Eggs and bacon, pancakes, sausages. What do you eat for breakfast? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and nutritionists recommend you never skip it. If eggs and bacon sound pretty good in certain parts of the word, in other countries things are very different. Here are ten types of breakfast from around the world.
1. Bulgaria
In Bulgaria, breakfast includes tea or Turkish coffee, sesame bread and butter, sheep’s cheese, honey, olives, tomatoes, boiled eggs and – most importantly – yogurt. Bulgarians have a higher percentage of centenarians in the population than in other parts of the world and it is believed that this is due to the consumption of yogurt. Most Bulgarians eat yogurt at least once a day.
2. Japan
Breakfast in Japan is characterized by the fact that it is low calorie: miso soup, fresh or pickled, seaweed, tofu, salad and raw fish. The Japanese people start the day with a good intake of omega 3 fatty acids, fibers and proteins.
3. Spain and Portugal
Probably the most common breakfast in Spain and Portugal is a bagel with butter and jam and a cup of coffee with milk. Spain is the country responsible for bringing chocolate from the New World to Europe. One of the most common components of breakfast is chocolate con churros, a kind of creamy, warm chocolate, served with a kind of donut covered in sugar and cinnamon.
In the Catalan area, the land of olives, bread is often served with olive oil instead of butter and a favorite food is pan con tomato, an ancestor of the famous pizza. It is prepared by anointing of slices of toast with olive oil, garlic, tomatoes and (sometimes) complete with a slice of ham. Fried eggs and omeletes are also popular.
4. Malaysia
Nasi lemak is the name of a traditional dish containing steamed rice and fried fish with spicy sambal (a chilli sauce).
5. Egypt
It’s veggies all the way for an Egyptian breakfast, which is called Ful Medames. It consists of a mix of vegetables (peas, chickpeas and lentils), seasoned with pickled vegetables and arugula seeds.
6. Greece
In Greece, breakfast is not a very important meal. Most people quickly grab a small fried roll or fresh fruit with yogurt. Greek coffee – identical to the Turkish one – is extremely popular and is consumed (ithout sugar (sketo), sugar in moderation (metrio) or very sweet (glyko). But it is never served with milk. Many Greeks supplement breakfast with a late snack, a sort of brunch, which includes bread, meat and cheese.
7. Ireland
An Irish breakfast prepared by the book may well be described by the word “fried”, which is suggestive enough to describe the way the meat is consumed. White or black puddings are often added to the table with meat. There is also soda bread – a kind of white bread, slightly sweet, leavened with baking powder and usually with some berries, raisins.
8. Brazil
The Brazilian people also keep it light when it comes to breakfast. Papaya is the most popular breakfast in Brazil, especially because it is a rich source of vitamins A and C. it is consumed raw, with a cup of coffee on the side. Which makes perfect sense: fruits contain sugar and the give you the energy you need for the day. These is also Pão frances (or toast) with margarine. But it is not a healthy option for breakfast.
9. France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg
These are the countries associated with the term “Continental breakfast”, which means limiting to the minimum the food necessary to start the day: coffee and bread. In France, the most delicious coffee is café au lait (coffee with milk) served in large ceramic pots. There are still people who opt for other beverages such as black coffee, tea or hot chocolate. Similarly, in Italy, the most common are definitely cappuccino, caffe nero (black coffee), tea, and latte al cacao (chocolate milk). In both cases, the solid part of a breakfast is usually a croissant, a muffin or toast served with butter.
10. Great Britain
The British are famous for their rich breakfast. A wide variety of meats is always in the foreground: bacon, sausages, grilled kidneys, lamb chops etc. In addition, they also eat boiled eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, cereals, different kinds of smoked fish, tea and coffee. In terms of pastries, one can find: croissants, crumpets, brown bread with butter, honey, jam or marmalade. And toast is customary also. The culinary influence of the centuries when India was a British colony is portrayed when it comes to breakfast containing Kedge. Kedge is actually khichri, an Indian meal with lentils, rice and spices – to which the British added eggs, sour cream and smoked haddock (a kind of marine fish common in British cuisine). Two other foods that originated from Indian cuisine are hoppers (rice pancakes known as appam) and mango chutney.
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