Agatha Christie liked to eat well, so it’s no surprise that descriptions of food frequently appear in her writing. What may be surprising to American readers, however, is what her characters eat for breakfast.
Did you know that the first chapter of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is called “Dr. Sheppard at the Breakfast Table?” The doctor tells his sister, Caroline, about the death of Mrs. Ferrars after “sitting down to eggs and bacon.” While this sounds like a typical American breakfast, it’s not what you’re probably expecting. Bacon in England is cut from the pork loin, whereas bacon in the U.S. is cut from the pork belly.
If you picture the pork shoulder near the front legs and the ham near the back legs, then the loin is in the middle, on top of the spareribs. A little bit of the fatty pork belly is attached, but English bacon is much more like American ham than American bacon. So, while the name might be confusing, it is basically ham and eggs, which is a breakfast familiar to American readers.
The Seven Dials Mystery also begins with breakfast. The first chapter is called “On Early Rising.” While it was common in those big country houses for guests to wander down informally and serve themselves from the hot and cold dishes laid out on the sideboard, it was rude to be very late since the servants needed time to start on luncheon. In Seven Dials, Lady Coote is distressed since it’s after eleven o’clock and two of the house party have yet to come down.
She sighed now, heavily, and drifted out through the open window, much to the relief of Jimmy Thesiger who at once helped himself to more kidneys and bacon on the strength of it.
Kidneys are not commonly consumed in the States, whether for breakfast or any other meal, but they were often an option on the breakfast sideboard in a country house. Lamb kidneys were the usual choice, either grilled alongside the bacon or simmered in sauce and served over toast.
Lord Caterham, when he was in residence at Chimneys, was also offered kidneys for breakfast, along with other dishes appropriate for a gentleman’s first meal of the day.
“Omelet,” said Lord Caterham, lifting each lid in turn. “Eggs and bacon, kidneys, devilled bird, haddock, cold ham, cold pheasant. I don’t like any of these things, Tredwell, ask the cook to poach me an egg, will you?”
Christie mentions omelets in several books, so I had already done that research. French omelettes do not usually have added ingredients other than a few herbs and are softer, just barely cooked, compared to American omelets.
Fish was also a common breakfast item in England, and haddock might be prepared in a variety of ways, including grilled, smoked, or as kedgeree. Brits who spent time in India brought home their taste for kedgeree, which is a curried stir-fry of haddock, rice, and hard-boiled eggs.
According to my research, “cold ham” is the same meat as what Americans think of: a cured and cooked pork joint, cooled and sliced off the bone. I did a lot of reading about ham, gammon, bacon, and streaky bacon, although I have to say that not everyone agrees with the definitions and differences! It must be a regional thing.
Cold pheasant was also a bit of a challenge to figure out. There are more questions about it online than there are results. It could just mean slices of yesterday’s roasted pheasant, or possibly the pheasant breast was deboned and wrapped around stuffing before being roasted. Prepared that way, it would be easier to slice and serve in the next morning.
Devilled bird is also offered at Chimneys, which supports the stuffed pheasant theory. One online food enthusiast commented that “Devilled pheasant legs used to be very common at a shooting party lunches,” so perhaps the pheasant breast is stuffed while the legs are devilled. Devilled, by the way, refers to the spicy sauce in which the bird is simmered. Kidneys were often devilled, too, although I suspect Lord Caterham’s are grilled since there’s already the devilled bird dish.
Swapping in kidneys or other offal for more popular cuts is being encouraged in the U.S. to cut down on food waste and agricultural emissions, which makes sense. It would be grand if Agatha Christie fans and other Anglophiles led the way. Let’s start with breakfast!
For even more fun, here are a couple of the websites I looked at while writing this article: