Hi John: frankly, my secret belief is that Marmite XO is just Marmite that passed its expiry date and has been relabelled. New-Old-Stock Marmite, if you will. I think that's what they call "creative marketing".

Now. This shocked - shocked - me:

Oh my... It hurts my soul. We have to do something about this.

For starters, there is no such thing as an "English muffin". There is just the muffin. Americans have something they call "muffins": the scary news for you people is that the rest of the world calls those fairy cakes. Yes. Think on that.

But anyhow. Muffins and crumpets are totally different. Mrs C is away for the week and where other guys would use that as an excuse to go out and get beered up I am going to kindly spend my evening demonstrating just what crumpets are - because the world needs to know. Obviously you can buy them in any civilised bakery or supermarket, but here's how to make them - cos it's easy. The recipe:

225g / 8oz strong white flour
275 ml / 1/2 pint milk
55 ml / 2 fl oz water
1 tbsp dried yeast
1 tsp sugar
pinch of salt

Mix the milk and water and warm them to hand hot in a pan or microwave. Add the sugar and then stir in the yeast. Leave for 15 minutes for the yeast to froth up. Add a pinch of salt to the flour in a bowl and pour in the yeast mixture. Mix to a smooth batter:



Leave that batter for an hour for the yeast to make it light and frothy.

Grease some crumpet rings (or egg rings or baking rings or whatever), heat a pan and put them in. Pour a generous tablespoon of batter into each ring:



Cook the crumpets for four to five minutes. Bubbles will start to form, burst and give the crumpets their characteristic appearance:



At this point remove the rings and flip the crumpets, cooking the tops for a further minute:



Done.

If eating immediately simply spread with butter and the condiment of choice. Or they keep very well for hours or a day or two, at which point you need to toast them before eating. They are ideal spread with stawberry jam, honey, Ceri's home-made marmalade or elderflower jelly, and of course... Marmite:



As you see, utterly, utterly different than ("English") muffins.

My work here is done.

'Night all - C

PS: how did your crumpet making work out, Nutter?

_________________

Pancakes.

Marmite and pancakes, breakfast of champions.

Around my part of the world we call this lummur, also called Klattar, and they are awesome. There is even a saying here that goes "Selst eins og heitar lummur" (Sells like hot lummur) meaning that something is pretty much being ripped out of the stores.

(Internet pic http://uppskriftir.seia.is/Annad_oflokkad/lummur.htm) (Unlike Ceri and Nutter and Danny Duke I am no good in the kitchen).

Pancakes (pönnukökur) are totally diffrent thing (at least round here). My grandma made the best pancakes in the world, and sadly took her secret with her to the grave . But my mom has managed to simulate the result. Tastes great with sugar, and or jam and whipped cream.

(Again internet pic http://uppskriftablokkin.blogspot.com/2010/09/ponnukokur-lummur.html)

_________________
Deyr fé
Deyja frændr
Deyr sjálfr ið sama
En orðstír
Deyr aldregi
Hveim er sér góðan getr

No! Exactly NOT pancakes!!

And not lummur either (though those look delicious, Nonni: recipe, please ).

Pancakes do not have yeast in the batter. That's the crucial difference - and yeast is, after all, the theme of this thread (on an electric guitar forum: I think that's hilarious ).

In crumpets the yeast makes them all light and fluffy and full of bubbles. Like this:



And because you cook them in the metal rings they are about 3/4 inch high, so they then function like a slice of bread and you heat and crisp them in the toaster:



Try doing that with a pancake.

Anyway. Bon appétit:



Hmm. I can see you're all going to have to come to my house for breakfast sometime. Do you know what a "full English" is? I suspect Mr Ninja might have something to say on that...

C'mon round, y'all - C

_________________

Here you go Ceri. Translated it myself with some help from google. You can find the recipe in Icelandic in the url under the photo in my earlier post.

Lummur:

5 dl Flour
4 tablespoons Sugar
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
6 tablespoons weak taste oil or margarine
5 dl cultured milk or milk (or mix it together)
2-3 eggs

Mix the dry things together in a bowl. Whip the wet together in another bowl. Mix so the dry and wet together until it has leveled well. Preheat pancake pan well and bake Lummur, first on one side until they become dry through and then a short time on the other side. Use slight oil on the pan if the Lummur stick with.

_________________
Deyr fé
Deyja frændr
Deyr sjálfr ið sama
En orðstír
Deyr aldregi
Hveim er sér góðan getr

Hi Nonni: excellent, thank you so much! Pancakes, but with a couple of twists, such as the oil. Interesting - I might have a little play with that this afternoon. On which, more... later.

Cheers man - C

_________________

Adey is the one for a full English I suspect.
There's two easy ways to spot a brummie. Without them opening their mouth.
1, They will eat a full English breakfast at any time of the day or night.
2, The jaunty angle at which they wear their shamrock in their turban.

That said I am very peculiar about my breakfast. Everything has it's place on the plate. Foodstuffs cannot overlap. I won't eat black pudding (though I love the stuff). Eggs must be runny yolked. Bacon must be crispy on the rind and still resemble meat on the meat. Sausages need to be thin and have about the same meat content as a box of matches. Though the butcher in Bournville does the absolute best sausages I've ever tasted.

Now the Irish, they know how to have breakfast. As a kid I went to put a ceiling up around the owner of a groundworks company's house. So on this cold, snowy February morn' I start getting the plasterboard up to the middle floor of this guys house. Half hour later his missus comes out and says "Nick yer breakfast is ready". So I'm escorted to this plate of steak, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, cabbage, pork chop, sausages, bacon, roast potatoes and peas. It's half nine on a Sunday morning and theres a glass of Putchine next to the plate too.
I didn't know whether to eat it or fight it. No wonder a lot of those Irish folks are so hardy.

_________________
No no and no

Ah-ha, yes: that is true.



The one followed immediately by the other, if what I've seen in the West of Ireland is anything to go by.

Cheers - C

_________________

I do have to carefully limit my intake of the Full English, to just the occasional treat. Let's face it, people just don't eat like that anymore. We're talking cholesterol nuke here.

My heritage is actually Welsh, but I could never get excited about a Cockles & Lavabread (Seaweed) breakfast.

Impressed by the crumpet making. I never thought about how they were actaully made - those made by Ceri actually look edible, as opposed to those packets of 6 rubber wheels you get from the supermarket.

What about waffles? I'll be in Belgium again in 2 weeks time, and they seem to be the National dish over there..

_________________
Fender Highway & Classic 60s Strats, Fender Toronado, Telecaster, Gretsch Projet, Charvel 3, PRS SE Soapbar II & Custom 24, Burns Batwing and many others!

This thread is going nicely. I suspect I shall have to add some more content on Marmite / Vegemite. And on Crumpets.

So, first off, let it be known that I have now done a highly scientific, impartial side-by-side comparison of Marmite and Vegemite.


Front of the jars


Back of the jars

After long thinking, sniffing, tasting, shuddering and teathbrushing, I come to the conclusion that they are both totally different, yet with roughly the same ingredients. Which is weird - and wonderful for variety, I guess. But for me there is only one dark savoury spread: Marmite. And to be perfectly un-correct, (politically): How on earth can anyone stand Vegemite? Horrendously horrid taste. Like sucking on concentrated stock. Eurgh.

Anyway, as you can see, I'm not at all biased.

The thing about Crumpets is: I thought they were made with yeast and then with added bicarbonate of soda - Anyhow that's how I will make them. I sadly don't have crumpet rings (harr harr harr) handy, so you'll have to bear with me on this. So far I think Ceri's crumpets look delicious!

Cheers for now,

Nutter

For the "West Atlantians" 5dl (deciliters) = 2 cups + 1 teaspoon (US), and the breakfast club rolls on.

Cheers,
John.E

A bit messy, but here's a mid-battle shot of the butt of the F-logo bread, Marmite on one piece, and cheese and Branston on the other. Another Brit classic.

Nonni, thanks for the recipe mate! It sounds yummie!

Cheers,

Nutter

One thing I forgot to mention about Lummur. You can throw raisins into the mix and then it is no longer lummur but Klattar (according to people born in Húsavík, my grandmothers birthplace, people in other parts of Iceland might disagree).

_________________
Deyr fé
Deyja frændr
Deyr sjálfr ið sama
En orðstír
Deyr aldregi
Hveim er sér góðan getr

Hmm, interesting. Not according to Saint Delia they're not; which is all ye know and all ye need to know. (Knead to know...)

But I'll be watching closely to see how that works out for you. This old dog can still learn new tricks.


Thank you! Some East Atlantians had been wondering about that too, but were foolishly too afraid to ask. Now I can translate from Icelandic to American to European and start cooking!

Cheers - C

PS: Branston Pickle - mmmmmmmmm-mmmmmmmmmm!

_________________