Breakfast is the first meal of the day. The word is a compound of "break" and "fast," referring to the conclusion of fasting since the previous day's last meal. It is widely referred to as the most important meal of the day. Breakfast usually consists of foods that are high in energy content.
Typical breakfasts by world regions
Northern Europe
- Belgium . A typical Belgian breakfast is like that of its northern neighbor, the Netherlands. Belgians do not eat their most famous food, Belgian waffles, which are traditionally sold in tourist areas of large cities, and are eaten as a snack. The breakfast in Belgium consists of breads, toasted or untoasted, with several marmalades, jams, and nut spreads, such as Nutella or just with a bar of chocolate. Other common toppings include sliced meats and cheeses. Pastries and croissants may be served on Sundays, but are mostly not eaten on weekdays.
- Netherlands . The Dutch typically eat sliced bread with three choices of toppings: dairy products (numerous variations of cheese), a variety of cured and sliced meats, or sweet or semi-sweet products such as jam, peanut butter or chocolate toppings ( hagelslag (chocolate sprinkles), chocoladevlokken (chocolate flakes) and chocolate spread). Some typical, but less common products are apple syrup, honey, stroop (lesser known as bebogeen, a very sweet caramel topping made from sugar beets) and kokosbrood (a coconut product that is served thinly sliced like sliced cheese; also known as Cocosbread). Furthermore are breakfast cereals or muesli popular, served with milk or yoghurt. Tea, drip coffee, milk, and juice are the most popular breakfast beverages. Breakfast may also include (for instance on Sundays) boiled eggs, raisin bread, pumpernickel, ontbijtkoek or croissants.
- Denmark . A typical breakfast in Denmark consists of cereals or bread, accompanied by tea or coffee. Weekends or festive occasions may call for bread rolls ( rundstykker ) and possibly Danish pastries ( wienerbrød ) or a bitters, such as Gammel Dansk.
- Sweden . Breakfast in Sweden is generally a sandwich made of a large amount of different types of soft bread or crisp bread, cold cuts, caviar, cheese, cottage cheese, cream cheese, goat cheese, eggs, scrambled or boiled, tomatoes or cucumber, or a toast with marmalade or maybe honey, juices, coffee, hot chocolate or tea. Breakfast cereals or muesli with milk, yoghurt or filmjölk, currants and fruits are popular or warm whole-grain porridge with milk and jam, (for example lingonberry jam). Pâté (leverpastej) with pickled cucumber, blueberry-soup (blåbärssoppa) and rose hip soup is also possible sometimes for breakfast.
- Finland . Breakfast usually consists of open sandwiches. The sandwich is often buttered (with margarine), with toppings such as hard cheese or cold cuts. Finns usually do not have sweets on their breads such as jam (like the French and the Americans), or chocolate (like the Danes). Sour milk products such as yogurt or viili are also common breakfast foods, usually served in a bowl with cereals such as corn flakes, muesli, and sometimes with sugar, fruit or jam. A third food that is commonly eaten at breakfast is porridge (puuro), often made of rolled oats, and eaten with a pat of butter (voisilmä, lit. "butter eye") and/or with milk, or fruit or jam, especially the sort made of raspberries or strawberries (sometimes lingonberries). Drinks are milk, juice, tea, or coffee.
- Scandinavia . Breakfasts in other parts of Scandinavia can be quite ample. Fish, cheese, eggs, bacon, hot and cold cereals, breads, potatoes, and fruits are all eaten in various combinations, along with juices, coffee, and tea. or kulturmelk (Norway), a cultured milk similar to buttermilk or yogurt is often eaten with cereals. Whole-grain porridges with regular milk or butter are popular. A funny thing in the Scandinavian languages is that the word for breakfast in Swedish language/Norwegian language ("frukost" = early meal) means lunch in Danish. The Danish language word for breakfast is "morgenmad" (= morning meal).
- In Russia , with the cold climate breakfasts tend to be substantial. Zavtrak may consist of hot oatmeal or kasha, eggs, cheese, cured meats or sausage, rye breads with butter (Butterbrods), and coffee or tea.
Costa Rica
In Costa Rica breakfast is traditionally Gallo Pinto which is pinto beans and rice. A preferred alternative is to substitute black beans for the pinto beans. Some people may add natilla (sour cream), and a corn tortilla. Black coffee or coffee with milk are the preferred beverages, although orange juice is also common. Usually breakfasts are complimented with things like avocado, ham or some type of cold meat like sausages or salchichón , cheese, bread, eggs, etc. Some of these things are interchangeable, like tortillas for bread, or natilla for Salsa Lizano (a sauce commonly used in Costa Rican cuisine).
Cuba
Breakfast in urban areas traditionally consisted of café con leche that was sweetened and included a pinch of salt. Toasted buttered Cuban bread, cut into lengths, was dunked in the coffee. In rural Cuba, farmers ate roasted pork, beans and white rice, café con leche and cuajada sweetened with caramel.
United States and Canada
Traditional
Traditional breakfasts in the United States and Canada derive from the full English breakfast and other European breakfast traditions and feature predominantly sweet or mild-flavored foods, mostly hot. Typical items include hot oatmeal porridge, grits (in the South), other hot grain, porridges, eggs, bacon, ham, breakfast sausage or small link sausages, pan-fried potatoes (hash browns), biscuits, toast, pancakes, waffles, bagels, French toast, cornbread, English muffins, pastries (such as croissants, doughnuts, and muffins), and fresh or stewed fruits of various types (stone, citrus, etc.). Steak may be served with eggs on the traditional menu. Cold cereal has become nearly ubiquitous in recent decades, and yogurt is widely popular. Coffee, tea, milk and fruit juices are standard breakfast beverages.
Many regions of the U.S.A. have local breakfast specialties that are less popular nationally. In the South, homemade biscuits served with country-style gravy (also called sawmill gravy), country ham and red eye gravy and grits are one traditional breakfast menu; the Southwest has huevos rancheros and spicy breakfast burritos; scrapple is a favorite in the Mid-Atlantic states; Salmon bagels are popular in the Northwest and pork roll is rarely available outside New Jersey and Philadelphia; and New Englanders still occasionally indulge in fried salt-pork, and pie. Fried eggs with bacon or sausage and American cheese on a seeded kaiser roll is a popular breakfast sandwich in parts of New York.
Some hotels serve breakfast buffets for a fixed price, or offer sweet rolls, cereal, and coffee as a free "continental" breakfast. Traditionally, hotel breakfasts were made to order at a restaurant or by rooms service. Omelettes made to order are also an option.
Contemporary
Today, most Americans and Canadians eat a reduced breakfast most days, but may still enjoy a traditional hearty breakfast on weekends, holidays, and vacations. Having only coffee or skipping breakfast entirely is also common. Eating out for breakfast or brunch is common on weekends and holidays.
Eggs are strongly associated with breakfast, to the extent that many Americans and Canadians consider egg dishes out of place later in the day.
A typical contemporary combination of food for a hearty breakfast consists of eggs (fried or scrambled), one type of meat, and one or two starchy dishes; commonly hash browns and toast. A more basic breakfast combination would be a starchy food (such as toast, pastry, breakfast cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, or waffles) either alone or served with fruit and yogurt. This second option, similar to the Continental breakfasts served in Europe, is especially common in institutional situations where serving hot food is difficult, expensive, or impractical.
Restaurants that serve breakfast typically base their menus around egg dishes and pork meats such as sausage, ham and bacon. Pancakes and waffles are also popular. An assemblage commonly known as a country breakfast in restaurants consists of eggs or omelette, sausage or bacon, hash browns, sausage gravy, coffee, biscuits or toast with jam or jelly, and fruit juice.
A typical breakfast for those that eat ordinary breakfast as a home meal is instant oatmeal or a cold breakfast cereal with milk. Leftovers from the previous day's meals may also be eaten.
A worker's breakfast often consists only of coffee and prep
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