When I called for each country’s best hangover foods, it’s no surprise Northern Ireland had an excellent submission. As the country with the third-highest alcohol consumption rate in the world, Ireland has plenty of delicious food that will cure any hangover. In this submission, Aine from Belfast in Northern Ireland shares one of the most popular hangover cures in the country, ulster fry.

Ulster fry is a combination of a full English and full Irish breakfast. It is usually eaten the morning after a big night out drinking, and everyone tends to wake up craving a heavy breakfast. Ulster fry generally consists of bacon, fried eggs, black pudding, white pudding, fried mushroom, fried tomato, soda bread, and potato farl. 

Although you may think black and white pudding are desserts, they are actually Irish sausages. Black pudding is a blood sausage made with pork or beef blood, and it is mixed with grains such as cereal, oatmeal, or barley. It may sound intimidating, but it is a delicious meaty sausage with a savory taste and a slight metallic aftertaste. White pudding is similar to black pudding in that it has meat and grains, but it does not include blood. 

According to Aine’s mother, the most important part of the Ulster fry is the potato farl. The potato farl is the most important since it differentiates the Northern Ireland Ulster fry from the full Irish breakfast served in the Republic. The potato farl, or potato bread as they call it in Ireland, is a flatbread that is basically made with mashed potatoes and flour. If you are a potato lover, this will likely be your favorite part of the dish. The soda bread, which is also called Northern Ireland farl, is a flatbread made with four, baking soda, and buttermilk. The two breads are called farls, because they are served cut into quadrants, and the word farl comes from the Gaelic word fardel, which means four parts. 

Ulster fry was an incredibly tedious breakfast to make since it is so over the top with a million different ingredients, but I loved everything in it. It was also really cool to watch the potato bread puff up while cooking. All in all, I give it a 10/10 for deliciousness.