Breakfast: it’s the most important meal of the day. And today, the 24th of May is World Breakfast Day.
So, let’s take a time to explore breakfasts from around the world, sit back and ponder the day ahead, and enjoy food that everyone should really be enjoying at all times of the day.
The best breakfast is subjective though on our taste and experience. And we believe that each breakfast in each country is unique and special. But in this article, let’s start with 10 breakfasts from different countries.
10.) Full English, UK
An artery-clogging plate of bacon, sausage, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, maybe baked beans, maybe fried bread, and maybe even black pudding, will set you up for the day.
Or maybe it will set you up for a morning nap, who can say? Still, this is one fine breakfast.
9.) Full Irish, Ireland
A full Irish breakfast is almost the same as a full English, only with the addition of both black pudding (a sausage made using pork blood, above) and white pudding (a sausage made using pork fat and liver). If that doesn’t get your day started right, nothing will.
8.) Croissant, France
A French staple and such an absolute classic that it has spread around the world, from Ontario to Singapore. A croissant is a simple, buttery pastry that’s almost alchemical in its brilliance.
7.) Chilaquiles, Mexico
Mexico has some great breakfast dishes, as full of flavor as so much of their cuisine: huevos rancheros, fried eggs with beans, smothered in spicy sauce; tamales, steamed cornmeal with various fillings; huevos divorciados, eggs with two sauces.
But the chilaquiles (above) are made of fried corn tortillas topped with plenty of spicy sauce, queso fresco cheese, and sometimes shredded meat. So good.
6.) Eggs Benedict, USA
This classic breakfast dish originated in New York City and includes a few of Americans’ great loves: English muffins, eggs, ham, and rich, buttery Hollandaise sauce. You can now find eggs Benedict served throughout much of the Western world, and it’s almost always good.
5.) Ful medames, Egypt
Egypt’s national breakfast dish is a good one. Ful medames is a thick, hearty fava bean stew, served with chopped parsley, and sometimes boiled eggs. Anyone who doesn’t try this while they’re in Egypt – well, I pity the full.
4.) Curry, India
Indians tend to eat for breakfast, with spicy, flavourful sauces designed to be sopped up by fried chickpea fritters, steamed rice cakes, rice-flour pancakes, or fresh, flaky bread. There are so many different combinations and flavors, but all make an excellent and exciting way to start the day.
3.) Churros con chocolate, Spain
Most people would consider fried sticks of donut batter dipped in thick chocolate to be a dessert dish, but not in Spain.
Churros con chocolate are eaten first thing in the morning, the breakfast of champions. They’re a sweet, sticky, and perfectly lovely way to get things going.
2.) Congee, China
There are many different styles of congee being served in many different parts of China, India, and everywhere in southeast Asia. But we haven’t got time to cover them all, so I’m just going to say that rice porridge with various toppings and seasonings is a truly excellent way to begin the day.
1.) Full Japanese, Japan
It’s a set of breakfasts that the Japanese sometimes indulge in when they’re staying at a fancy hotel or ryokan. And what a breakfast this is: fresh, seasonal, complex, and amazing.
There’s grilled fish, Japanese omelet, miso soup, pickles, and usually multiple small bites of all things zesty, funky, umami, and delicious. This is a serious treat.
