Afternoon tea

A cream tea, comprising tea taken with scones, clotted cream and raspberry jam.

It is a widespread stereotype that the English "drop everything" for a teatime meal in the mid-afternoon. This is no longer the case in the workplace, and is rarer in the home than it once was. A formal teatime meal is now often an accompaniment to tourism, particularly in Devon and neighbouring counties, where comestibles may include scones with jam and clotted cream (together known as a cream tea). There are also fairy cakes, simple small sponge cakes which can be iced or eaten plain. Nationwide, assorted biscuits and sandwiches are eaten. Generally, however, the teatime meal has been replaced by snacking, or simply dispensed with.

Chip shops and other takeaways

Fish and chips

England is internationally famous for its fish and chips and has a large number of restaurants and take-away shops selling this dish. It may be the most popular and identifiable English dish. In some regions fish and chips were served with a side order of mushy peas with salt and vinegar as condiments. Foods such as deep fried breaded scampi are usually on offer as well as fishcakes (authentically a fish slice between two potato slices) and a number of other combinations. Potato scallops, battered potato slices that were traditionally cooked with the fish and sold cheaply, are still popular.

The advent of take-away foods during the Industrial Revolution led to foods such as fish and chips, mushy peas, and pie and mash. These were the staples of the UK take-away business, and indeed of English diets, however, like many national dishes, quality can vary drastically from the commercial or mass produced product to an authentic or homemade variety using more carefully chosen ingredients.

Breakfast

A light breakfast might consist of breakfast cereal, muesli, boiled or scrambled eggs, toast and conserves or sometimes poached kippers. Continental breakfasts and porridge are also eaten. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the upper classes ate elaborate breakfasts including such dishes as kedgeree and devilled kidneys. Now, the substantial breakfast is the Full English, or "Fry Up".

Full English breakfast

Full English breakfast with bubble and squeak, sausage, bacon, grilled tomatoes and eggs.

A traditional full English breakfast includes bacon (traditionally back bacon, less commonly streaky bacon), poached or fried eggs, fried or grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, fried bread or toast with butter, sausages and black pudding, usually served with a mug of tea. It can even be a multi-course meal, with lighter breakfast ingredients such as fruit or cereal being eaten as a starter to the fry-up. As nearly everything is fried in this meal, it is commonly called a "fry-up". When an English breakfast is ordered to contain everything available it is often referred to as a Full English, or a Full Monty. Full English breakfasts are usually consumed in the home on non-working days, when there is enough time to prepare them, or at a hotel or cafe. They can also be enjoyed at lunchtime or as a late supper. Some eateries specialise in the "all day breakfast", and serve almost nothing else.

Kippers for breakfast in England

A kipper is a whole herring that has been split from tail to head, gutted, salted or pickled, and cold smoked and they are often eaten for breakfast. Rollmops are pickled herring fillets, rolled (hence the name) into a cylindrical shape around slices of onion, that are sometimes served as a "hangover-cure" breakfast.