Bubble and Squeak

Bubble and squeak is a very British dish, extremely underrated, and breakfast sensation. Here’s the story of bubble and squeak!

What is bubble and squeak?

Bubble and squeak is a traditional British breakfast dish, generally made from potatoes and cabbage, although it can include carrots, peas, and a whole host of other wonderful stuff. The essential concept of bubble and squeak is that you use the leftovers from your Sunday Roast Dinner. A British Sunday roast is another sensation that will surely be getting its own blog at some point. As usual, I digress…

How do you make bubble and squeak?

There are a lot of different recipes out there, but essentially you add some roast potatoes or mashed potatoes, shallow fry it until it becomes golden on the outside, and essentially solidified together.  Voila, you are left with b&s sexy patties.

Whats the origin of the dish?

What is the origin of bubble and squeak, or dare we say the history of this fine dish?

Recipes go back to at least 1806, if not earlier, and part of the Sunday Dinner traditions of the UK, but essentially its origins lie in the fact that poor people did not want to waste food, so thus leftovers were fried up and incorporated into the great British breakfast.

What does bubble and squeak mean?

Its a nice and simple one, when you fry the cabbage it makes bubbling, and squeaking noises as you cook it. And that is how it got the name!

What is bubble and squeak soup?

A bit of an abomination in my mind, but the same ingredients, with stock in soup form. I do not adhere to the bubble and squeak soup thing.

Are there any similar dishes to it?

From Scotland to India there are a whole heap of variations of this classic dish, but in the interests of this article, I am just going to mention one, the one with the best name!

Rumbledethumps is a a very similar dish, which originates from the Scottish borders, and one they like so much it even gets served as the main course! The main ingredients added to this one are garlic, onion, and cheddar cheese, although it is very much the same concept of fried leftovers.

How does it taste?

Awesome! OK, I will go into more detail, it is better than deep-fried vegetable dishes like tempura, or deep-fried Scottish stuff, it goes great with vinegar, and is a palatable way for one to consume vegetables!

And that is the bubble and squeak story, part of my ongoing British food series, which has included Pickled Eggs, Saveloy, Battered Sausage, and of course the correct way to eat good old Fish and Chips!

The Street Food Guy has Spoken!

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