The Welsh Breakfast is a unique combination of some of the most symbolic food of Wales, such as Welsh bacon, Laverbread, and Penclawdd cockles. The breakfast begins with thick slices of Welsh bacon. Historically, bacon was kept and used as a staple source of fat in most kitchens throughout Wales. Traditionally each family had a pig which would be slaughtered in the winter. The Welsh traditionally used all of the parts of the animal, not letting anything go to waste. The meat that was not cooked immediately was cured to last throughout the year. One of the main cuts of meat was the pork belly, commonly known as bacon. That bacon would be salted and hung to dry in the kitchen. Each time you wanted to add meat to your food, you would cut a piece of bacon from the slab of cured meat that was hanging in a cool dry place in the kitchen or pantry. The Welsh breakfast begins by frying thick sliced of this fatty bacon until the fat begins to melt and fills the frying pan with a thin layer. This fat is then used to fry the laverbread. Laverbread is a seaweed that is collected on the rocks off certain coasts in Wales. After collection, the laver is then cleaned and boiled for over 6 hours (amazing right?). After being processed, the laver is now called laverbread. The laverbread is then mixed with oats and/or flour and formed into patties to be fried in the bacon fat. Depending on the family, the Welsh Breakfast finishes with a backyard egg, cockles, fresh vegetables or mushrooms, and homemade bread. All would be fried in the bacon fat and eaten as a wholesome meal for a full day's work on the farm.