Regional & International
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Red Sauce Brown Sauce: A British Breakfast Odyssey
The charming and joyful follow-up book from ‘the nation's taster in chief,' Felicity Cloake.
If there's one thing that truly unites Britain, from Aberdeen to Aberystwyth, St Ives to St Pancras, it's an obsession with breakfast.
We all have an opinion on the merits of brown sauce versus ketchup on our morning bacon sarnie. In this eagerly awaited follow-up to One More Croissant for the Road, the nation's favourite taster-in-chief Felicity Cloake sets off on a cycle trip of condimental proportions to investigate and celebrate the legendary Great British Breakfast. Travelling the length and breadth of the UK to establish once and for all what makes a perfect fry-up, she rates them on criteria from the crispness of the bacon to how long they keep her pedalling. But a woman cannot live by All Day Breakfast alone, so as well as recipes for the Savoy's Omelette Arnold Bennett and proper Scottish porridge, she lavishes her attention on the regional specialities she encounters along the way, from a desi breakfast in Birmingham to a Greggs Geordie stottie cake. This is a freewheeling gastronomical tour like no other.
Eaten with as much relish in The Wolseley on Piccadilly as in Glasgow's University Cafe, Britain loves nothing more than a good breakfast. The only question is: what do you have with yours?
If there's one thing that truly unites Britain, from Aberdeen to Aberystwyth, St Ives to St Pancras, it's an obsession with breakfast.
We all have an opinion on the merits of brown sauce versus ketchup on our morning bacon sarnie. In this eagerly awaited follow-up to One More Croissant for the Road, the nation's favourite taster-in-chief Felicity Cloake sets off on a cycle trip of condimental proportions to investigate and celebrate the legendary Great British Breakfast. Travelling the length and breadth of the UK to establish once and for all what makes a perfect fry-up, she rates them on criteria from the crispness of the bacon to how long they keep her pedalling. But a woman cannot live by All Day Breakfast alone, so as well as recipes for the Savoy's Omelette Arnold Bennett and proper Scottish porridge, she lavishes her attention on the regional specialities she encounters along the way, from a desi breakfast in Birmingham to a Greggs Geordie stottie cake. This is a freewheeling gastronomical tour like no other.
Eaten with as much relish in The Wolseley on Piccadilly as in Glasgow's University Cafe, Britain loves nothing more than a good breakfast. The only question is: what do you have with yours?
Editorial Reviews
‘As a greedy woman who loves cycling around the country in search of double and even triple breakfasts, I was delighted by this book about a greedy woman, cycling around the countryside, looking for several square meals a day. In an era when too many fully grown adults munch through instant microwave oats, overpackaged biscuits or simply skip eating altogether, Cloake is making the case for a cooked, regional, calorie-packed kick off, both as a treat for your senses and as a way of supporting smaller, traditional food producers…funny, enlightening and evocative.' Nell Frizzell, The Guardian
‘A bible for breakfast lovers.' The Scotsman
Praise for ‘One More Croissant for the Road'
‘Joyful, life-affirming, greedy. I loved it.' Diana Henry
‘Wonderfully written.' Anna Jones
‘Felicity Cloake's Tour de France is a triumph. It is full of greed and wit, jam packed with priceless practical information, and peppered with a sense of adventure and wonder. I love it.' Yotam Ottolenghi
‘From start to finish, this book is a joy: the perfect antidote to a world of diets and bad news.' Bee Wilson
‘A bible for breakfast lovers.' The Scotsman
Praise for ‘One More Croissant for the Road'
‘Joyful, life-affirming, greedy. I loved it.' Diana Henry
‘Wonderfully written.' Anna Jones
‘Felicity Cloake's Tour de France is a triumph. It is full of greed and wit, jam packed with priceless practical information, and peppered with a sense of adventure and wonder. I love it.' Yotam Ottolenghi
‘From start to finish, this book is a joy: the perfect antidote to a world of diets and bad news.' Bee Wilson
Readers Top Reviews
Lisa
This is an adventure story I wish I’d written. What could be better than a gastronomic cycling tour of the UK sampling the best of the Great British Breakfast? From marmite to mustard and avocado (okay, it’s posh, but still a part of the British breakfast culture) to curry (yummy). Eggs and bacon, Staffordshire oatcakes (I’m well biased here. They’re the best) black puddings, stotties, potato cakes… Stop! I’m getting hungry again. You get the picture. The idea for a cycling tour of British breakfasts comes to Cloake during an earlier tour of France. The only problem is that the idea comes to HP fruity fruition just as the country is locked down with COVID. Never letting a little problem like that faze her, where Felicity can’t meet butchers and bakers face-to-face, she improvises. A marmite roll perched outside the factory in Burton-on-Trent, (my home turf. What a smell.) Weetabix on a mown grass verge in Corby. Felicity writes with humour and an obvious love of our quirky breakfast cuisine. The Tea Break fact pages and the repeated ‘red sauce or brown sauce?’ question add an extra something to the book. Like sauce adds to a British breakfast. But red or brown? That is the question.
Richard Earle
A book that encompasses cycle touring, breakfasts, recipes & suppliers with wit. I truly enjoyed this and have certainly found some regional producers that will get some custom from me. It was nice to come across some alternatives to the normal red and brown sauce options - how has it take me this long to try English Mustard with a fry up? I will now need to try the mustard and marmalade combo with bacon sarnie. If you have read One More Croissant for the Road then you will love this, if you haven't read that I would suggest ordering it at the same time.
Sdwg
I love Felicity’s writing. Having cooked her recipes for years, I’ve enjoyed her move to travel writing (and am pleased that there are still recipes involved too). There are loads of interesting bits of history as well as her wit and humour. I really loved this book. I’m not much of a cyclist but reading this made me want to get on and go on a little adventure myself.
Vicuña
This book is an absolute delight and I’ll be looking for an earlier book by the same author about her cycle/food travels in France. What a cracking idea; travel around the UK on a bike and take a look at what constitutes breakfast in different parts of the country. We all say breakfast, but what does it mean? In Scotland, it may include haggis and oat biscuits with a nip of whisky. In Ireland, it’s an Ulster Fry…will there be white or black pudding, stotties or hash browns? Rachel Cloake’s writing is engaging and laugh out loud funny in places. The cycle trip with her chums and meeting up with friends along the way is entertaining and informed. Her experiences are diverse and her insight into the food and meals she sampled is inspiring. There are recipes for a few favourites; mustard, red and brown sauce, butter and much more. Even better, she references some excellent producers and on the basis of her experience, I’ve actually placed an order for pork and bacon from a producer and seller in Cornwall. So this book works in every way; informed and well written and every page a true delight.
