Rise and Shine

October 9, 2014 9:53 AM

What kids around the world eat for breakfast
posted by mbrubeck (86 comments total)

The first girl from Istanbul's expression is beyond relatable and endearing.
posted by ourt at 9:58 AM on October 9, 2014 [5 favorites]

In Istanbul, they have more items for breakfast than I have in my fridge and pantry combined.
posted by tofu_crouton at 9:59 AM on October 9, 2014 [11 favorites]

Well, Turkey is the #1 nation in hours of eating per day.
posted by mbrubeck at 10:00 AM on October 9, 2014 [3 favorites]

What, no mention of the Great Yarmouth Kidz Breakfast?

Is it because this version of the "full English" gets its name not because it's intended for children but because it weighs as much as a small child?
posted by Doktor Zed at 10:04 AM on October 9, 2014

The first girl from Istanbul's expression is beyond relatable and endearing.

I actually went for the picture of the toddler girl from Japan. I probably have that expression myself.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:05 AM on October 9, 2014 [9 favorites]

I was totally going to post this. Is it just me, or does the caption seem wrong for Malwi? Says it's sweet potato and pumpkin, but that white thing looks more like soak salt cod or something to me.
posted by Diablevert at 10:05 AM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

I actually went for the picture of the toddler girl from Japan.

i just woke up why are people taking pictures of me also i hate natto mom you are fooling yourself
posted by tofu_crouton at 10:08 AM on October 9, 2014 [12 favorites]

So while I know that I wouldn't necessarily eat what other people eat for breakfast, olives strikes me as unusual even taking cultural allowances into account. Really? Olives for breakfast?
posted by GuyZero at 10:14 AM on October 9, 2014

A child’s first taste of kimchi is something of a rite of passage, one captured in dozens of YouTube videos featuring chubby-faced toddlers grabbing at their tongues and occasionally weeping.

omg HOURS of fun
posted by poffin boffin at 10:15 AM on October 9, 2014 [9 favorites]

Olives for breakfast?

That turkish breakfast is pretty close to a standard breakfast just about everywhere in the mediterranean, altho in areas with a lot of UK expats there is always the choice of glorious greasy fry-up.
posted by poffin boffin at 10:23 AM on October 9, 2014

Says it's sweet potato and pumpkin, but that white thing looks more like soak salt cod or something to me.

There are white sweet potatoes!

I think I would like the Japanese or Turkish breakfast spreads most of all. I am very much a savory person. (The exception is pancakes.)
posted by Kitteh at 10:26 AM on October 9, 2014 [3 favorites]

chubby-faced toddlers grabbing at their tongues and occasionally weeping.

Adorable if it's your child's reaction to kimchi.
Ominous if it's your child's reaction to his first Communion wafer.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:29 AM on October 9, 2014 [35 favorites]

natto is excellent you take that back

The two Japanese breakfast spreads look excellent. Wish there'd been a Chinese breakfast spread, because seriously, the tapas-style things (小吃) you can get for breakfast, especially in the Hubu Alley (户部巷) of my hometown Wuhan are fucking phenomenal.
posted by Phire at 10:31 AM on October 9, 2014 [4 favorites]

What I learned from this is that every child in the world eats a more delicious breakfast than I do. Also, there is no wrong time to eat olives.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 10:37 AM on October 9, 2014 [10 favorites]

This is objectively FALSE.
Only one of those kids is eating Nutella.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 10:38 AM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

The Amsterdam one is interesting. Does Australia's "fairy bread" date all the way back to New Holland?
posted by Sys Rq at 10:49 AM on October 9, 2014 [2 favorites]

Yay Netherlands and Brazil for your simple, practical breakfasts I can relate to.

Boo Japan and Turkey for showing off.
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:49 AM on October 9, 2014 [3 favorites]

I would like Japanese breakfasts going forward pls.

When I lived in Shanghai, our campus/staff-residential-area had a little breakfast-preparing-guy alley where you could get jian bing (the premier breakfast food of all time) and giant shumai and both pork and vegetable baozi, among other things. I did not eat there often because I knew that a steady diet of jian bing would probably kill me, but OMG, jian bing.
posted by Frowner at 10:50 AM on October 9, 2014 [2 favorites]

So while I know that I wouldn't necessarily eat what other people eat for breakfast, olives strikes me as unusual even taking cultural allowances into account. Really? Olives for breakfast?

I am trying and failing to find a quote from Northern Exposure where Chris Stevens is opining on why we should open our minds to allow for the unfamiliar now and then. He uses this kind of "these people eat WHAT for breakfast?" kind of thing as an example, and speaks of meeting someone who orders rice for breakfast - and then he realizes, "but if you take that rice and frizzle it up, what do you get? Rice Krispies, one of the great all-American breakfast foods". So therefore, rice for breakfast? Not so weird after all.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:54 AM on October 9, 2014 [3 favorites]

So while I know that I wouldn't necessarily eat what other people eat for breakfast, olives strikes me as unusual even taking cultural allowances into account. Really? Olives for breakfast?

for a nation that is secular but is populated by a great number of observant Muslims, it's actually a great alternative to bacon as a morning input vector for salt. And they hold up well in a hot climate.

I travelled through Turkey earlier this summer, and seeing that spread with the olives, cucumbers and tomatoes provoked this whole "oh, man, I know what that is; and now I totally miss it." Though, the other Turkish breakfast dish that I totally fell in love with was Menemen.
posted by bl1nk at 10:59 AM on October 9, 2014 [3 favorites]

Those kids do a helluva lot better than my toddler, who seems to subsist on a diet of air and unicorn tears.
posted by slogger at 11:04 AM on October 9, 2014 [2 favorites]

I was heartened to see one of the NYT's own bloggers calling bullshit on this.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:16 AM on October 9, 2014 [6 favorites]

for a nation that is secular but is populated by a great number of observant Muslims, it's actually a great alternative to bacon as a morning input vector for salt. And they hold up well in a hot climate.

That makes sense. The more I thought about it, I realized that I rarely eat olives outside the context of having alcohol in some sort of tapas-like setting, but if you were having something otherwise bland on a hot day, yeah, I guess I could see having some olives.
posted by GuyZero at 11:16 AM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

What kids at prize bull octorok's house eat for breakfast

MONDAY: Gogurt
TUESDAY: Gogurt
WEDNESDAY: Gogurt
THURSDAY: Gogurt
FRIDAY: Ritz crackers, piece of pepperjack cheese with the peppers hastily removed, fruit snacks of unknown provenance (out of Gogurt)
SATURDAY, aka THE DAY THE NEW YORK TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER IS SHOWING UP: Bacon-cheese-and-broccoli frittata, honey-vanilla Greek yogurt, sliced kiwis, buttered whole grain toast, orange juice (kid eats only bread and kiwis, rejects frittata as "weird," expresses preference for Gogurt over Greek yogurt)
SUNDAY: Sleep in, proceed directly to lunch
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:24 AM on October 9, 2014 [52 favorites]

As someone who loves savory food and dislikes sweets, about half of the breakfasts in the article looked amazing and the other half made me feel queasy. I'd happily eat the Turkish one every day for the rest of my life, for example. Yum.

Says it's sweet potato and pumpkin, but that white thing looks more like soak salt cod or something to me.

It looked like a peeled tuber of some sort to me, but it was at an odd angle so hard to be sure.
posted by Dip Flash at 11:25 AM on October 9, 2014

I was reading the comments on Halloween Jack's link and...

my daughter liked cheerios with milk and frozen peas....

[screeeetch...]

Wat.
posted by smidgen at 11:32 AM on October 9, 2014 [3 favorites]

I kind of hate the typical Anglo-American breakfast foods ( seriously, it's eggs or pastry or human-chow-cereal ugh) so now I like those chopped vegetable salads in simple vinegar and oil in the morning.

Really nothing like biting into a raw red onion and mustard to wake you up fast.

Kudos to the Dutch to create an excuse for chocolate first thing.
posted by The Whelk at 11:37 AM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

Turkish breakfast is totally the best. I can't eat sweets first thing in the morning. Bread, cheese, olives, tomatoes and cucumbers... what's not to like?
posted by Daily Alice at 11:40 AM on October 9, 2014 [3 favorites]

My 6 year old seems to subsist on air the rest of the day, but she expressed an interest in smoothies a few weeks ago. Thus, I'm packing about 8 bajillion calories into that fucking smoothie every morning (this is with the blessing of her pediatrician, bc she is off the charts underweight). We got coconut milk, banana, pineapple juice, yogurt, tofu (my best secret ingredient), flaxseed, peanut butter and a couple spoonfuls of nutella all up in that thing.

Drinks it down every morning, and bonus -- it takes her like a quarter of the time than anything else I've ever tried with her.
posted by gaspode at 11:41 AM on October 9, 2014 [5 favorites]

Okay, that was unexpectedly delightful. Too bad they don't have a photo spread of a proper South Indian breakfast with idlis (mentioned) and dosas too.

And yes, I have no doubt at all that this is the "OMG NYT photographer is coming today" traditional breakfast, but still. Cold mild and cereal was never for breakfast when I grew up, and what I had on regular days could probably be dressed up with the right light and table settings to look ... interesting?
posted by RedOrGreen at 11:43 AM on October 9, 2014

Smoked herring with pita and lebneh and kalamata olives on the side is tasty magical breakfast, but where can a person eat that for breakfast in the United States? Seemed to be a regular thing in Israel. Any places in NYC I should know about?
posted by oceanjesse at 11:51 AM on October 9, 2014 [4 favorites]

Russ & Daughters? Mogador on st marx?
posted by poffin boffin at 11:57 AM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

Cold mild and cereal was never for breakfast when I grew up,

And that's why you'll never open the bowling for Yorkshire.
posted by howfar at 12:13 PM on October 9, 2014 [4 favorites]

I was just in the Netherlands and was told many times about how chocolate sprinkles with butter on bread are a standard breakfast. I tried it at a hotel buffet and it was actually pretty good. Sweet but more complex and creamy than you might think.

Of course, at the same buffet I had coldcuts and cheese, cocoa puffs, a croissant, sliced wheat bread and different kinds of cheese, orange juice, apple juice, and a cappuccino. And I think some fruit as well. I should of taken a photo and sent it to the NYT.
posted by ianhattwick at 12:30 PM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

Double espresso and Nutella on 12-grain toast every morning for this kid.

As for my kids (well...back when they were kids), I honestly don't know what they had for breakfast. The bus came so early for them, I'm betting they were sent out the door with a couple of cereal bars or something. I know none of us ever had an actual sit-down breakfast, save for the occasional stack of pancakes on some holiday or another.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:31 PM on October 9, 2014

I was really interested in the fermented foods and cod liver oil in so many of these. Traditional Americans go "yuck!" for those, but fermented foods have probiotics in them which boost the immune system. There are so many cultures where fermented foods are very common. And the cod liver oil in Iceland to replenish their vitamin D! That makes so much sense!
posted by jillithd at 12:34 PM on October 9, 2014

The best breakfast is scrambled eggs with tomato and onions and feta and a yogurt sauce wrapped in a thick, warm pita. Turkish people near me call that an "Egg Nest."
posted by Mr. Yuck at 12:40 PM on October 9, 2014 [2 favorites]

"That we don’t...eat Honey Bunches of Oats for supper are rules of culture, not of nature."

The writer of this piece has obviously never met my husband...
posted by ilana at 1:12 PM on October 9, 2014

(Or, I suppose, the writer understands my husband's true nature.)
posted by ilana at 1:14 PM on October 9, 2014

The Istanbul girl is having deviled eggs for breakfast and I don't know why I have never thought of that. Now I want deviled eggs...

Unless I got up at the crack of dawn to devil eggs (NO) then they would all be eaten the day before, shortly after I made them.

I watched Good Eats on Netflix the other day, an episode where he did johnnycakes, which appear to avoid all my husband's allergens while still being pancake-y. So we might use those to improve our breakfasts. But only on weekends.

The rest of the time it's oh-my-god-we're-late-here-eat-a-banana -and-cheese stick-in-the-car-let's-go

Actually, most of my kid's breakfasts are eaten in the car, during the week. Because just getting him dressed/his teeth brushed takes all the time we have.
posted by emjaybee at 1:18 PM on October 9, 2014 [2 favorites]

I love the Brazilian Dad admitting that his two year old son gets more agitated after drinking coffee. Well, yeah. But having witnessed real live Brazilians giving their two year old coffee at midnight it surprises me not one bit.

Japanese breakfasts: A++++++++++++ would eat again!
posted by ambrosia at 1:22 PM on October 9, 2014

guys if you like olives then olives for breakfast (especially the cured, seriously salty and deeply flavored little black ones) is THE BEST THING, especially with fresh tomato slices and crescents of cucumbers and salty crumbles of cheese and wonderful, wonderful turkish breads

did I mention that if you like olives you can eat olives at basically all meals in turkey? (and morocco! and other places! a world of wonders!)

however they have left out the absolute best counterpart to olives for breakfast, which is crazy sugared tea in either black or mint form, served in tiny glasses


(does anyone know if you can get turkish or moroccan breakfasts anywhere in los angeles? asking because I have no olives and now I'm quite sad)
posted by jetlagaddict at 1:27 PM on October 9, 2014 [2 favorites]

I mean I suspect olives are healthier than what I ate every single day for breakfast in Italy, which was cookies dunked in warm chocolate milk, because Italy is also a land of wonders and breakfast biscotti
posted by jetlagaddict at 1:34 PM on October 9, 2014 [2 favorites]

Jetjagaddict, based upon their intro photo Mama's Secret looks pretty promising :)
posted by starscream at 1:52 PM on October 9, 2014

Still looking for the fried rice with fried egg on top.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:04 PM on October 9, 2014

Jetjagaddict, based upon their intro photo Mama's Secret looks pretty promising :)

oh no it's so close to me, goodbye money, hello breakfast olives

(Thank you! I will have to test it out soon!)
posted by jetlagaddict at 2:10 PM on October 9, 2014

Tiago from Brazil seems to be channeling his best Winston Churchill

I shall fight this breakfast on the beaches, I shall fight this breakfast on the landing grounds, I shall fight in the fields and in the streets, I shall fight in the hills; I shall never surrender to this breakfast.
-Tiago, São Paulo, Brazil

posted by blueberry at 2:35 PM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

Breakfast is the least important meal of the day.
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:40 PM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

When my friend came from Japan to study, she brought along a supply of miso, and every morning made miso soup and vegetables for everyone in the morning. My mother and I were charmed by her traditional breakfasts...until I noticed she was just eating the vegetables, not the soup. When I asked her, she confessed that she didn't like miso, and was only making it because her mother said she should. We asked her what she ate at home.

"Cold cereal".

And so, for the rest of her stay, she ate cereal for breakfast.
posted by happyroach at 2:44 PM on October 9, 2014 [6 favorites]

> I was really interested in the fermented foods and cod liver oil in so many of these

I have sauerkraut every morning with my breakfast. It's a little disturbing how much kraut we go through in this house.
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:48 PM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

Family.
posted by fiercecupcake at 2:48 PM on October 9, 2014

The whole world is brought together with the universal appeal of the Ikea frog bowl. By now it's more interesting to see who doesn't have one of them.
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:49 PM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

So therefore, rice for breakfast? Not so weird after all.

In the Philippines, our typical breakfast was a choice of:

(if sweet)
raw fruit -- whole mango sliced in two, a couple of chicos (aka sapodilla, I think?), a slice of papaya, pineapple and grapefruit (choose two of the above)

or champorado (chocolate rice pudding -- goddamn I miss this)

(if substantial and savory)
last night's rice fried with crispy garlic slices (sinangag)
scrambled or fried egg (itlog)
choice of:
sweet garlic sausage longanisa
cured sliced pork shoulder tocino
cured vinegar beef beef tapa

such that if you were to go into a roadside diner to get breakfast you can specify tapsilog (tapa + rice + egg), tocitlog (tocino + rice +egg) or longsitlog (longanisa + rice + egg). The one thing that I really miss living in the West though, is daing which is basically deep fried trout or other thin whitefish, served with fried rice and maybe a bit of egg if you're feeling like a glutton.

I remember once, my parents were on a cruise and their ship docked nearby, so I drove over to the cruise terminal to visit them, and before taking them on a tour of the city, they offered to take me on a tour of the ship, and I shrugged and said, sure. We walked through the ballrooms and pool and gym areas, then as we walked through one of the buffet restaurants, some of the Filipino staff came out and my mom was all telling them about how I was working in the US and being ProudMom. Then one of them asked me,

"have you had breakfast? Would you like to join us?"
"Oh, sorry, sir, I had breakfast before coming here."
"you had American breakfast, but have you had Filipino breakfast? We're frying up some daing."

and goddamn, I didn't realize how much I miss having fish for breakfast until then. I totally went back into that kitchen and found room in my stomach.

Which, you know, for a Filipino is not hard to do. We just need the right motivation.
posted by bl1nk at 2:57 PM on October 9, 2014 [3 favorites]

Turkish breakfast (especially the first one) looks pretty great except for the fact that I can't stand olives. Awful little things, and strong enough that even mixed in with other things. It's a good thing I don't live in a Mediterranean country.

But putting aside the olives, bread and eggs with butter, honey, jams, cheeses, and a bit of fruit is a pretty good spread that I will never ever achieve on my own. In real life my breakfast is a bowl of dry cereal and a glass of water.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 3:28 PM on October 9, 2014

Japanese breakfasts: A++++++++++++ would eat again!

So true... but finding a Japanese restaurant open for breakfast in America? Only observed a couple times, in Gardena, Little Tokyo and San Francisco. Still looking -- meanwhile, I continue making my own miso soup at home.
posted by Rash at 3:43 PM on October 9, 2014

As a kid I mostly had the standard American breakfast of milk and cereal and juice, or just buttered toast. My family's never done big breakfasts unless there's a real occasion for them. The older I get though, the more I find myself gravitating towards stuff that's like the traditional Persian breakfast which looks more or less like the Turkish one, minus the olives. I've pretty much settled into toast/naan with some sort of sweet spread plus some form of salty cheese, or sometimes a hardboiled egg or crackers instead of the toast. I highly recommend giving the Turkish piknik ciftlik cheese (I think that's what it's called? whatever, the white cheese that's more spreadable than feta and comes in a salt brine) a try, it is deeply satisfying on toast or naan.
posted by yasaman at 3:46 PM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

natto is excellent you take that back

Natto is bloody disgusting. Even in Japan, many people eat it because they been told it's good for you (like cod liver oil back in the day) and not because it's tasty or actually filling.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 4:03 PM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

Breakfast burrito. Beans, maybe rice, tasty smoky salsa, cheese, and whatever else is leftover form last night.

My sister thought that was strange, eating "real food" for breakfast. Like many Americans (and me, twice a week) she eats cereal/fruit/yogurt/toast etc. before heading out to The Job.
posted by kozad at 4:10 PM on October 9, 2014

Also, I pretty much eat bacon egg and cheese biscuits every day for breakfast during the week. Sometimes it's awesome living in the southern USA.
posted by oceanjesse at 4:32 PM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]

So when I was in Amsterdam it was the off season for the hotel so they offered us a half-price rate on the breakfast buffet, we said yes but didn't realize quite what that meant.


Let me tell you, nothing on earth beats walking into a Completely empty ballroom at yes-it's-still-dark-at-8 am and preparing yourself a seven course breakfast from fruit to yogurt apple pancakes and bacon to eggs and smoked fish, alternating coffee and champagne, and then eating almost nothing for the rest of the day.
posted by The Whelk at 4:59 PM on October 9, 2014 [3 favorites]

I used to love eating left over spaghetti with tomato sauce for breakfast when I was a kid, though it horrified my mother.

And yes, in Italy caffè latte - coffee with a lot if milk - is absolutely normal breakfast (or dinner, for that matter) food for children.
posted by lydhre at 5:10 PM on October 9, 2014

Oh gravy, I really miss Turkish breakfast--Ayran, yoghurt, olives and all.

And Emily Kathumba is as cute as a button!
posted by BlueHorse at 5:32 PM on October 9, 2014

I eat Japanese breakfast. My gut can't process wheat the way it used to so I'm extra satisfied eating rice, miso soup, pickles or other slightly preserved vegetables, fish or eggs, natto (I love it) and an umeboshi every day.

The woman at the liquor store where I buy rice is continually surprised at how much rice we go through. Most Japanese families don't eat rice three meals a day. The big grocery stores have a wider variety but the sake shops tend to carry local rice at a lower price. We get rice grown just north of Hiroshima where the river runs sweet.

Sometimes my wife has toast and tea for breakfast. She really enjoys it but she says bread doesn't stick to her ribs the way rice does. "I don't know, when I eat bread I'll just be hungry again in an hour or so."
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 5:37 PM on October 9, 2014 [2 favorites]

I wonder if people living countries depicted tend toward the same sort of fussiness over breakfast that afflicts segments of the US population, where some foods are for breakfast and not to be eaten at other times, and some foods are most certainly not appropriate for breakfast and shall not be eaten then.

I had a friend who insisted on eating either fried eggs or cereal for breakfast, despite claiming to hate "breakfast food" (including eggs and cereal). Non-breakfast foods were considered inappropriate.
posted by yohko at 6:49 PM on October 9, 2014

When my husband's family moved from Sweden to New Zealand when he was six, a traumatic school experience made him insist on switching from Swedish breakfast food to cereal and toast.

The teacher went around the class and asked everyone what they had for breakfast. He said "fil" (filmjolk, like yogurt) and the other kids thought he said "beer". He was henceforth known as the kid from the weird alcoholic family. He is still traumatised by the memory.
posted by lollusc at 7:23 PM on October 9, 2014

Wow, this thread is filled with my people. I love you all, fellow savory breakfast eaters!

I'm just sad it took me this long to find you. It wasn't until I went Thailand a few years back that I discovered breakfast doesn't have to be sweet. Then I came back to the US and threw out my pop tarts and bought Amy's non-dairy burritos. I defrost them in my work microwave, stick 'em on a plate, and eat breakfast as I'm checking my email. It's SO GOOD.
posted by librarylis at 7:29 PM on October 9, 2014

Turkish breakfasts are the best. Although Georgians could give them a run for their money. Nothing like a warm Khachapuri on a cold morning.
posted by the duck by the oboe at 8:18 PM on October 9, 2014

OMG, those lovely Turkish breakfasts!

I cannot deal with "typical" American breakfasts unless I've been up for several hours, and by then, I could eat a whole raw moose.

When I moved to Germany, I was astounded by breakfast. Soft boiled eggs, cold cuts, vollkornbrot, cheese, a couple different kinds of mustard. And I could EAT before school! Savory and protein rich and so delightful! Then I could indulge in a snack of Nutella on vollkornbrot at the Erste Pause.

I need savory and protein-laden in the mornings, or I just can't eat. People who stay with us remark upon the "weirdness" of our morning repast, but I do notice that there is never a crumb left.
posted by MissySedai at 9:24 PM on October 9, 2014

I usually eat breakfast before I'm quite awake. I only want a few bites of anything, and I generally want it to be mild and a bit sweet. I noticed, though, that half of the breakfasts featured fit that description (well, at least if I didn't eat all of it) and many of the rest even had a mild/sweet component as part of them. Even the pickiest American children I know would happily eat chocolate sprinkles on toast or baguette with jam.

“In many parts of the world, breakfast is tepid, sour, fermented and savory.”
What surprised me more was how many places go for the mildly sweet carb for breakfast.
posted by Margalo Epps at 9:26 PM on October 9, 2014

My local Woolworth's keeps about a dozen varieties of olives (lotta Middle-Eastern folks around me here) in the deli counter and NOTHING is better on a lazy Sunday morning than some fresh sourdough slathered with chunks of salted butter and a small bowl of little green tequila-lime-and-chili olives. Except, possibly, the big black unpitted olives that have been preserved in garlic and lemon. Yesssssssssss!
posted by ninazer0 at 1:22 AM on October 10, 2014

What my Norwegian kids eat for breakfast is bread, bread, bread. Usually whole wheat or mix of several cereals. Never white bread.

Usual sandwich toppings are liver paté, often with cucumbers (pickled or fresh) on top, canned mackerell in tomato sauce, brown cheese (mix of cow and goat milk), servelat (basically bologna), jam or salami.
posted by Harald74 at 2:24 AM on October 10, 2014

A lot of Europe seem to think breakfast is super sweet pastry or bread with coffee. I don't dig it.

By choice I'll eat two or three kinds of muesli with unsweetened almond and coconut milk, topped with fresh fruit. Other than that, savoury breakfast FTW. Huevos rancheros, shakshuka or wet scrambled eggs with grilled marmite on toast. The full vegan English breakfast is also full of win.
posted by asok at 3:48 AM on October 10, 2014

Ha! My standard breakfast is pretty much like the breakfast in the Ferreira-Gomes household in São Paulo: ham, cheese, bread. But the morning after our Brazilian exchange student first arrived a few weeks ago, I presented him with the option of bagel and cream cheese, since my own typical breakfast of a ham-and-cheese sandwich is somewhat untimely by American standards. The bagel and cream cheese went over well, and so that's what he's had for breakfast (and sometimes for lunch) every day since.

(On a related food timing note, he won't eat beans if I serve them for dinner, even though beans are a pretty common part of the Brazilian diet, because beans are seen as a lunch food)
posted by drlith at 7:05 AM on October 10, 2014

Okay, people are comparing notes; my typical breakfast varies depending on day/time/circumstances.

TYPICAL WEEKDAY, SUMMER: usually cold cereal, typically the Malt-o-Meal brand knockoff version of something (seriously, it's only 3 bucks a package as compared to the 6 bucks for the regular bands), with fresh berries or a cut-up peach if I've gotten any from my CSA. Or I pick up a bacon-and-egg croissant from the Pret-A-Manger in my building lobby.

TYPICAL WEEKDAY, WINTER: the same, with occasional microwave oatmeal (one part oats, two parts water, put in microwave) added to the rotation.

TYPICAL WEEKDAY, IF I'VE RECENTLY BAKED A QUICK BREAD OR MUFFIN: slice of quick bread or a muffin.

TYPICAL WEEKEND, COOKING AT HOME: some days it'll be the aforementioned cold cereal/hot cereal/muffin, or bacon and eggs, or cheese grits. Or I make my own egg-and-bacon sandwich. Sometimes it'll just be fruit.

TYPICAL WEEKEND BRUNCH ORDER FROM THE MAGIC GASTROPUB IF I GO OUT INSTEAD: fresh fruit salad, bacon, and cheese grits.

....Maybe there is not really a "typical" breakfast in my life, now that I look at that.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:14 AM on October 10, 2014

....Although this focus on breakfasts is reminding me that it's been a while since I've made a loaf of Pain d'Epice, and that plus a pear works well as a breakfast - and I've got some pears to hand, so....Yay weekend cooking project!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:16 AM on October 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

he full vegan English breakfast is also full of win.

If you know of one in London, please tell me because I'm there every other year and I NEED SAVOURY.
posted by Kitteh at 10:30 AM on October 10, 2014

ARGH why have I been trying to force myself to eat a bland yogurt with dried fruit every morning when I could have been having OLIVES. Is there a term for that mixture of elation and despair after suddenly realizing you've been wrong your entire life
posted by en forme de poire at 12:58 PM on October 10, 2014 [3 favorites]

Also I would be ALL OVER some delicious salty Ayran for breakfast. Sprinkle a little mint in there... oh my god it looks like you can add garlic, totally doing that (haha, fuck you coworkers!)...

(apparently this is the thread where I discover that my favorite breakfast category is actually "aspirational children's foods from around the world")
posted by en forme de poire at 1:13 PM on October 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

is there a term for that mixture of elation and despair after suddenly realizing you've been wrong your entire life

as if anyone here would ever admit to having been wrong COME ON
posted by poffin boffin at 1:21 PM on October 10, 2014 [3 favorites]

oh shit nobody scroll up
posted by en forme de poire at 2:21 PM on October 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

en forme de poire, tzatziki and its Turkish and Persian yogurt dip cousins makes an awesome breakfast with warmed pita bread, maybe dust it with some cumin and sumac, and it's especially nice with some olives on the side!
posted by jetlagaddict at 5:50 PM on October 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

YUM. I am also looking into ful medames recipes right now. I mean working.
posted by en forme de poire at 6:13 PM on October 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

Japanese person checking in to say that one of my fondest memories of my grandfather on my mother's side was his breakfast consisting of a piece of toast that he would carefully butter (always real butter, never margarine), eggs scrambled with cabbage, and some fruit. He never ate rice for breakfast, and this was a man born in the Meiji period. Then after each meal he would pour himself a mug of hot water and toss in an umeboshi, mash it and eat/drink the concoction, fish out the seed and crush it with a pair of pliers that he stored nearby just for this purpose, and proceed to eat the white core of the seed. I was always fascinated with this ritual of his, and I've never seen or heard of anyone else doing the same. God I miss my granddad.
posted by misozaki at 6:18 PM on October 10, 2014 [4 favorites]

omg hot breakfast yummmm

I grew up following my dad around in different hotels (he'd travel often) and the buffet breakfasts were my favourite thing EVER. In Malaysia the main meats were turkey ham, beef bacon, and chicken sausage, because Halal. I'd have one of almost everything. Even now I sometimes treat myself to a breakfast buffet when it's special.

I also love LOVE the big hot American/Australian/English?? breakfasts - eggs, bacon/sausage, grilled tomato, mushrooms, OMG YES HASH BROWNS. I love McDonalds breakfast for this reason too - mmmhashbrowns. Eggs Benedict is awesome too, especially paired with salmon.

Malaysian breakfast is pretty great. When I was in college I lived off RM1 thosai (a thin crepe-like thing that you eat with sauces). Sometimes we'd go for nasi lemak - rice cooked in coconut milk and served with chilli sauce, egg, anchovies, nuts, sometimes fried chicken.

Growing up in a Bangladeshi home in Malaysia the breakfasts would differ: on the weekdays it was usually toast or cereal, on the weekends my mum would break out something special like French toast (with ketchup!! what the hell is this sweet French Toast with maple syrup malarkey?!) or paratha with curry or even roti jala (think a savoury crepe version of funnel cake).

When I was in Japan for six weeks many years ago my host families had the most amazing breakfasts. These epic spreads every morning. I don't know if it was something they would do for themselves or not, but I still crave them.

Now that I live in the Bay Area my breakfast swings between savory and sweet depending on what I could be bothered to make that day - for a while I'd have a routine of getting a cinnamon roll at school since they were pretty good.

breakfast is awesome anywhere in the world.
(though I hate olives, eeck)
posted by divabat at 7:31 AM on October 13, 2014

Here in Austin, the answer would be breakfast tacos. Maybe not for children, but for all adults, every day.
posted by tofu_crouton at 8:14 AM on October 13, 2014

So this weekend, I was doing some quick last-minute grocery shopping and actually got some breakfast sausages on top of the Italian sausages I was getting for something else, and then I got some eggs and plum tomatoes in my regular CSA handout, which meant that both mornings this past weekend I did a modified Irish breakfast (no puddings).

I blame this thread.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:38 AM on October 13, 2014 [2 favorites]