Breakfasts around the world
Dishes eaten first in the day in the countries they come from.
Breakfast is the most local meal there is. Lunch and dinner travel between cuisines, but the morning table holds to habit: where the day starts with hot porridge, neither pastry nor salty cheese ever takes root.
This collection holds sweet breakfasts, substantial meaty ones, and some that look like lunch to a European eye. The times given are the full ones, preparation included, because several of these want soaking or a sponge started the night before.
25 dishes
- Ackee and saltfishJamaica
Jamaica's national dish: ackee fruit, which looks and behaves like scrambled egg, with soaked salt cod.
45 min · Easy
- BaleadasHonduras
A wheat flour tortilla folded over refried beans, soured cream and crumbled cheese.
60 min · Easy
- BanitsaBulgaria
A filo spiral with white cheese and eggs, doused in yoghurt and bicarbonate before baking.
75 min · Medium
- Bircher muesliSwitzerland
Oats soaked overnight with grated apple, cream and nuts.
20 min · Easy
- CachapasVenezuela
Thick pancakes of ground fresh corn, folded around a soft white cheese.
40 min · Easy
- ChorreadasCosta Rica
Pancakes of ground fresh corn, served with natilla soured cream.
40 min · Easy
- DoublesTrinidad and Tobago
Two soft fried breads called bara with spiced chickpea channa between them. Trinidad's street breakfast.
160 min · Medium
- Ful medamesEgypt
Fava beans stewed to a cream with olive oil, lemon and cumin.
255 min · Easy
- Gallo pintoCosta Rica
Yesterday's rice fried with black beans and Salsa Lizano. The Costa Rican breakfast, every day.
35 min · Easy
- HoppersSri Lanka
Thin bowl-shaped pancakes from fermented rice batter with coconut milk, often with an egg.
80 min · Takes practice
- Kaya toastSingapore
Toasted bread with kaya coconut egg jam and cold butter, with soft-boiled eggs.
70 min · Medium
- MangúDominican Republic
Mashed boiled green plantain with pickled onion, egg, fried cheese and salami.
50 min · Easy
- Mas huniMaldives
Tuna worked with coconut, onion and lime, with hot roshi flatbread. The Maldivian breakfast.
35 min · Easy
- Masala dosaIndia
A thin crisp crêpe of fermented rice and lentil batter with a spiced potato filling.
105 min · Takes practice
- MenemenTurkey
Eggs cooked into tomatoes and green pepper. They are never beaten and rarely stirred, or you end up with ordinary scrambled eggs.
30 min · Easy
- NacatamalNicaragua
A large tamal of corn dough with pork, rice and potato, boiled in a banana leaf.
270 min · Takes practice
- Nasi lemakMalaysia
Rice cooked in coconut milk with pandan, served with sambal, anchovies, egg and peanuts.
85 min · Medium
- Nicaraguan gallo pintoNicaragua
Rice fried with red beans. The Nicaraguan version: red beans, and no Salsa Lizano.
35 min · Easy
- RolexUganda
A vegetable omelette rolled in a chapati. Kampala street food, the name a slur of "rolled eggs".
65 min · Easy
- ShakshukaIsrael
Eggs poached in a thick sauce of tomato and pepper with cumin and paprika.
40 min · Easy
- Skyr with berriesIceland
Home-made skyr, the Icelandic cultured dairy, strained thick, with bilberries.
50 min · Medium
- Sudanese fulSudan
Ful beans cooked soft and mashed in the pot, with sesame oil, cheese and egg.
105 min · Easy
- SyrnikiRussia
Curd cheese fritters with as much curd as possible and exactly enough flour to keep them together.
30 min · Easy
- Tunisian chakchoukaTunisia
Stewed peppers with tomato and harissa, eggs broken into the sauce at the end.
65 min · Easy
- VitumbuaTanzania
Rice cakes on coconut milk, cooked in a pan of hemispherical wells.
70 min · Medium