21 AUGUST 1982, Page 18

Sausage, egg, crumpet

Sir: As a New Yorker who constantly yearns for all American meals, I was pleas- ed that our breakfasts found favour with Simon Courtauld (Notebook, 7 August). 1 think it only fair to mention, however, that in eight years in these islands I have been unable to purchase commercial brands of sausages that did not contain at least one- third cereal filler and preservatives, and that I did not find incredibly bland .01 flavour and texture. (I'll stick to my `to" ferior' Jones and Parks sausages over there at least I know what's in them!) Regar- ding brown eggs, it is not a case of`only in New England'. In Manhattan, indeed, they even have a certain cachet, evidenced by the fact that they cost at least ten cents more per dozen than their pallid counterparts. Culinary chauvinism notwithstanding, we always believed English muffins were directly descended from the Great British crumpet — until, that is, we first tasted the latter in situ, and began hoping some enterprising British bakery would start marketing 'American crumpets'. We're still hoping — chacun a son petit clejeuner, I guess.

Susan H. Llewellyn

24 Burleigh Court, Burlington Road, Dublin