Is It Bad to Run Your Dishwasher Every Day?

Why the Best Breakfast Sandwiches Come from England

updated 2 days ago

We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.

Credit: Ariel Knutson

Americans may think of the bacon, egg, and cheese as the quintessential hangover sandwich, but the best BEC around actually omits the E and the C. Behold the glory of the bacon butty.

What Is a Bacon Butty?

The bacon butty is a British sandwich consisting of crispy bacon, butter, and either HP Sauce (a British “brown sauce” akin to steak sauce) or ketchup, all stuffed between two slices of soft white sandwich bread.

Bacon butties are not gourmet fare by any means. Yet they’re so popular throughout the United Kingdom that Prince Harry even organized a “survivor’s breakfast” complete with bacon butties the morning after Prince William’s wedding to Kate Middleton, dishing out the meaty treat to bleary-eyed revelers come daybreak. Royals, they’re just like us!

In Britain, you’re either team brown sauce or team ketchup, an allegiance that is somewhat dependent on geography . Personally, I’m team brown sauce, as I prefer its umami-tangy-Worcestershire-like kick to the more saccharine ketchup, but if a good bacon butty is placed in front of me, I will not discriminate. A ketchup-laced bacon butty is still more delicious than no bacon butty at all.

Are Buttys and Sarnies The Same Thing?

Yes! A bacon butty is also sometimes called a bacon sarnie or a bacon bap, especially if served on a roll.

How Do You Make a Bacon Butty?

Preparing the sandwich couldn’t be easier. First fry up a few slices of bacon in a skillet until the edges are crisp and brown. You can use either thick-cut, British-style back bacon, or thinner American-style bacon. While the bacon is cooking and your kitchen fills with the glorious porcine aroma of sizzling fat, spread the HP Sauce or ketchup on the bread along with a smear of softened butter. Once the bacon is done, pile it high on the bread and enjoy.

Britain’s Most Beloved Hangover Food

Like Britain, nearly every country in the world has distinctive and delicious hangover specialties. While researching my latest cookbook, Hangover Helper , I discovered many cherished hangover dishes from around the world. Mexican cuisine, for instance, offers a treasure trove of hangover delights including vuelve a la vida (a seafood cocktail whose name translates to “return to life”), menudo (a spicy tripe stew), barbacoa (barbecued goat), caldo de camaron (a spicy shrimp soup), and the michelada, the classic savory beer cocktail spiked with Maggi and hot sauce. In parts of South Korea, meanwhile, you’re more likely to lap up a bean sprout-laden soup called kongnamul gukbap when you’re hungover. In Canada you might nosh on gravy-soaked poutine, while in Colombia you’re more likely to slurp up an egg-and-milk soup called changua. While the bacon butty is not Britain’s most iconic hangover food — that honor would unquestionably be bestowed upon the traditional full English breakfast — I’d like to think it is the most beloved.

Buy the book : Hangover Helper by Lauren Shockey, $20

The simplicity of the sandwich means that you can make it even in the most hungover of states — those midmorning hours when your head is throbbing and your stomach feels like it’s been through the spin cycle of the washing machine. Its ingredients are limited and are likely already in your refrigerator. You’re not going to serve a bacon butty if your friends come over for brunch. No, the bacon butty is an intimate sandwich, one best eaten alone, in your pajamas, standing over the stove. It is, in a word, perfect.

Comments 0 Ratings

Bacon Butty

Yield Serves 1

Prep time 5 minutes

Cook time 10 minutes

• shellfish-free
• tree-nut-free
• low-carb
• fish-free
• alcohol-free
• soy-free
• egg-free
• peanut-free

Per serving, based on 1 servings. (% daily value)

• Calories 716
• Fat 55.6 g (85.5%)
• Saturated 20.7 g (103.7%)
• Carbs 32.5 g (10.8%)
• Fiber 2.4 g (9.4%)
• Sugars 6.7 g
• Protein 21.0 g (42.1%)
• Sodium 1154.3 mg (48.1%)

Ingredients

• 4 strips

  thick-cut smoked streaky bacon

• 2 teaspoons

  butter, at room temperature

• 2 slices

  white sandwich bread

• 2 teaspoons

  HP sauce (or ketchup, if you want to go against the grain)

Instructions

1. Place the bacon in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. After about 3 minutes, or when the edges are just starting to brown, flip the bacon. Lower the heat slightly and continue cooking, flipping as needed, until the bacon is just beginning to crisp up, about 5 more minutes. Meanwhile, spread the butter on one slice of the bread. Spread the HP sauce on the other slice of bread.

2. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel to drain. Place the bacon on the buttered bread and top with the other slice of bread, HP-side down.

Recipe Notes

Recipe excerpted with permission from Hangover Helper by Lauren Shockey, published by Hardie Grant Books, October 2019.

Lauren Shockey

Contributor

Lauren Shockey is a New York City-based food writer and trained cook. She is the author of the recently released cookbook, Hangover Helper: Delicious Cures from Around the World (Hardie Grant, 2019) and the culinary memoir with recipes, Four Kitchens: My Life Behind the Burner in New York, Hanoi, Tel Aviv, and Paris. (Grand Central, 2011). Previously the restaurant critic at The Village Voice, Lauren has also freelanced for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Travel + Leisure, Slate, Bon Appetit, Saveur and Food52. A graduate of the University of Chicago, she holds a diploma in classic culinary arts from The French Culinary Institute (now the International Culinary Center) and a Master of Arts in food studies from New York University.

Follow Lauren

Source : food