World breakfasts: how do different countries start their day? Personal experience

I have repeatedly won grants to study at foreign universities, lived with foreign families, conducted intercultural research and immersed myself in the culture of different countries not only through words, but also through tastes, smells and traditions.

The culture and customs of a country are manifested, among other things, through the breakfasts with which it is customary to start one’s day: light or dense, healthy or not, varied or sparse, emotional or cold.

England

The English are quite conservative in their breakfasts. They ate oatmeal 100 years ago, and it is still in their diet today in the form of products made from it: granola, cookies, granola.

I lived for a week with an English landscaping family. There was a beautiful garden around the house, the house had unusual furnishings, and my breakfast was not varied.

The English left their house at 7:00 and left my student morning kit on the table: granola, milk and a mini thermos with hot water. The water was enough for exactly one cup of coffee or tea.

I was warned in advance that it was forbidden to use the gas stove, as it was dangerous. One cup of hot drink, according to the English, is quite enough to stay warm on a freezing February morning.

By the time I got to the university, I was getting hungry, so I bought coffee again before lectures. The habit of drinking two invigorating drinks in the morning in the cold has stayed with me, and even the conservative British could not eradicate it.

Candidate of Medical Sciences, doctor of integrative, preventive and conventional medicine, nutritiologist

Indeed, the English have adapted to digesting oatmeal better than anyone else and rarely succumb to tradition. Let me remind you, the healthiest and longest living people are those who follow the habits of their people.

Oatmeal for breakfast for the average person is fine if it is whole, not laced with sugar or syrups or an abundance of fruit. The best option is porridge steamed from the evening. You can add nuts, a bit of butter, avocado or some other healthy fats to it.

Italy

Italians do not worry about the theme of zhodnosti and usefulness. For them, the main thing is to enjoy the flavor and the process. Therefore, their breakfasts are as simple, unhealthy and tasty as possible at the same time.

On weekends, it is customary to start the day in a cafe, leisurely devouring food and looking at passers-by. On weekdays – as it turns out.

Italian breakfast is a cappuccino or espresso, freshly squeezed orange juice and a croissant, which in Italian is called cornetto. This flour product can be without everything, with almonds, chocolate or honey.

Cups in Italy are small, but the coffee is strong. And croissants are very hearty, with a lot of butter. The oranges are sweet, and the volume of the cup is more impressive than the coffee. Breakfast turns out to be so dense and calorie dense that it was enough for me until late afternoon.

Of all the flavors I preferred Cornetto with honey and cereal, these croissants are more healthy, they have less oil, respectively, for the figure it is a more friendly and compromise option. And tasty, and without extra calories.

Doctor’s opinion: a real croissant, kneaded, for example, on almond flour, without refined sugar, but with plenty of healthy fats (eggs and butter) – quite a proper breakfast. Unfortunately, not everyone will be able to digest it fully.

As for coffee – a drink made from freshly ground coffee beans of medium roast – is rich in antioxidants, but do not forget that it is also acidifying. Therefore, it is important to drink at least one glass of pure mineral water per mug of coffee, and it is better to exclude instant coffee altogether.

Orange juice, as well as other frees – a dangerous hobby. First, they are very high in natural sugar. Secondly, it can irritate the mucosa, especially together with coffee. That’s why we say yes to tasty breakfasts, but only not every day, and in the case if you digest them properly.

France

The French haven’t strayed that far from the Italians. Here is a classic breakfast for lovers of deliciousness and delights: coffee + croissant. And in France, the flour product is less fatty, and the almond product literally melts in your mouth, barely having time to be there.

However, in addition to this, there is another option for breakfast, more healthy. These are pancakes or crepes. The name “crepes” comes from the Old French crespe, which is derived from the Latin crispus, meaning “curly”.

The edges of these crepes are uneven and even funny. In Brittany, where I lived, buckwheat flour crepes are especially popular. They differ from traditional wheat ones in their gray color and more intense flavor.

The crepes can be flavored with sea salt, cheese, and caramel. To get a better taste, I always chose the first option. But all kinds were worthy of having them for breakfast.

The doctor’s opinion: we are all different and digest food differently, we have a different set of genes, bacteria, the amount of secreted enzymes. Therefore, not only for each genotype, but also for two different people, the same product can be useful or harmful. This is what we call personalization today.

Bali

Here is the greatest variety of tastes, colors and emotions for breakfast. When you are in a Balinese gest-house, a guest house where the family itself lives and there are huts for tourists, you have time to taste everything and follow the traditions and customs of the Izuntri.

The Balinese get up at sunrise, sweep the area, make offerings to the gods, and then start clattering plates, waking up the tourists and starting breakfast preparations.

A traditional Balinese breakfast is freshly squeezed juice (mango, dragonfruit or pineapple), Balinese black coffee of maximum strength, slices of several kinds of fruit, and then a choice of omelet with toast, bananas on toast, pancakes with bananas or pineapple or fried spicy noodles with vegetables.

My choice never made it to the spicy noodles, but I managed to try all kinds of pancakes, juices and omelets. The breakfasts are plentiful in flavors and very filling. It takes a while to digest and recover afterward.

Doctor’s opinion: omelettes for breakfast – a good option to start the day, if there is no individual intolerance to eggs. They contain everything the body needs. In combination with coarse fiber, whole grains and vegetables – a full-fledged energy boost.

But fruit on an empty stomach is not worth eating, especially if you already have gastrointestinal diseases (GI) or metabolic pathologies.

Hungarian breakfast

Hungarians love bread, cheese, cottage cheese and coffee. Their breakfast is simple yet varied: coffee with milk, several types of pastries made of wheat flour, including the famous pogaci. It is a small round bread, visually similar to our church prosphora, with an enlarged size.

Cheese, potatoes, cottage cheese, sometimes raisins and apricots are mixed into the dough. That is why there are different kinds of pogacha, salty ones are more popular than sweet ones.

Hungarians also love all kinds of cottage cheese and baked goods with cottage cheese. Such products are called “turos”, which means cottage cheese.

Hungary has developed agriculture and animal husbandry. Different types of cows are raised here, including a special kind of gray cows, whose milk is used to make cheese.

Cheese slices are part of a hearty Hungarian breakfast. They also love pancakes with cottage cheese and sour cream for breakfast.

In general, Hungarian breakfasts are so dense and calorie-dense that they can safely be called lunches. I lived in Budapest for two years and conducted research for my PhD thesis, and it was then that I gained an extra five kilos, as it was impossible to resist such a variety of flavors.

Doctor’s opinion: dairy products are very healthy, nourishing. It is a healthy addition to the diet if you are not lactose or casein intolerant. Eat breakfast with what your body is asking for, what your body can eat, and what is accepted in your cultural environment (where you were born and raised). Then you will be healthy.