Pineapple, Yorkshire pudding and baked beans for breakfast? You couldn’t make it up!

I have been fortunate to travel to many places around the world. However, one of the places I have never been to is Cyprus. As of now, I’m not sure I will go there any time soon. That said, last week, Cyprus featured in my thinking for a couple of reasons.

The first reason, and the more serious one, was because of the dreadful war in the Middle East started by Israel and the US. Now I try and steer clear of politics in this blog, but what is going on in the war against Iran makes it difficult to stay silent. It appears there is no legal basis for what Israel and the US are doing. The regime in Iran have proved themselves a potential threat to the free world. However, I cannot see how this war will lead to world peace. Indeed, it feels as if we are on the brink of a third world war.

Although the UK is not yet taking an active role in the conflict, we are slowly being drawn into it in many ways. We are intending to send a Destroyer (HMS Dragon) to protect our military base in Cyprus. I say intend, as work on preparing the ship has stopped because the dock yard only operates 9-5, Monday to Friday. You really couldn’t make this stuff up.

The second reason, and a much less serious one, was the news that the European Union last week agreed to ban meaty names such as bacon and steak for all vegetarian and vegan food. That said, ‘veggie burgers’ and ‘meat free sausages’ can still be used. Predictably, there was a large amount of outrage to be seen on social media about the ruling. Cyprus currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, and it was Maria Panayiotou, Cyprus’s Agriculture Minister, who defended the change. She said the ruling improved support for farmers and would help them secure a more predictable and sustainable future. As I said, you really couldn’t make this stuff up.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, Gen-Z folk, famous for adding avocados and chia seeds to their breakfast menu, have now decided to add Yorkshire puddings to the traditional Full English Breakfast. Now I like a Full English Breakfast from time to time, usually when I’m away somewhere. A recent survey, strangely conducted by the energy company EDF, found that 49% of people in England see it as the best way to start their day.

Traditionally, a Full English Breakfast, as defined by The English Breakfast Society (I kid you not), has at its core – eggs, bacon, sausages, pudding (black up here in the North, white pudding, down South) or fried bread. The survey revealed that Gen-Z folk were not content with the traditional basic offering, and as well as Yorkshire puddings, were happy to add smoked salmon, haggis, chorizo, halloumi, chips, and my favourite, yesterday’s left over curry. And I’m not making this stuff up!

Now Guise Bule de Missenden, who describes himself as a ‘curious third-culture operator’ and possibly the world greatest authority on a Full English Breakfast, is both the Chairman of The English Breakfast Society and the founder of Roch. The latter is an organisation that has created the first formal dog friendly hotel certification standard. No comment, but do take a look at the English Breakfast Society website – it’s absolutely fascinating!

Back to Guise Bule de Missenden. He has welcomed the Gen-Z new ways of conceptualising what a Full English Breakfast could look, and taste like. Not surprising really as he once championed the notion of including fresh pineapple as an appropriate addition to the traditional breakfast. I liked how he recognised and described these changes – he said such additions ‘reflect experimentation rather than redefinition’. What he found encouraging is that core elements of what constitutes a Full English Breakfast are not being ignored or rejected by Gen-Z but instead are being ‘debated, adapted and enjoyed across the generations’.

Which is just as well as far as I’m concerned. My ideal Full English Breakfast includes two fried eggs, two vegetarian sausages, mushrooms, wholemeal toast (not fried) and crucially, a good portion of baked beans! These days we don’t have Heinz beans in the house. It’s a small protest against what the US President has and continues to do, but I believe if we all do something similar, we can make a difference – and for all those innocent people caught up in a conflict not of their making, that might be really important.