We are bring home the bacon, eggs, soda bread and all you need to have the Big Breakfast at home this year. Whether it is the Twelfth Morning or any day of the week we look at ways to make the traditional and a health alternative to the much loved Ulster fry. Each year before the Twelfth the ladies serve up much more than just an amazing breakfast, but as part of the annual Twelfth Festival there is a great line up of entertainment and crack.

So as the sausages are sizzling and the bacon crisping you can enjoy some of the acts from previous years. Who could forget the mights ‘Hounds of Ulster’ as they listed the roof and got us all on our feet.

The tables are set for the next Big Breakfast when we are able to safely meet and enjoy it so until then we hope that you will make do with the sights and sounds of previous years and your own home cooking.

Origins of the Ulster Fry

What’s the difference?

Bacon, eggs and sausages (all fried) are common ingredients across all fry-ups, but everything else is a matter of contention. The purist’s Ulster Fry consists of bacon, eggs, sausages, black pudding and, most importantly, both potato bread and soda bread. Baked beans, fried tomato, mushrooms, and white pudding are commonly added, but hardcore traditionalists might reject these. The biggest sticklers might outright reject anything that can’t be fried in lard, but that position is growing unpopular as time goes by. Indeed, as people become more health conscious, cooked breakfasts are moving towards grilling instead of frying.

Ulster Fry Courtesy of Food NI

Baking and eggs

The two breads in the Ulster Fry are usually served in farls (short for fardell, meaning a quarter, and made by cutting dough into four pieces). Potato bread substitutes potato for some of the wheat flour and is usually mass produced as farls, while soda bread is made with soda bicarbonate instead of yeast and can also be baked as a normal loaf. Although wheaten bread (soda bread made with wholemeal flour) is often served sliced in restaurants, sliced soda would be quite unusual on a breakfast plate.

Making Your Own

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 slice of potato bread

1 slice of soda bread

2 pork sausages

2 back bacon rashers

2 slices of black and white pudding

1 red tomato

Instructions:

1. Place a small amount of rapeseed oil in the pan over a low heat which produces a light sizzle not a spitting oil.

2. When hot, place the sausages in the pan turning occasionally to colour evely all the way round. This should take approximately 8 minutes.

3. Add the bacon rashers to the pan. Don’t turn your bacon too early – wait for the colour to appear on the edges. For a healthier option you can grill the bacon. Either way, cook the bacon until crispy but not brown and burnt.

4. Place the potato and soda bread in pan. The soda will soak up all the delicious flavours and the potato bread will brown on the outside and soften wonderfully in the middle.

5. Use tomatoes on the vine as they retain their firmness and flavour for longer. Tomatoes should always be a little crispy. Cook the tomatoes for several  minutes alongside your breads.

6. Put the slices of black and white pudding in the pan and continue to cook everything for a couple of more minutes – after 2-3 minutes flip everything over. After a further 2 minutes cooking move all the ingredients into a warmed oven and clean your pan.

7. In a little fresh oil, crack 2 large free range eggs, place a lid over the pan to cook the top of the eggs for perfect runny eggs.