Beyond cornflakes

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Posted at 12:02PM, 11 November 2008 by Stuart Walton - Food and wine writer

What's for breakfast? This is, we are told, the most important meal of the day , so we'd better get it right. Eating nothing is disastrous, as it leads to hunger pangs kicking in around the middle of the morning, so that we find ourselves overeating at lunchtime, or else filling up in the interim on choccy biccies.

There wasn't, it seemed, even time to put the kettle on

People who drink heroically in the evenings are more inclined to skip breakfast, finding that they have no appetite when they get up for work, other than for another pint - of strong, engine-revving coffee. My sweetheart used to leave for the morning commute from Brighton to London with nothing more than a sip of water to run on. There wasn't, it seemed, even time to put the kettle on.

So breakfast is necessary. But of what shall it consist? The grilled chops, liver and bacon or kedgeree of earlier eras, when breakfast really was a matter of breaking the fast of night with a meal (since lunch had yet to be invented), may not be quite practical these days. We rarely want to do anything that feels too much like cooking, except typically at weekends, when the frying pan gets its weekly outing.

The nearest I get to cooking on weekday mornings is an egg (or eggs). What can be more comforting than a poached egg on toast, or scrambled if I've the energy, the more so if the toast is also spread with some good smoked fish pâté. Sometimes I'll do an omelette, loaded with ham and chopped spring onion but never cheese, which has no place on the breakfast table for me, whatever the Dutch people say.

What I've discovered over the years is that I have very savoury tastes first thing in the morning, even to the exclusion of marmalade. I buy marmalade as though it ought to be a kitchen standby, but at what time of day I'm expecting to eat it, I can't say. A fruit yoghurt I can manage, but that's as near as I get to sugar at the break of day.

A recent trip to Beijing and Shanghai made me reflect on breakfast. Apart from congee, the thin rice gruel that may taste of next to nothing or else be alive with chillies, the Chinese people eat pretty much what they would eat at any other time of day, selecting jiaozi (dumplings) from the hotel breakfast spreads, with a little braised pak choi and shredded ginger on the side.

While I can't warm to congee, what I did find utterly satisfying and nourishing first thing was egg fried rice . It somehow combines the British elements of eggs and frying, but with the fortifying carbohydrate in the form of grains rather than bread. It sets you up for the morning, as breakfasts are supposed to, especially at the dank end of the year. If I could bear to make with the wok as soon as I got up, this is how I might ideally choose to start my day.

What unlikely dishes do you dream of in those moments before arising?

Comments

PoshPaws

11 November 2008, 5:14PM
PoshPaws

The best breakfast I've ever had, I made one year for my birthday. It was american-style pancakes (you know, the thick ones, rather than the thin lacy type), with oodles of summer soft fruits and great dollops of Greek yoghurt. Add a little flute of champagne and I'll just relax here on my chaise longue while you go and think about rustling up something utterly gorgeous for lunch .....

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Louise

11 November 2008, 7:32PM
Louise

My favourite breakfast ever is of Singapore-style noodle soup, loaded with chillies, ginger and garlic. It's a great wake up call. Unfortunately no-one else seems to share my enthusiasm!

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Juliet

11 November 2008, 11:38PM
Juliet

I just love hot fluffy french toast with lashings of greek honey and hot steaming coffee like we had in Kos one year - total heaven!

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AdrianB

12 November 2008, 9:05AM
AdrianB

I sympathise with your Congee calamity Stuart - I've seen that stuff served up a lot in Australia in hotels as they get a lot of tourists from the Orient. It's the same situation in South East Asia, I traveled through Sumatra and found that they eat fish and rice for dinner... and then again (cold) for breakfast. I have never been much of an egg eater, although I like them just fine, until this year when I can't seem to start the day without a poached one on toast. AdrianB

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drusilla

12 November 2008, 12:14PM
drusilla

Why is it the best breakfasts we seem to remember are the ones we have on holiday? My favourite was from Cleveland 5 years ago - cinnamon toast, danish pastries topped with apricot jam, hot buttery croissants, cereal, yoghurt, fresh juice and coffee. It's a good job we did a heck of a lot of walking!!!!

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Nicola

12 November 2008, 12:20PM
Nicola

My favourtie breakfast was also on holiday, this time in Singapore. A bowl of hot creamy curry and rati prata for dipping, I could eat that everyday! When at home on a Sunday, there's nothing better than a sausage and egg buttie with Daddy's sauce and a cup of Yorkshire tea.

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cooks diary

13 November 2008, 1:18PM
cooks diary

I agree with you Drusilla the best food is always remembered from our hols,Mine has to be Waffles with maple syrup or strawberries and cream on top fom Florida looking out over the beach the first time i went in the 80,s now i think of our misserable cold climate and boring breakfasts.

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lynnefoster

16 November 2008, 4:50PM
lynnefoster

I've just discovered that porridge thrown in the slow cooker with a grated apple about 11pm gets me a decent breakfast by 7.30. Tastes better too somehow!

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