, Marmite, or salmon paste. This last one is the fault of my Nanna Lena who gave it to us as children and it’s been a breakfast favourite ever since. Talking of Nanna, we (my brother and I, and often my cousin) would go to visit every Tuesday and Thursday – especially in the school holidays – and we’d arrive as my grandad Poppa was making toast. He took my Nanna tea and toast in bed every morning without fail, and when we’d arrive, he’d stick the rounds of Braces bread in the toaster and start brewing a pot of tea. I can taste the toast now. It was sliced white bread, toasted lightly and then covered with Flora margarine. We’d have it with sugary tea with full-fat milk, sometimes dipping the toast triangles (always triangles) into the tea. You probably know my now that I have an unhealthy obsession with butter, but it’s almost worth buying a tub of margarine to recreate the taste.
As an aside, I remember my marketing lecturer in university telling us that margarine was marketed differently in parts of the UK. In the southeast and London, it was marketed as being healthier than butter. In Wales and the north, it was marketed as being cheaper than butter.
If I don’t have toast, then it might be porridge (I love anything made with oats), or a bit of cereal, raisin wheats or Weetabix, both served with warm milk. Yes, I like it like baby food. When the weekend comes, it’s egg time. Scrambled might be my favourite, with a little dash of Worcestershire sauce or with some chorizo, the vibrant paprika-laced oil coating the silky eggs. Boiled eggs only ever mean a toasted sandwich with Marmite on the toast. If I can be bothered, I’ll do something fancy with poached eggs and probably avocado (typical Millennial). Fried eggs I reserve for a cooked breakfast, where I favour sausages over bacon. That goes for butties too. Sausage sandwiches have to come on untoasted bread, with lashings of tomato ketchup.
My job means that I travel quite a lot – and yes, I do carry teabags with me for that first cup of the day. But travelling means opening yourself up to so many more breakfasting delights.
All those wonderful sweet pastries in France, Spain and Italy or a bit of pickled fish in Scandinavia. When I lived in Spain and made Welsh cakes for friends including my Aunty Juani (not my real aunty), they would say, “Oh lovely, I’ll have them for breakfast”. It makes sense, I suppose, to have something a bit sugary to start the day and give you an energy boost.
I was in Dublin this week and very much enjoyed mopping up the remnants of sausages, black and white pudding, fried egg and beans with a bit of soda bread. A typical Irish breakfast, I was told. Not dissimilar to a traditional Welsh breakfast, where you would have the addition of cockles, laverbread or even kippers.
Alternatively, you could have Anglesey eggs. Someone told me that they remember their grandmother leaving bread to soak in the remains of the cawl overnight, and then in the morning frying the bread crisp in bacon fat for breakfast. I might need to give it a go next time I cook cawl.
And perhaps we can even count cornflakes as Welsh. Apparently, Mr Kellogg decided to put a cockerel on the box of cornflakes, not just because of its association with its morning song, but because he met esteemed Welsh harpist Nansi Richards on her tour of the USA in 1957. She suggested that he might like to use a cockerel on his new cardboard boxes of cereal, as Kellogg sounds similar to the Welsh word for cockerel, ceiliog. It’s also been suggested that Cornelius the rooster (that’s the mascot’s name) is green and red after the Welsh flag.
The Recipe
Cheese and leek pasties
I love a pasty – although that probably won’t come as a surprise. My favourite is a corned beef pasty. Sadly, Greggs’ version just doesn’t cut the mustard these days. In South Wales, we used to have Ferrari’s bakeries that served delicious mini egg-washed, corned beef pasties, but they closed down several years ago. Can someone start a good affordable bakery chain please that sells corned beef pasties, bread pudding, ice slices and Swansea loaves? Anyway, sometimes I do like a different filling, and the classic combo of cheese and leeks is always a winner. Here’s my version that adds thyme and mustard.
Ingredients (makes 4)
1 large potato (200g), peeled and cut into rough 1cm cubes
1 small leek, roughly chopped
140g mature cheddar, cut into small cubes
1tsp thyme
½ tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp English mustard
3 tsp milk
Pack of ready-rolled puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
Salt and pepper
Method
Preheat your oven to 180°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5.
Boil the potatoes in salted water until soft but still holding their shape.
Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, soften the leeks in a little butter or olive oil with the thyme.
Drain the potatoes and add to the frying pan along with the mustard, cheese and milk. Cook slowly until it forms a gloriously lumpy paste. Season with pepper.
Allow it to cool slightly while you cut the pastry into four long rectangles and place on baking paper on baking trays.
Brush the edges of each pastry sheet with egg. Distribute the filling on one side of the rectangle of each pasty. Carefully fold the lid over and crimp the edges.
Wash the tops with the remaining egg and place in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the pastry has puffed up and looks golden.
If you try the recipe out, don’t forget to tag any photos with #mywelshkitchen.
The Playlist
To me, cooking and music go hand in hand, whether that’s singing at the top of your voice using a wooden spoon as a microphone while waiting for pasta to boil, or dancing around with the oven gloves on as the oven timer counts down. Here are this week’s ideas for your Welsh Kitchen playlist.
In this issue we are celebrating 40 years since the release of Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart. Fraser Morris recounts its history and impact for this great piece for BBC Culture. Also, having mentioned harpist Nansi Richards above, we have an example of how deftly and magically she played.
Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler
Y Gaeaf by Nansi Richards
The Pantry
Good food is nothing without good ingredients and thankfully there are plenty of fantastic Welsh products on the market. Here is where you’ll find recommendations to stock up your cupboard, fridge or fruit bowl, or a really great place for food.
Cardiff Wine Passport
I’m delighted that Cardiff Wine Passport has returned for a second year. The concept is that you pay for a ‘passport’ that you can exchange in venues around the city for six individual glasses of wine. The aim is to encourage restaurant trade between Sunday and Thursday, and there are suggested food pairings to go with each glass of vino. Participating restaurants include Bar 44, Curado, Daffodil and more. You can buy your passport now and claim your glasses between 19 February and 27 April 2023.
From the archive
It’s Shrove Tuesday tomorrow, so here’s some pancake inspiration from the archive:
