What do people have for breakfast around the world?
Ever wondered what other parts of the world have for breakfast? Naturally, every country and population have cultural differences and what people enjoy eating will vary from region to region. The typical English breakfast could be described as a bowl of cereal, with milk and a cup of tea or a full cooked English with eggs, sausages, bacon, beans, black pudding, hash browns, toast and a few fried tomatoes or mushrooms possibly.
In Spain, France and Italy breakfast is sometimes perceived as a quick affair with a strong coffee as well as some form of bread such as a baguette or a pastry. However, not everyone in these countries would be eating the same thing. Similarly, in Germany breakfast is often fresh bread, a selection of cold meats, local cheeses, butter and jam.
Whereas in China, you may eat dim sum, a hot soup like congee or warm soya milk and fried dough sticks. Chinese breakfasts vary greatly between different regions. With the exception of Hong Kong and Taiwan, Western types of breakfasts are rarely eaten. In Northern China breakfast fare typically includes steamed bread, unleavened pocket bread with sesame, steamed buns with meat or vegetable stuffing, soy milk or tea. In Central and Eastern China, breakfast foods include soups with fried tofu and noodles, plain rice porridge, salted duck eggs and pickled vegetables
In the continent of South America, Brazilians could offer you coffee and milk, a plate of ham, cheese and bread and maybe feijouda (a thick soup with black beans). Brazilians refer to breakfast as ‘café-da-manhã’ (morning coffee). Coffee or juice often accompanies croissants and other kinds of pastry. In the Southern States, a steaming yerba mate infusion in a traditional gourd called chimarrão is often drunk.
Colombia offers the ‘repa a dense’ corn cake that may be topped with butter, eggs, meat or jam. In the Cundinamarca region, people eat ‘changua’ a soup of milk, scallions and cheese. In the Tolima region, a tamal tolimense is eaten with hot chocolate and arepas (corn bread). Tamales tolimenses are made with rice, dry legumes, beef, chicken and pork, egg and potato, covered with maize dough and cooked in a banana leaf.
If you take a trip Cuba then you may enjoy ‘sopa de chicharo’ (salted green pea soup) and saltine crackers.
Mexico often offers a hearty breakfast such as huevos rancheros, which is very easy to make and you can steal our very own recipe here. You can even watch this delicious method in action in the accompanying video below:
In Mexico, breakfast is called ‘el desayuno’. Roughly translated, those words mean "super-hardy meals filled with colour, spice and flavour that match the character of the people who live in Mexico". Throughout Mexico, breakfasts vary by region due to the produce available, ethnic diversity and proximity to neighbouring countries. Tortillas are a core part of many breakfasts and these may be eaten with spicy egg or sausage. Breakfast cereals are now very popular in Mexico and a wide range of fruit is often eaten.
If you venture to the Middle East in India, the breakfast will vary from region to region but you may be offered a plate with chutneys, dips and breads like dosa, roti or idli. In Bengal and Bangladesh, typical breakfast foods include puffed rice crisps with milk, deep-fried flatbread (luchi) with vegetable curry or semi-fermented rice with dal and chillies. In South India, the most popular breakfast choice is an assortment of main dishes including chapatis. Curries and breads are popular in Kerala. In North India, stuffed paratha breads and spicy vegetables are frequently eaten.
Whereas in Africa, porridge made from corn, made with evaporated milk is common amongst the south Western Yoruba people in Nigeria. For those in the south west, popular breakfast food is ‘garri’, which is made from the root of cassava and soaked overnight then sweetened with sugar and eaten like a cereal.