How experimental are you willing to get with breakfast food?

[fresco]

Naomi Duguid, co-author of (among other excellent books on food) Hot Salty Sour Sweet, was just on our national radio, extolling hot orange juice, which made me a bit queasy. I'm raring to try the new and exotic at lunch or dinner, but experimentation at breakfast just doesn't work for me. Are you willing to be adventurous for that first meal of the day?

[fresh_a]

One thing I find about living in France that annoys me (but maybe that's just me), is that everyone dips their baguette, toast, bread, whatever in their morning coffee, complete with butter, jam, marmelade,etc. I find this a disgusting habit, but have no idea where it comes from, or why it seems to be part of a larger, national character trait....

Anyone care to enlighten me?

[MatthewB]

Are you willing to be adventurous for that first meal of the day?

Sometimes I put cream in my coffee. If I'm really adventurous, I add sugar, too.

(Does Naomi have a new book coming out?)

[kel]

Is anyone awake enough to want anything unusual first thing in the morning? Weekend brunch, maybe, but not on a daily basis. As long as I have coffee, I'm fine. And an english muffin with peanut butter. Yum.

[Taboni]

Sometimes I will have extra bacon on my bacon sandwich. Just crazy like that me.

[sandra]

not too adventurous - toast (any bread) and diet coke - failing that, any leftovers cold is good...

I have had hot orange juice, not on purpose, after it's been in the sun all day - not horrible, not great, would not do it by choice, though...

I have seen people put orange juice on cereal... never tried it, anyone do this?

[fresco]

Are you willing to be adventurous for that first meal of the day?

Sometimes I put cream in my coffee. If I'm really adventurous, I add sugar, too.

(Does Naomi have a new book coming out?)

If she does, she wasn't talking about it.

[Jinmyo]

One thing I find about living in France that annoys me (but maybe that's just me), is that everyone dips their baguette, toast, bread, whatever in their morning coffee, complete with butter, jam, marmelade,etc. I find this a disgusting habit, but have no idea where it comes from, or why it seems to be part of a larger, national character trait....

Anyone care to enlighten me?

I actually loved this kind of breakfast when I was in France as a child. Cafe au lait in a big bowl, torn bits of baguette slathered with Norman butter, the butter mixing with the milky coffee...

[Batgrrrl]

I have seen people put orange juice on cereal... never tried it, anyone do this?

This was a common occurence in college, when people ran out of milk--I never did it myself, but saw it done plenty of times. (Also the boyfriend who came home drunk, wanted mac and cheese, got it going only to find he had no milk, but he did have eggnog. But that's another story entirely).

Back to breakfast--I'm finding this really interesting because I'm completely incapable of eating anything interesting for breakfast. As in, the very thought of anything with actual flavor makes me sick to my stomach until I've been up for at least a couple of hours. So I eat a lot of unflavored malt-o-meal in the cold season, and otherwise it's a frozen fruit and plain yoghurt breakfast drink. Give me a couple of hours, and I'll wolf down an order of biscuits with sausage gravy, but not earlier. So theoretically I'm very adventurous for breakfast, but only if it's served at lunchtime.

And now I've gone and made myself feel sick, because it's still too early for me to even think about sausage gravy...

Batgrrrl

[pattimw]

I am pretty boring - mostly cereal, although sometimes I branch out and have toast with peanut butter. And always coffee. With cream and sugar. The horror!

fresh_a's post reminds me of some time I spent in Germany - their breakfasts are usually rolls spread with butter and meat and cheese (like salami or ham, and a mild cheese, maybe along the lines of muenster) Sometimes quark on the bread with jam. I really grew to like it after getting over my Americanized - "cold cuts for breakfast?"

In fact, I grew to like all german food, but that's another post.

[cakewalk]

Breakfast is my favorite meal, and if it weren't for silly things like work I'd eat breakfast for hours every day. But I also can't stomache it first thing in the morning. An hour or two after I wake up, that's the perfect time for breakfast. I go through stages of what I want to eat. Lately it's been some combination of fruit, yoghurt and granola, a huge bowl of it. The plums have been so nice. And coffee. (Never had orange juice on cereal, though.)

[beegew]

As in, the very thought of anything with actual flavor makes me sick to my stomach until I've been up for at least a couple of hours

Ditto. Coupla' cups a java first thing, then need to wait awhile, before the coffee queasies kick in. But STILL wouldn't want anything dunked in anything...blech!

Although I would be willing to cause bodily harm to obtain a Dunkin Donuts chocolatecreamfilleddonut. All our DD's closed here 'bouts and I'm in withdrawal and it hurts...

[tommy]

i tend to get more and more adventurous as the day goes on. if i'm hung-over, i just want something simple and greasy for breakfast. if i'm not hung-over, i want lunch.

[elyse]

I'm usually toast and tea or water. If I can afford it, cereal. Coffee has been keeping me awake lately, but I used to drink it with half and half and sugar. Yummy.

When I traveled ij Europe a few years ago, I was surprised at the breakfasts being served at the hostles. There was a span of 10 days where I couldn't eat, so by the time I got to Swizerland, I relished all that was salty, sweet, or bizarre. I made up for lost time.

[Suzanne F]

I am shocked, SHOCKED at the conservatism expressed so far! Not that there's anything wrong with it, as long as it makes you guys happy and doesn't hurt anybody else. But where are my fellow cold pizza eaters and lovers of the occasional Japanese pickled-veg breakfast among the Westerners? If I feel like eating breakfast, I'll try ANYTHING (except natto ). Surely I'm not the only one.

[GordonCooks]

But where are my fellow cold pizza eaters

Here! (hand raised)

I'll eat anyting for breakfast on the weekend. During the week, I grab a bagel, coffee, and juice in the office; but the weekend is for Cold Pizza, Cold Chicken, anything spicy as far as Mexican, Thai, etc. , Pasta, Burgers, and the most popular...the doggy bag from the previous evening.

[tommy]

I'm usually toast  and tea or water.  If I can afford it, cereal.

i think you need to raise the price of those pies.

Edited September 4, 2003 by tommy (log)

[elyse]

Suzanne, I'll rummage some leftovers while waiting for toast or tea, but I don't consider that breakfast. Although technically, it is breaking my fast.

I had a roommate in SF who used to fry tofu in pungent evoo with garlic EVERY MORNING. it was repulsive.

[MatthewB]

But where are my fellow cold pizza eaters and lovers of the occasional Japanese pickled-veg breakfast among the Westerners?

Due to this thread, I just ingested some kimchi.

[wawairis]

But where are my fellow cold pizza eaters

Here! (hand raised)

I'll eat anyting for breakfast on the weekend. During the week, I grab a bagel, coffee, and juice in the office; but the weekend is for Cold Pizza, Cold Chicken,

I'm not a dunker. Why ruin the beverage?

I love cold pizza and chicken for breakfast. Especially cold fried chicken or ham. Yummy!

That hot orange juice sounds pretty nasty tho...

[MatthewB]

(Does Naomi have a new book coming out?)

If she does, she wasn't talking about it.

New book due in November of this year . . .

Home Baking: Sweet and Savory Traditions from Around the World

by Jefferey Alford & Naomi Duguid

[SobaAddict70]

when I was a kid, I loved flavored farina and oatmeal -- now I can't stand the artificial stuff. In a moment of inspiration -- or was it desparation? -- I topped farina with sliced pineapple and milk, a mistake to say the least. (If I have oatmeal, I'll take it with a pat of butter, milk and a little sugar.)

Breakfast is usually pretty standard for me, probably because of our corporate cafeteria (see my foodblog for details). For example, today was a breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs, home fries, cheddar, red bell peppers and jalapeno chiles; Canadian bacon; orange juice and a banana. Usually it's either a breakfast burrito, some form of sausage, bacon or other meat (corned beef hash for example), fresh fruit -- either whole fruit or fruit from the fruit bar, and juice or tea. Never milk because I'm mildly lactose intolerant. Sometimes plain Dannon yogurt, sometimes cottage cheese (plain or with fruit; if plain, usually topped with LOTS of cracked black pepper, a dash of red pepper flakes, and dried oregano); sometimes a toasted onion bagel or a couple of English muffins.

If I'm eating it at home, that's another story. Things get more adventurous, anywhere from leftover pizza, to steak and home fries, to stuffed omelettes and pan-glazed bananas or sauteed apples, to congee (either plain with sesame oil, white pepper and minced scallions -- or other toppings), to French toast with Calvados butter sauce, to turnip kimchi on toast.

Soba

[Alex]

I am shocked, SHOCKED    at the conservatism expressed so far!  Not that there's anything wrong with it, as long as it makes you guys happy and doesn't hurt anybody else.  But where are my fellow cold pizza eaters and lovers of the occasional Japanese pickled-veg breakfast among the Westerners?  If I feel like eating breakfast, I'll try ANYTHING (except natto  ).  Surely I'm not the only one. 

I lived in Japan about 15 years ago and grew to love a traditional Japanese breakfast (miso soup, pickled veg, rice w/ egg or meat [often leftover from the night before] ). I didn't feel stuffed, and didn't get hungry until lunch. I often made a similar meal after I moved back to the US but eventually succumbed to the old ways. Breakfast now is usually a banana and/or other fresh fruit with yogurt, sometimes with a little granola or Grape-Nuts. Pizza usually doesn't make it to the next day but if it does, I'm there, carbohydrate sedation be damned.

I concur entirely with your opinion of natto, surely one of the vilest non-lethal substances ever created.

[Lady T]

If savory: Cold pizza. Leftover roast chicken most any way: formal in an omelet or informally scrambled, plunked on toast for a sandwich, diced for fast hash, eaten cold off the bone on its own recognizance. No convenient sources for Japanese breakfast immediately in 'hood; occasional miso soup at home, however.

If sweet: Yogurt with berries. For company: raised pancake with peach or apple or pear slices, cinnamon and sugar and butter melted over. Toast with marmalade (or Guajolote's superb blueberry jam).

Juice: not often; more likely whole fruit. Coffee: Kona with cinnamon sugar and half-and-half.

Thereafter: Face the day. Take no prisoners.

Edited to ask: do we in fact know that natto is nonlethal?

Edited September 4, 2003 by Lady T (log)

[Eric_Malson]

I have seen people put orange juice on cereal... never tried it, anyone do this?

I have a friend who is lactose-intolerant (or allergic to milk--whichever one it actually is....he calls it lactose intolerance for convenience) who puts orange juice on cereal. He claims it's good and that I should try it (uh, no, thanks.... adventure is not something I want in the morning). I suspect it actually is good, though...he got his boyfriend doing it, too, who has no particular reason himself to eschew milk in favor of orange juice.

The repertoire of foods I can face in the morning is very limited, and hot orange juice would not be included (I'm not even crazy about cold orange juice in the morning.....I prefer it later in the afternoon, preferably in a sunny outdoor cafe by the sea in Portugal). An egg is nice, especially in a ramekin with some butter, chicken drippings, and cream.