Week 27 - Ireland

JUMBO BREAKFAST ROLL

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  And what better way to get the fun started than with the Irish Jumbo Breakfast Roll.

The Breakfast Roll is ubiquitous in Ireland as a quick breakfast for construction workers, students and anyone eating brekkie on the go.  They're commonly found at gas stations, convenience stores, supermarkets and newsstands.  An ingenious idea really, the Breakfast Roll takes the epic Fry-up and sticks it all on a demi-baguette for easy eating.

A product of the Celtic Tiger construction boom (1995-2008), the Breakfast Roll  has become so associated with Irish pop culture that it spawned a hit song!

For our version of the Breakfast Roll we fried up some hashbrowns, breakfast sausage, bacon, eggs, tomato and a side of baked beans.  (The real Irish Breakfast Roll would probably also have black or white pudding and a generous dollop of ketchup or brown sauce.)

This is one hearty breakfast.  In fact, we were only able to make it through half a sandwich each.  According to internet sources, a whole sandwich averages well over 1000 calories!  It was definitely satisfying, but I found it difficult to enjoy all the different taste sensations going on at one time.  When I'm eating bacon, I want to be able to enjoy the awesomeness that is bacon, you know? (So maybe not worth all those calories.)

The Verdict:

For Ease of Preparation:

Although it takes some juggling to make sure everything is ready at the same time, it only took about 20 mintues to prepare the Breakfast Roll.

For Degree of Separation:

For Guestability:

More an on-the-go food, I wouldn't recommend serving this one to guests.  It would be akin to serving take-out McDonald's McMuffins.  (In fact, I read a rumour that Irish McDonald's actually has a version of the Breakfast Roll on their menu.)

For Sustainability:

Bam!  This is one hearty breakfast, worthy of a "Hungry Man" breakfast.

For Costability:

If you pick one of these in Ireland, it'll set you back around $5 Cdn.  Making one at home was a bit more, about $20 in groceries.  (This buys enough to make several servings.)

For Overall Appeal:

The Breakfast Roll was pretty good, but didn't knock my socks off.  As an on-the-go option it would be awesome, but as an at home meal, it was not as interesting.  The flavours became too muddled together for my taste.

Next time we'll get to that Iran breakfast, stay tuned....