After a morning in pottery class, followed by lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf with my wife and sister-in-law and a bit of shopping, I spent the afternoon doing a bit of research on breakfasts around the world. During my explorations of the world’s eating habits, I learned that breakfast in Austria sometimes includes a semmel (a kind of bread roll) and a piece of Schinkenspeck (sort of a smoked bacon). I also learned that an Afghan might have a roht (a round sweet flat bread flavored with ground cardamom seeds and sugar and nigella seeds), along with apricots, pistachio nuts, and yoghurt.
I might have experienced an Austrian breakfast first-hand except for the fact that, on my one and only trip to Austria, I fell ill within twelve hours of arrival and ended up spending several days in a Vienna hospital before flying home to (at the time) Dallas. Had I been keeping notes during my years of frequent international travel, I might be able to use them as resources for my breakfast research. Alas, I did not. I remember many good breakfasts, but not all.
So, I have been doing internet research. And I have been asking, via email, people I met in other countries to share information with me. Some have, some say they will, some have not responded.
I have decided to try another possibility. Just this afternoon, I send messages via couchsurfing.com to several people in Chile, asking them to tell me about common Chilean breakfasts. I can do internet research, of course, and I will; but real information from real people is much more appealing. We shall see if I get any responses. If so, I think I’ll explore other countries for which I have not yet done extensive research.
It sounds sublime, occasional eater. I will incorporate the Turkish info into my grand plan! Gracias, sir!
My favorite international breakfast so far has definitely been the Turkish breakfast. I’ve adapted it for my breakfast (when I can and/or remember) to have cucumber slices with boiled eggs slices, sliced cherry tomatoes, jalapeño/serrano slices and Feta cheese crumbles with a squeeze of lime juice… So very tasty…
http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/details/Food/TkBreakfast.html