Ireland's morning fry includes back rashers, sausages, black and white pudding, eggs and soda bread. The black pudding is the element that makes it specifically Irish.
About Full Irish Breakfast
Ireland's most beloved morning meal: back rashers, pork sausages, black and white pudding, fried or scrambled eggs, grilled tomato, sautéed mushrooms and soda bread toast; the black pudding (a blend of pork blood, oatmeal and spices, encased and sliced) is the element that separates an Irish from an English fry; Clonakilty pudding is the national benchmark.
The Fry
The full Irish is the country's beloved morning fry: back rashers, pork sausages, black and white pudding, eggs, grilled tomato, sauteed mushrooms and soda bread. Each element is cooked separately and brought together hot. It is weekend food and hangover food, generous and unhurried, washed down with strong tea.
“The full Irish is the country's beloved morning fry: back rashers, pork sausages, black and white pudding, eggs, grilled tomato, sauteed mushrooms and soda bread.”
The Black Pudding
Black pudding, a sausage of pork, oatmeal, blood and spice, is the element that most clearly marks an Irish fry apart from an English one, alongside the white pudding that omits the blood. Its texture is soft and crumbly, its flavour earthy and peppery, nothing like what the name suggests. Skipping it leaves the plate missing its most distinctive part.
Clonakilty and Region
Clonakilty black and white pudding from County Cork is the national benchmark, a regional product whose name has become shorthand for quality. Butchers and counties keep their own recipes, and the pudding is a point of local pride. Soda bread, fried or toasted, is the Irish choice over plain white toast.
A Cafe Institution
The full Irish is best eaten in a small cafe rather than a hotel, where the price is lower and the quality often higher. It is the meal Irish people reach for when they want to feel at home, recreated in Irish cafes from Dublin to London. Done well, everything hot and the yolk soft, it sets up the whole day.
What to Expect
The full Irish arrives on a wide plate, with all components separate. The black pudding is eaten first, its texture grainy and flavour earthy and savoury in equal measure. This traditional dish presents no challenges. The rashers follow the black pudding.
Why Try It
The full Irish breakfast is the food that Irish people eat when they need to feel at home, in a Dublin café at 9 a.m. or a London café that's trying to recreate one.
Insider Tips
- Clonakilty black and white pudding is the standard, accept no substitutes.
- Order it at a small café, not a hotel restaurant, the price is lower and the quality often higher.
- Soda bread rather than white toast is the Irish choice.
