93 replies to this topic

[sazji]

I was always amazed at the difference between breakfasts in Greece and Turkey, considering that everything that is Greece today was once Turkey, or at least Ottoman; some of it until early in this century. In Greece, breakfast tends to be a cup of Greek coffee, or some bread eaten along with hot milk into which a half teaspoon of Nescafe has been mixed. (It's definitely in the Nescafe belt...) Nowadays lots of people just drink ice coffee. Here in Turkey it's a real production. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that Turks tend to hit the sack earlier while the Greeks often *meet* to go out at midnight, and going out usually involves eating; they don't feel like eating in the morning?

Some people previously mentioned breakfasts in hotels made of tomato, cucumber, cheese, bread, honey/jam and lots of tea. True enough but if you go to someone's house, especially if its a bit rural, the practice is close to "unload the refrigerator and ask questions later," the aforementioned list being just the backbone. It may also include yogurt, eggs either boiled or cooked with tomatoes as "menemen," a pile of herbs like parsley and mint with lemon juice squeezed over it, halvah (either sesame or one of the others), kaymak (a sort of clotted cream), and may even go to all sorts of warm dishes based on tomatoes, onions, cheese, walnuts, peppers...the list goes on. Other things that may show up are "simit" (sesame-covered bread rings), börek (phyllo stuffed with spinach, cheese, meat or nothing), pogaça (little folded over rolls filled with cheese or other things), açma (a rich moist roll that is hard to describe, that may contain cheese, olive paste or meats). Often if you go to someone's house at almost any time of the day and they want to feed you but haven't cooked "real food," they might throw together a "breakfast" including any of the things mentioned above and other thing I haven't mentioned. One thing that seems to be usually absent is fresh fruit except perhaps melon; couldn't say why. I think you could write an entire cookbook just based on the things people make for breakfast!

[Paola]

I had a delicious breakfast today in Istanbul that got me thinking about all the great breakfasts to be had around the world. What's your favorite?

Today I had menemem-- tomatoes, sweet green pepper, and juicy scrambled eggs baked in a copper bowl with a side of fresh cheeses, olive, and cucumbers. hot black tea and freshly squeezed pomegranate juice. yummm.

In Mexico I love the breakfast often served at baptisms and first communions-- tamales with all sorts of filling, both savory and sweet, a cup of piping hot guava atole + a plate of whatever fruit is in season. But there are a millions breakfast options available. Same in the US, so much to choose from.

What are your favorites? I've come up with a bunch of European options but would love to hear your favorite breakfasts from around the world. Asia? Africa? South America?

[percyn]

Some of my favorites are the roadside stalls in India, Thailand and other South East Asian countries selling omelets with onion, chilies and occassionally garlic.

Another favorite is idili (a steamed rice and semolina cake) Sambar (a spicy soup like dip) or dosa (savory crepe) from South India.

In Europe I prefer croissants and good coffee except if I am in the UK, when I try to get the full English breakfast.

[Peter the eater]

A classic breakfast for Atlantic Canada could be a scone, a fish cake and an egg, served with hot orange pekoe tea.

[rooftop1000]

In New Jersey a common breakfast is the Bacon or Sausage or Taylors Pork Roll and Fried Egg and American Cheese Sandwich served on a chewy "Hard Roll" or a bagel.
At home I make French Toast and Bacon alot.


tracey

[Kim Shook]

I am a very adventuresome eater and will try almost anything - for lunch or dinner. But at breakfast, I am a total southern American - eggs, pork, potatoes and bread for me please.

[docdix]

In Manila a typical weekend breakfast would be: A cup (or two) of garlic fried rice, a whole smoked boneless Milkfish (butterflied) with chopped tomatoes and onions and some sliced brine-salted red eggs on the side. Dipping sauce is fish-sauce with a squeeze of local lime.... burp!

[Paola]

wow! that manila breakfast sounds incredible! it's interesting that most "typical" breakfasts are on the heavier side...no granola with nonfat yogurt!

other breakfasts i've really enjoyed:

NYC: Everything bagels with smoked salmon, plain cream cheese, capers, tomatoes, onions and a squeeze of lemon juice. Breakfast tacos with potato, egg, and cheese in South Texas.

In Belgium, slices of fresh bread with a slew of jams and spreads and a tartine with some greens and a nice bit of protein.

I've always been a little disappointed by breakfasts in Italy. It's a pastry and a cappuccino. delicious but not very nutritious-- loads of sugar with nothing to balance it out so early in the day.

[Jenni]

My favourite breakfasts are upma or idli-sambar. Wouldn't say no to a paratha though!

I cannot stand sweet breakfasts. Generally I prefer savoury over sweet anyway, but I especially cannot abide sweet things early in the morning.

[docdix]

wow! that manila breakfast sounds incredible! it's interesting that most "typical" breakfasts are on the heavier side...no granola with nonfat yogurt!

Well that is breaking-the-fast for you! If you think the milkfish breakfast is filling some common alternatives are: thinly sliced beef marinated in a sugar soy sauce mixture (called beef tapa) and panfried till the sugar caramelizes or how about fried garlic pork sausage then pair this with some sweet pickled shredded unripe papaya. Talk about a power breakfast. I think some countires have light breakfasts out of necessity and time. if you want to get a feel of what a traditional breakfast is, you really should go to the countryside where they have the time to prepare it.

Edited by heidih, 01 February 2010 - 01:40 PM.
fix quote tags

[nickrey]

Whenever I'm in Asia, I'm always at the congee part of the breakfast bar. Rice porridge with all manner of savoury additions is a perfect breakfast. In Thailand, it can be found as Khao Tom.

[Oceangroveguy]

I love the traditional Japanese breakfast with fish, miso soup, omelet, rice or (my choice) porridge and various pickles.....

[PopsicleToze]

Southern girl here, too. Love biscuits and gravy with bacon, but for a full-fledged weekend breakfast: grits with butter, eggs sunny side up (cut up with yolk mixed with the grits), bacon or sausage (or sometimes even a fried pork chop) and toast with butter and mayhaw jelly. Then no lunch and an early supper

When I visit NY, I love to have a bagel with smoked salmon, cream cheese, red onions & capers.

Rhonda

[Lindacakes]

Gallo pinto (rice and beans) plate breakfast (which would include eggs, cheese, fruit, etc.) in Costa Rica is very tasty.

I'm a real sucker for the nutella served in Italian hotel breakfast rooms, slathered on bread, croissants, whatever you have available, and polished off with apricot yogurt. Italian nutella is different from American nutella.

Any breakfast must include the local coffee and the darker, stronger, blacker, richer, racier, the local coffee, well, the better.

[Lilija]

In my part of NJ, a common deli breakfast is a "belly buster" which is generally a combination of bacon, sausage, pork roll, fried potatoes, fried bell peppers, fried onions (sometimes) over easy or scrambled eggs, and a large amount of cheese, topped with salt, pepper, and ketchup, all on a long sub roll that's been toasted. There's variations, of course. Then there's the classic "pepper and egg sangweetz". I'm turning green just thinking about it. I opt for toast and coffee, while watching my companion put one of these away.

[Kerry Beal]

In Vietnam it was pho for breakfast. And congee - but I prefer the pho.

[rooftop1000]

Breakfast in Iceland was fun, thankfully I had just seen an episode of Taste on TVFN...way back in 1999.
David Rosengarten had described the openfaced sandwiches eaten in Scandinavian countries and the ingrediants for those sandwiches were what we found on the breakfast buffet.
We started by choosing some breads and hit the toaster line we then buttered the breads (there where cheese spreads also) and layed on our choice of assorted cold cuts, cheeses, thin sliced veggies, and boiled eggs. Eat with knife and fork and be very happy I "Had A Clue"

There was also cereals, yogurt(skyr)and fruit


tracey

[Boy R D]

I'm not a big fan of sweet breakfasts so I've been playing around with savory oatmeal.

My favorite so far has been butter, marmite, chopped green onions and topped with a little shredded sharp cheese. mmm mmm.

I usually eat this with one or two fried eggs.

[varway]

I gotta chime in with the typical San Antonio breakfast....tacos!!! Love em. My favorite: refried beans, bacon and cheese, with plenty of hot, hot, hot green sauce. Other favorites: carne guisada, potato/egg and cheese, chorizo and beans, huevos mexicano, patas mexicano, I could go on and on. The salsas are important. I love a really hot green sauce, the roasted sauces are good, there's an orange sauce available at some places that is nice and hot and I can't get anyone to give me a recipe for that orange stuff. Good on flour tortillas and if you can get a really good restaurant made corn tortilla, they are heaven. Other options are chilaquiles. Around here that's a dish made with scrambled eggs with corn tortilla chips mixed in along with lots of hot peppers, tomatoes, onions and topped with cheese.

[rlibkind]

Breakfast in Iceland was fun...We started by choosing some breads and hit the toaster line we then buttered the breads (there where cheese spreads also) and layed on our choice of assorted cold cuts, cheeses, thin sliced veggies, and boiled eggs.

What, no cured or otherwise preserved fish? That's what I look forward to when I'm in a Scandinavian country. In the words that fictional Swede of The Producers fame, Ulla: "From eight to nine Ulla eat big Swedish breakfast. Many different herrings."

Toast! We don't need no stinkin' toast! The traditional breakfast would be accompanied by flatbread, not bread to toast. The French bread and bread slices at hotel breakfast buffets in Scandinavia are primarily there for outlanders...or those who take advantage of the buffet to pack a lunch (it's acceptable if you check and, usually, pay a bit extra).

The hotel breakfasts in Israel aren't that much different from those in Norway. The preserved fishes might be a bit different, and you won't get cold cuts; you will get a whole lot more in the way of very fresh and good fruits and vegetables, particularly tomatoes, and there will be Middle Eastern and Eastern European style dairy (cheeses and yogurts) rather than Northern European

[nonblonde007]

Pho, Definately PHO!

[marcelcat]

Hi all,
These breakfasts sound great! Can anyone list some menus that you might find in different countries for breakfast?

marcelcat

[CKatCook]

I love a good sweet breakfast, I am a big breakfast no lunch person. I love a traditional southern breakfast. Give me the biscuits, pancakes, ham or steak and eggs. Surprisingly enough I am not big on grits. I need to try them again. When I don't have time for that I do the pastry and coffee thing.

I would love to try congee though. Anyone have a good recipe for it?

[nakji]

I would love to try congee though. Anyone have a good recipe for it?

Our congee topic to the rescue!

No morning in Suzhou would be complete without the long queues outside our local dumpling and baozi purveyors. They're nothing more than a room full of giant steam baskets with a grandpa at the window taking your order and making change - although correct change is always appreciated. The steam is so much that next to the window at my favourite place, there's a bamboo grove twice the size of all the other stands on the street - the heat keeps it warm all winter.

I usually get a giant meat baozi which has a mix of pork and beef and succulent gravy. Most people in line with me are people on their way to work buying whole bags of standard baozi for their co-workers. It's the Chinese equivalent of a donut run, I guess.

[Blether]

... No morning in Suzhou would be complete without the long queues outside our local dumpling and baozi purveyors...

How does it come about that these are known as (o-)manju in Japan, given the obvious word resemblance for shumai, gyouza (?) & others ?

[CKatCook]

I would love to try congee though. Anyone have a good recipe for it?

Our congee topic to the rescue!

No morning in Suzhou would be complete without the long queues outside our local dumpling and baozi purveyors. They're nothing more than a room full of giant steam baskets with a grandpa at the window taking your order and making change - although correct change is always appreciated. The steam is so much that next to the window at my favourite place, there's a bamboo grove twice the size of all the other stands on the street - the heat keeps it warm all winter.

I usually get a giant meat baozi which has a mix of pork and beef and succulent gravy. Most people in line with me are people on their way to work buying whole bags of standard baozi for their co-workers. It's the Chinese equivalent of a donut run, I guess.

Oh Yea!!! and 7 pages to boot!! I better get reading! I know what I am having for breakfast!!!

[helenjp]

manju=baozi

Quite a few Japanese/Chinese words have this "m or b, take your pick" thing. I did know why once...something about the region and/or period at which the word entered Japan and was preserved, while in China the word evolved or another region became more powerful and their pronunciation took precedence.

ju = ji = zi...that's not such a stretch.

However, I often wonder what manju were like when they first came to Japan, given the Kansai style of manju with yam rather than yeast to make the dough soft and springy...can't help wondering if the "old-dough" fermented dough is the original, which Japan replaced with the yam dough, or whether the yam dough is the original style and the fermented dough a later development that was also imported to Japan later.

But manju becoming a major breakfast food in Japan? I can't see it...any more than my son's Weetbix stash is having much impact on his dorm-mates' breakfast habits "oop north" in Sendai!

[Hiroyuki]

I had a lot of difficulty understanding what Blether and helenjp meant, and I had to browse through the whole thread!

When I hear the Japanese word manju, I can also associate it with sweet Japanese confections, many of which contain sweet fillings.

What Blether and helenjp meant was Chinese manju, which is called "chuka man" in Japanese, right?

I can't speak for younger Japanese people, but as for me, chuka man can only be snacks.

[Blether]

... What Blether and helenjp meant was Chinese manju, which is called "chuka man" in Japanese, right?

In practice they're probably most often called niku man or piza man or similar, but that 'man' is originally, and formally, manju, isn't it ? Are you saying that's not so ?

[Hiroyuki]

... What Blether and helenjp meant was Chinese manju, which is called "chuka man" in Japanese, right?

In practice they're probably most often called niku man or piza man or similar, but that 'man' is originally, and formally, manju, isn't it ? Are you saying that's not so ?

Sorry, in my post above, I was meant to write:
"When I hear the Japanese word manju, I can only (not also) associate it with sweet Japanese confections."
(I don't know why I make such silly mistakes when I'm drunk!)

Chuka man is short for chuka manju, as you suggest, but in both spoken and written Japanese, we usually use such terms as chuka man, niku man (in Kanto), buta man (in Kansai), an man, and pizza man.

You can find some info in Wikipedia.