Go to work on an egg

Breakfast: the most important meal of the day, the meal that sets you up full of energy to face whatever will come your way in a busy day. Nutritionists tell us that we may skip any meal of the day apart from breakfast. Even if it is just a quick slice of bread and glass of juice as we dash out of the door, having a good breakfast is as essential as remembering to get dressed, or to switch our indoor slippers for our outdoor shoes: don’t go out of the house without it.

I was reminded of the differences in breakfasts throughout the world recently, during my trip to the US. I am from the south, and a traditional breakfast I love is gravy and biscuits. It has been a pleasure to find this on the buffet bar at some motels I have stayed in.

The French love their croissants and coffee, the British have their fry-up with a cup of strongly brewed tea, the Germans start the day with bread and sliced meat, Americans have waffles and maple syrup and Australians have toast and vegemite.

We get accustomed to our own habits and used to familiar tastes. A British friend described her surprise on an exchange visit to Europe when faced with a “continental breakfast. “The bread, cheese and sliced meat on offer were all lovely, but were all cold. There wasn’t even toast. Instead of a steaming pot of English Breakfast Tea, there was a pot of strong, black coffee.

Her Dutch counterpart was surprised in England to be served with a traditional English breakfast: fried egg, fried bread, fried tomatoes and mushrooms, and fried sausages. “How can you eat so much fat first thing?” she exclaimed. Day two, she was served the alternative British breakfast fare of orange marmalade on toast, a decidedly healthier option.

Different nations enjoy different fare. Korean friends of mine will have a sauce made from hot peppers and cucumbers over rice for breakfast.

Perhaps Sting summed it up best in his song “An Englishman in New York.” Not only did he underline the differences in national breakfast drink, but he gently poked fun at the divergence between British and American English: “I don’t take coffee, I drink tea, my dear.”

These anecdotes came back to me this week when facing the US breakfast bar. I have become accustomed to a Turkish breakfast, with its very healthy options. I searched in vain on the counter laden with choice goodies for something that wasn’t sweet. Waffles with syrup, donuts, fruit muffins, cinnamon rolls, even the cereal was pre-sweetened; the only thing to spread on toast was jelly, and the fruit salad was covered in syrup. Delicious but sweet, sweet, sweet.

The first few days it was a delight trying all the things I had missed. But after a while I began to long for the Mediterranean breakfast I enjoy in Turkey: tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and white cheese, a slice or two of salami, lightly toasted bread, and a freshly brewed pot of coffee.

When I first moved to Turkey over 25 years ago, this was the only style of breakfast available. But in recent years cereals have been gaining in popularity. I remember an old friend’s surprise when she saw muesli for the first time. She didn’t like it because she thought it should be eaten dry. When I showed her how to mix it with milk or yoghurt she decided it was definitely more appetizing. Now, not just the larger supermarkets, but also the local convenience stores (the “bakkal”) have an impressive array of plain and crunchy muesli, cornflakes and cheerios.

I used to make my own fruit-flavored yoghurt for breakfast by putting a spoonful of jelly into a bowl of yoghurt. Now we are able to buy every flavor of yogurt you could want, in normal, light and pro-biotic style. Milk, too, comes in banana, strawberry and chocolate flavors to ensure children get enough calcium to make their teeth and bones strong and healthy, before they jump on the service bus to take them to school.

The Turkish breakfast is best enjoyed leisurely, on a dreamy summer’s day, out on a balcony or porch, with a wonderful view. And of course, it must be accompanied by well-loved family members, or dear friends, and a seemingly never-ending pot of tea.

Whatever your choice of menu, be it American, Continental, Asian or Turkish, I hope you have the chance to have a wonderful breakfast some time in this holiday season. Afiyet olsun!