An English Country House Breakfast described by Elizabeth Peters
An English country house party featuring academics dressed in historical costume who want to restore Richard III’s reputation
I’m reading books set in England to get in the mood for a hoped-for trip in the fall. This passage, from The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters, made me hungry for breakfast:
On a sunny summer morning the breakfast room at Weldon House looked particularly charming. It suggested a photograph out of Country Life–a prewar Country Life, when such items as Georgian silver and Chippendale tables were commonplace. Silver chafing dishes sparkled along the mahogany sideboard, and Thomas’s nostrils sorted out a variety of tempting odors. It was not power that corrupted, he thought–it was soft living. Any invading barbarian would succumb to this fare. Bacon–solid English bacon, like slabs of ham marbled with fat; scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, coddled eggs; oatmeal, and a variety of cold breakfast cereals–removed from their plebeian cardboard containers and elegantly encased in crystal; rows of toast in silver toast racks; cut-glass pots of jam; black cherries glowing like dark rubies in crystalline syrup; thick orange marmalade, solid with rind; amber honey from Weldon’s own hives; hot biscuits, and…Thomas’s eyes widened as he identified a platter of jelly doughnuts. He had mentioned his passion for jelly doughnuts the last time he stayed at Weldon House. Damn it, he thought affectionately, you couldn’t help liking a man who remembered a trivial remark like that. He wondered if the tastes of the others had been catered to also, and decided in the affirmative as he saw the rector piling his plate with what appeared to be deviled kidneys. He waved his fork, adorned with kidney, at Thomas as the latter joined him at the sideboard. pp. 80, 81.
Do you want to join me for breakfast at an English country house?
This is my post for Weekend Cooking. Check out Beth Fish Reads today for more culinary posts around the web.
I loved Elizabeth Peters’s Amelia Peabody books and have been thinking of reading her other mysteries. This awesome food quote has made me even more excited to get reading.
Loved that book, love Elizabeth Peters and love breakfast. Hmm, I see a convergence here… Great post!
LOL! I love it when great things come together.
Wow – you’d have to role me out of there!!
I do love Elizabeth Peters. Wouldn’t really know Egypt if I hadn’t read her books. The book passage is lovely. I drooled over the bacon and jellies. It’s all described so prettily.
That sure does sound delicious, I’d love to join you for an English breakfast.
YUM! I’m reading books set in France on the same basis – Cheers from Carole’s Chatter
Yum! Breakfast is the best meal in England. Cold toast, coddled eggs, thick cut bacon and marmalade are classic.
I still have those books on my TBR shelf. There is just so much I want to read and work gets in the way
Thanks for the nice comment you made at my site and I agree with you, why can’t there be a salad trend?!
breakfast is my favorite meal of the day! This quote certainly makes me hungry!
Love England and I love breakfasts. This makes me dreadfully hungry. I love a sideboard breakfast… it screams elegance.
Thanks for linking up!
Dare I google coddled eggs? I haven’t heard of them before. I hope you are able to have your English countryside trip this fall!
As I’m yet to have breakfast this morning, this does make me very hungry indeed. And I only have a breakfast of yoghurt and fruit awaiting me. It’s very true that taking anything out of cardboard packaging and putting it into crystal makes it so much more elegant. Can’t say I share any enthusiasm for deviled kidneys though.
Yum, I’m on my way, bringing coffee, or should that be tea?