INTERMEDIATE (B1) LEVEL ARTICLE
A Nursery Food breakfast: Soft-boiled eggs and soldiers
By Liz Matthews
Ingredients:
Method:
We call these strips of toast soldiers, and children love them for breakfast. We call it Nursery Food because it was the kind of meal that would be served to children in their nursery by their nanny, while mother and father got dressed up ready for their own dinner later in the evening.
When it came to serve, I couldn't find any egg cups but this cut glass vase made a pretty substitute. What with that, and my jazzy cup and saucer, I loved my easy breakfast.
So we call toast sliced into strips soldiers? Where does this name come from? No one really knows but there are a couple of theories.
One is that they look like soldiers, all uniform in size and shape, lined up on parade. This seems like a very logical suggestion. When you dip them into the yolk and take them out they even have what look like the bearskin hat that the Queen's Guard wear.
The other theory suggests it might have something to do with Humpty Dumpty, a popular traditional nursery rhyme. This is the most common modern version of the rhyme:
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
The words and possible meanings of the rhyme have changed many times since it was first published in 1797. These days Humpty Dumpty is known as being an egg-man, who fell off a wall and cracked his shell. The king sent his soldiers on horses to try to fix Humpty Dumpty, but they couldn't put him back together again. So Humpty Dumpty is the soft-boiled egg, and the bread soldiers are the king's men.
In the 18th century, the term 'humpty dumpty' was slang for a short and clumsy person, so this nursery rhyme could have originally been a riddle, with the answer being that Humpty Dumpty was an egg, which now has become a part of the story.
No one knows the real answer to the origin of the name soldiers for toast strips. So it's up to you to choose the one you find the most interesting or most likely.
- Eggs (usually 1-2 for each person but it depends on how hungry you are)
- Sliced bread (usually 1 for each egg)
Method:
- Put the eggs in a pan with enough cold water to cover them.
- Bring to the boil and then turn it down to simmer for 3-4 minutes, depending on how soft you want the egg yolks to be.
- I took out 2 of the eggs at this moment, and then cooked the other 2 for another 6 minutes, and I can use them as hard-boiled eggs for a different meal.
- Put the soft-boiled eggs into egg cups.
- Toast the bread, spread them with butter, and cut each slice into long pieces to dip into the yolks.
We call these strips of toast soldiers, and children love them for breakfast. We call it Nursery Food because it was the kind of meal that would be served to children in their nursery by their nanny, while mother and father got dressed up ready for their own dinner later in the evening.
When it came to serve, I couldn't find any egg cups but this cut glass vase made a pretty substitute. What with that, and my jazzy cup and saucer, I loved my easy breakfast.
So we call toast sliced into strips soldiers? Where does this name come from? No one really knows but there are a couple of theories.
One is that they look like soldiers, all uniform in size and shape, lined up on parade. This seems like a very logical suggestion. When you dip them into the yolk and take them out they even have what look like the bearskin hat that the Queen's Guard wear.
The other theory suggests it might have something to do with Humpty Dumpty, a popular traditional nursery rhyme. This is the most common modern version of the rhyme:
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
The words and possible meanings of the rhyme have changed many times since it was first published in 1797. These days Humpty Dumpty is known as being an egg-man, who fell off a wall and cracked his shell. The king sent his soldiers on horses to try to fix Humpty Dumpty, but they couldn't put him back together again. So Humpty Dumpty is the soft-boiled egg, and the bread soldiers are the king's men.
In the 18th century, the term 'humpty dumpty' was slang for a short and clumsy person, so this nursery rhyme could have originally been a riddle, with the answer being that Humpty Dumpty was an egg, which now has become a part of the story.
No one knows the real answer to the origin of the name soldiers for toast strips. So it's up to you to choose the one you find the most interesting or most likely.
Here are some questions on the text:
- If you eat them often, boiled eggs and soldiers for breakfast is better for you than a Full English breakfast.
a) True
b) False
c) Doesn't say
- This was a meal that was only for children.
a) True
b) False
c) Doesn't say
- The origin of the name soldiers for toast strips is well-known.
a) True
b) False
c) Doesn't say
- The soldiers that the toast strips are named after could be Queen's Guard.
a) True
b) False
c) Doesn't say
- The soldiers in the nursery rhyme
went to war
with Humpty Dumpty.
a) True
b) False
c) Doesn't say
