# 50 Breakfasts from Around the World **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 20, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374 "2012-02-20T00:32:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/61 "2012-02-20T18:24:35Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > In terms of authenticity, maybe. This particular link in the OP seems to be a truncated version, and doesn’t have the complete descriptions or “qualifiers.” Here’s [another version of the list](http://listas.20minutos.es/lista/desayunos-tipicos-alrededor-del-mundo-317797/), which has this commentary about the American breakfast, if you click where it says, “ver mas:” > [@](#): > > There isn’t any real standard breakfast in the U.S. The best examples would be a bowl of cereal with orange juice or coffee; oatmeal with fruit or brown sugar; a smoothie/shake; pancakes or waffles **on the weekend** ; on special occasions an omelet or scrambled eggs with toast or English muffin, hash browns or stir fries, bacon or sausage and/or fruit or fruit juice. That seems like a more complete or accurate description. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/62 "2012-02-20T21:40:51Z")
The Argentinian breakfast is correct, mostly. Apparently, together with the Italians, we are one of the few countries that go for a quick light breakfast. We usually drink a cup of coffe, te or mate with toasts, cookies or croissant. That being said, I would love to try any ANY of those breakfasts… except from the Japanese, Peruvian, Chines and Vietnamise breakfast. Its called breakfast people, not dinner. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/63 "2012-02-20T22:55:01Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > There isn’t any real standard breakfast in the U.S. The best examples would be a bowl of cereal with orange juice or coffee; oatmeal with fruit or brown sugar; a smoothie/shake; pancakes or waffles on the weekend; on special occasions an omelet or scrambled eggs with toast or English muffin, hash browns or stir fries, bacon or sausage and/or fruit or fruit juice. > > That seems like a more complete or accurate description. I don’t see a biscuit or gravy or grits anywhere on that list. But then again, the southern US breakfast is probably a thing unto itself. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/64 "2012-02-20T23:51:47Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > I don’t see a biscuit or gravy or grits anywhere on that list. > > But then again, the southern US breakfast is probably a thing unto itself. Very good point–though you’d be surprised how many places in L.A. serve grits. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/65 "2012-02-21T00:11:27Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > Interesting, but I see no Cocoa Puffs! Drives you coo-koo, don’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/66 "2012-02-21T00:27:55Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The absence of an Israeli breakfast disqualifies the entire list. Oh yeah, that’s right - there are only 51 countries in the world. 🙂 > [@Dervorin](#): > > \ > Or this: [http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/images/idly/idliimagecopyrighted7.jpg](http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/images/idly/idliimagecopyrighted7.jpg) (rice dumplings with a lentil-based stew and coconut chutney)\ I want this. Maybe some of these submissions are more personal than country-wide. I often have raisin bran cereal with low-sodium cottage cheese on it for breakfast, but I’m not going to pretend it’s the Great Canadian Breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/67 "2012-02-21T02:09:47Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Bit of an overstatement. :rolleyes: It’s not the Magna Carta, just some pictures of some food. Chill out darlin’, it was merely hyperbole for humorous purposes, commenting on the number of peeps going “no way is that an XXX breakfast!” I am now wondering if it was _your_ blog that you linked - if so I should have been more sensitive, and I apologise. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/68 "2012-02-21T03:49:44Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Chill out darlin’, it was merely hyperbole for humorous purposes, commenting on the number of peeps going “no way is that an XXX breakfast!” > > I am now wondering if it was _your_ blog that you linked - if so I should have been more sensitive, and I apologise. MY apologies… Color me lacking in perception. I didn’t realize you were being ironic. :smack: Not my blog, so no worries there. However, I thought it WOULD generate some discussion. Got \*\*that \*\*part right. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/69 "2012-02-21T04:45:47Z")
> [@auRa](#): > > _Pannkakor_ for Swedish breakfast? Never have I ever and I’ve had many a Swedish breakfast in my time… Sandwiches, porridge, coffee, fil, maybe muesli sure. Not once have I seen a pancake. Maybe it’s more a Swedish American thing? The Swedish breakfast looks like something my mom and grandma would serve. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/70 "2012-02-21T05:47:38Z")
After moving to an area fairly thick \ with Mexican cooking (due to it’s proximity to the border), I thought for a long time that menudo was a typical breakfast, as the place I work serves it a lot. I tried to like it, but didn’t; fell in love instead with pozole, which isn’t that different, really. But now THAT is my breakfast of choice; yum!! I’ve always liked the idea of soups for breakfast; what’s a typical Japanese breakfast, I wonder? I read “Fools Die” one too many times, and it involves a Japanese umm…companion…who makes breakfast soup for her clients. I spent a long time thinking that was typical, though I’m guessing that was poetic license. Still, I wonder… ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/71 "2012-02-21T06:58:12Z")
Oh wow, that’s awesome. Someone should try to cook one of those every morning for 50 days straight ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/72 "2012-02-21T07:50:07Z")
In defense of the listmaker, I don’t think (s)he was trying to show THE typical breakfast for those countries; it seems to be more of a list of “things which some people from these countries have for breakfast”. The Indian one sounds way too frou-frou for the immense majority of Indians (so much so that I’d bet he didn’t get it from someone who was actually in India at the time), but then, I expect a country as big and varied as India to have many different “typical breakfasts”. One of the Big Human Divides is between “people who can’t have food right after crawling out of bed” and “people who jump out of bed demanding breakfast”. In Spain, the first group is likely to start their day with a cup of _café con leche_ (about half-coffee, half-milk), followed by several cups of _cortado_ (coffee with a dash of milk) at work, and not eat any solids until lunchtime; a less-radical variant of the same group will have a pastry or bread with jam along with their first coffee (so, similar to what’s shown for the Italian breakfast). Those of us who wake hungry tend to also prefer salty breakfasts, generally cold cuts although the so-called farmer’s breakfast is a heavier beast, pretty similar to British sunday breakfasts (fried egg(s) and/or omelette(s), one or more varieties of dry or fried sausages, enough jam-on-buttered-bread to make a teenager happy, keep the coffee and the milk flowing); we may have bread with oil and salt or the _pamtumaca_ shown for Spain depending on where we’re from, and maybe a big bowl of milk with broken-up _galletas_ (think Digestives). Which one of those breakfasts is “typical”? ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/73 "2012-02-21T15:08:11Z")
> [@ExcitedIdiot](#): > > Do they put Worcestershire on it, as the article suggests? I love it on a steak, but the thought of it on a cheese sandwich turns my stomach. That’s the classic preparation. It only adds to the salty melty umami goodness. Trust me. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/74 "2012-02-21T15:10:27Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > what’s a typical Japanese breakfast, I wonder? I read “Fools Die” one too many times, and it involves a Japanese umm…companion…who makes breakfast soup for her clients. I spent a long time thinking that was typical, though I’m guessing that was poetic license. IIRC breakfast is one of the many times the Japanese feel comfortable giving you a little miso soup. What else? Based solely on hotel “Japanese breakfasts,” you would almost certainly get some rice, some pickled vegetables (oshinko), a small grilled fish, and maybe porridge (okayu). And of course, tea. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/75 "2012-02-21T15:33:32Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > In defense of the listmaker, I don’t think (s)he was trying to show THE typical breakfast for those countries; it seems to be more of a list of “things which some people from these countries have for breakfast”. I think this is true. I also agree that even under these terms, the Indian breakfast was off the wall. There are a wide variety of breakfasts across India, varying along a wide variety of factors, but I have never even heard of tofu scramble or banana pepper toast. And while I have heard of veggie sausage in the United States, I’ve never come across it in India. These are the kinds of breakfasts I’ve experienced in India: 1. Tea and toast with butter and guava jam. 2. Eggs (folded omelet or sunny-side up fried egg) with buttered toast and chicken sausage. 3. [Luchi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halua#India) with garlic-fried peas or [shujir haluwa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halua#India). 4. [Uppama](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upma) with potatoes, cauliflower, and beans 5. [Payesh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kheer) 6. Savory French toast with chilis, cilantro leaves, onions, and hot ketchup. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/76 "2012-02-21T15:43:06Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I also agree that even under these terms, the Indian breakfast was off the wall. > > There are a wide variety of breakfasts across India, varying along a wide variety of factors, but I have never even heard of tofu scramble or banana pepper toast. And while I have heard of veggie sausage in the United States, I’ve never come across it in India. [Here’s the original photo](http://www.flickr.com/photos/arvindgrover/4203683495/) - seems that the blog compiler just saw this photo and an Indian guy and snaffled it with no research at all. Here’s his response: > [@](#): > > for me it’s just breakfast and not what I would eat when in India. This was breakfast cooked by my Indian mom in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A happy blend of my eastern and western upbringing. Parathas is often another breakfast for us, and when I’m anywhere that offers it, I’m eating dosas for breakfast. If you’re talking about the [hostelbookers.com](http://hostelbookers.com) post, I wasn’t involved in that, they simply used my photo. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/77 "2012-02-21T15:49:57Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > originally a Catalan preparation. Sidenote: Catalan food – fond fond memories. One of the five best meals of my life (won’t vouch for it being typical Catalan, but it was in Catalonia): [http://www.canfabes.com/en/carta-i-menu/menu](http://www.canfabes.com/en/carta-i-menu/menu) [http://www.canfabes.com/en/carta-i-menu/carta](http://www.canfabes.com/en/carta-i-menu/carta) ETA WTF happened to those prices? 70 Euros for shrimp ravioli? 32 Euros for cheese? I thought there was a recession on. I’m sure I didn’t pay that kind of bustout pricing five years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/78 "2012-02-21T16:15:50Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > [Here’s the original photo](http://www.flickr.com/photos/arvindgrover/4203683495/) - seems that the blog compiler just saw this photo and an Indian guy and snaffled it with no research at all. Here’s his response: Which reminds me: 1. Masala dosa 2. Idli Yeah, I’m disappointed to see that the original article seems to be nothing more than a compilation of things that other people have posted on the web. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/79 "2012-02-21T16:31:03Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I’ve never in 45 years had perogies for breakfast. If they had put eggs of some kind on the plate instead of the perogies, that would have made a lot more sense. > > I guess I’m just glad they didn’t try to pretend that backbacon is commonly eaten by Canadians for breakfast (we eat the same kind of bacon as US Americans). 🙂 I agree. I’ve had hundreds of breakfasts in Canada and have never seen pierogies on the menu. I just took my kids to Cora’s for breakfast on Sunday, which is THE breakfast franchise in Canada, and didn’t see pierogies on the menu. There’s really no difference between a Canadian breakfast and an American breakfast, except that Canadians seem to appreciate crepes a bit more. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2012, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374/80 "2012-02-21T16:33:22Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > There’s really no difference between a Canadian breakfast and an American breakfast, except that Canadians seem to appreciate crepes a bit more. Is that a French Canadian thing? Do Quebecers eat breakfast differently from the rest of you guys? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/50-breakfasts-from-around-the-world/613374.md?page=5)