English Breakfast

Every lodging place in Scotland, from five-star hotels to one-star hovels, offers a Full Scottish Breakfast. By “full” the Scots mean “complete, ” but I promise you, full is what you’ll feel when you finish the last bite of that tattie scone.

You may be surprised at what you won’t see on the breakfast tables of most B&Bs in Scotland. Not waffles or French toast or pancakes, not muffins or bagels or Danish pastries, not egg casseroles or omelets, not potatoes or hash browns, and definitely not grits.

What is being served? Let’s head for the dining room and find out…

Our first stop is a sideboard lined with cold starters. An assortment of juices. Plain yogurt with muesli to sprinkle on top. Fresh fruit, whole or chopped. Round, thin oatcakes, waiting for a skim of raspberry jam. And a selection of cereals, including Weetabix, which look like granola bars, but are in fact shredded wheat.

I found this out the hard way in New Zealand, where I sank my teeth into a bar of Weet-Bix, as they call it there, and thought I’d bitten into a hay bale. My Kiwi sisters are still laughing about that one.

We return to the table with our yogurt and fruit, and discover piping hot tea waiting for us. Our teacups are flanked by a second pot of water—for thinning our tea when it gets too strong—a bowl of sugar lumps, and a pitcher of milk.

Someday soon I’ll write an entire post on the tradition of tea drinking in Scotland. For now, we’re sipping away and enjoying our yogurt, waiting for the hot food to appear.

A steaming bowl of porridge shows up first. Yum. Scottish oatmeal is smoother than your typical Quaker Oats. Start with a pat of butter and a splash of milk, then toss in some golden currants (like raisins, but not) a generous spoonful of light brown Demerara sugar, and you’re ready to begin the day the way Scots have for centuries.