Gordon Ramsay's Over-The-Top Scottish Breakfast Sandwich Packs 3 Proteins

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is not someone who does things by half measures, a trait proven by his characteristically extreme take on a Scottish breakfast sandwich, which packs in three different kinds of protein. As demonstrated on his YouTube channel, Ramsay's sandwich draws inspiration from the "full Scottish" breakfast, a mighty fry-up that traditionally includes eggs (fried, scrambled, or poached), bacon, sausage links, haggis, "tattie" (potato) scones, British-style baked beans, fried mushrooms, grilled tomato, black pudding, and Lorne (or "square") sausage.

Attempting to cram an entire full Scottish breakfast into a sandwich would result in a Dagwood-worthy behemoth, but might present certain logistical challenges. Ramsay understandably pares it down to fried eggs, grilled mushrooms, caramelized onions, haggis, and Lorne sausage. For those unfamiliar, Lorne is an uncased slab of well-seasoned minced meat — usually a mixture of beef and pork — not dissimilar to a dense, fried slice of meatloaf.

The concept of a breakfast sandwich is far from unknown in Scotland, where many start the day with a "morning roll,"  often filled with one or several of the usual constituent parts of the full Scottish. Ramsay instead opts for toasted sourdough, but doubles down on Scottish flavors by flambeing the onions with Scotch whisky, then ups the umami with some Worcestershire sauce before and finishes with a little chili. "If I was ever going to go," comments Ramsay as he assembles the intimidating sandwich, "and ask for my final, delicious meal on death row, this would be it."

American viewers who wish to emulate Ramsay's breakfast protein bomb will have to exercise some creativity as some ingredients will not be on hand. Regrettably, despite being Scotland's national dish, authentic haggis — which is primarily composed of sheep offal — has not been available in the U.S.since 1971, due to the Department of Agriculture ruling that animal lungs were not necessarily safe for human consumption. Swapping out haggis for black pudding comes with its own challenges: Though not subject to an outright ban in the U.S., black pudding does face onerous import and sales restrictions, and can therefore be difficult for American consumers to get hold of unless they have access to a purveyor specializing in British food.

Nevertheless, while your local store is unfortunately not likely to stock Lorne sausage or tattie scones either, both can be prepared at home with relative ease. To this may be added bacon, which Scotland was having a love affair with long before Epic Meal Time was a glimmer in Harley Morenstein's eye.

The question of breakfast condiments is a perennially divisive one in Scotland, so you should feel free to follow your instincts. While Ramsay includes brown sauce, tomato ketchup is the other most traditional Scottish pairing, though spice-lovers might also enjoy adding a few dashes of their preferred hot sauce.