It was the Darling Buds of May and a hearty English breakfast that inspired this blog. Produced by Yorkshire television the typically English comedy 'The Darling Buds of May' began broadcasting in 1991 and was set in an idealic Kent village.

Starring Catherine Zeta Jones and David Jason the show had 'lashings' of English sunshine, lashings of everthing good about English village life including the famous farmhouse breakfast. My overwhelming memory of the show is Ma Larkin working in a farmhouse kitchen with 4 or 5 frying pans on the go filled with fried eggs, rashes of streaky bacon, and sausage. All served with wedges of crusty home made bread.

It has to be the greatest on screen breakfast in history. The farmhouse English breakfast is supreme - but what is the perfect combination of ingredients?Farmhouse eggs, obviously, but are they scrambled, fried or even poached? Bacon - from locally farmed pigs. But is it streaky, smoked or unsmoked? Sausage, again from local stock and produce, but are they pork or beef and are they filled with locally grown herbs? Then theres the extra trimmings , black pudding - essential for me but not to everyones taste. Tomatoes - grilled, mushrooms - fried of course, hash browns and fried bread.

It's extremely English of course, but do any other nations get so excited about breakfast and celebrate it as much as we do. The french eat croissant, french bread and coffe, whilst the kids drink hot choclate from a bowl. Indian families endulge in eggs scrambled with spices, potatoes, and onions. A good site for Indian breakfast recipes is (http://www.thokalath.com/cuisine/breakfast.php

But for me it has to be the traditional English, farmhouse style of course and in particular the way Ma Larkin would cook it - with 'lashings' of everything.

'Perfick'