Breakfast Around the World
It’s so funny how we can talk about having breakfast for dinner, but we never talk about lunch for dinner or dinner for breakfast.
In Israel, you have salad for breakfast. Salad is something very specific: it’s a dish with chopped up tomatoes and cucumbers with lemon juice and olive oil and salt and pepper. And hummus and pita. But those are all things that I would only eat for lunch here. Or dinner.
CNN did a piece unpacking breakfast around the world. It’s kind of funny because we usually bring breakfast with us when we travel. I don’t like to eat in the morning, and we need to get going, so I bring a granola bar with me. But in Italy, we ate pizza every morning for breakfast (usually squares of potato pizza). In Norway, I ate a grated potato pancake every morning before I set out.
What is your favourite breakfast when you’re not at home?
9 comments
Whatever the hotel offers for free…
😉
(Seriously, I think everywhere I have stayed has offered some sort of breakfast, so I generally opt for a bagel or croissant.)
When I lived in Nicaragua as a Peace Corps volunteer I would make myself oatmeal for breakfast because it was easy to do with limited means. When I ate with the local families, they would have a corn tortilla and what they called gallo pinto. It was the leftover white rice mixed and refried with the red beans, which “painted” the rice red. A traditional breakfast, for those who had the money, was fried eggs, fried cheese, gallo pinto, fresh cheese (called cuajada) or a sour cream type liquid (crema), fried plantains (they were sweet) and a tortilla. Growing up, I generally ate cereal for breakfast. As an adult, I eat scrambled eggs or steel cut oats.
I’m always grateful when there’s something that isn’t just refined carbs, so I go for meat, eggs, and oatmeal. Failing that I hope for fruit and unsweetened yogurt. Or just whole grain toast. Breakfast can be pretty fraught when I’m trying to not have sugar.
My favorite is a continental breakfast spread at a German hotel. Give me whole grain brown bread and cheeses and fruit.
I eat oatmeal at hotel breakfasts. I also like scrambled eggs and sausage. My girls love to eat away from home because hotels have such a smorgasbord – sugary cereals I won’t buy, so many flavors of yogurt, breakfasts meats, waffle bars! At home they eat standard breakfasts – cereal, muffins I bake – and we eat more involved breakfasts for dinner as a treat. My younger one would eat Mac and cheese for breakfast, though, and sometimes I say ok.
I can eat only traditional American breakfast type foods for breakfast. Brunch grosses me out. As does eating any non-breakfast food in the morning.
As a creature of habit, I try to eat what I normally eat when away from home (I might bring a bagel or granola bar, etc.)
If the hotel offers breakfast that is included in our stay, we will do that. One hotel we stayed in annually for years used to have a huge breakfast buffet included, and it was awesome!
If no breakfast is included, I have been known to bring a small container of milk and cereal, cereal bars, or something quick and easy. I like to be able to eat in the room as everyone gets ready so that once we are out we aren’t wasting time and money stopping for our first meal right away.
When my girls and I went to NYC this past December we knew we had a mini fridge and microwave in the hotel room, so we brought breakfast burritos and sandwiches (the frozen, healthier versions) since we knew we needed to be full for a full day of walking. That saved us a lot because the hotel was charging $12 for basically the same sandwich.
We have also been known to pack pre-made breakfasts from home when travelling with the entire family. Most breakfast food reheats well, yes even scrambled eggs!
I had fuls medames in Dubai every single morning for a week and it was delicious every time. I would eat it here. Hmm. I can eat it here! I just need to make it! It was so delicious and filling and it got me through to lunch.
My favorite breakfasts were the 2 weeks I was in Shanghai. They had a huge selection (American, German, Asian, etc). I ate dumplings, sushi and miso soup almost every day. The muffins and pastries were dry and nasty. 😀
When I visit my family in the USA, pancakes/waffles are a nostalgic treat!
I do like eggs (scrambled, or fried & well done, or as an omelette) with bacon or ham & hash browns. But I don’t think I could eat that every day. I also like pancakes or waffles from time to time. Cold cereal with milk & sugar is fine. If it’s a continental breakfast, muffins & fruit.