Burritos for Breakfast

I'm about to go on a rant here, because you should be able to enjoy whatever type of food you want, at any hour of the day.

One of my passions is that food should be enjoyed at any time of day. People usually agree with me saying, "yeah, breakfast for dinner!" Yes, but no... I want to enjoy tacos at 8 in the morning, donuts for lunch and spaghetti at 1:00 am. There is no reason that any type of food should be restricted to a time of day.

Attributing certain types of food to meal times is nonsense, and a social construct. In the US we decided that certain foods are to be eaten at breakfast and others for dinner and lunch. I'm no scientist, but I don't think there's much logic to it.

For some reason it's excluding foods in the morning time that riles me the most up. Why shouldn't I enjoy a nice ribeye or bowl of ramen for breakfast? Is there any reason why savory dishes are typically eaten at lunch and dinner in America and not in the morning?

So, I decided to look at breakfasts from around the world, to see if "breakfast foods" are eaten in the morning everywhere. When researching typical breakfasts from around the world I found a lot that are very similar to breakfast in the states; pastries, toasts, coffee, eggs and bacon. There are some countries that will just enjoy a cup of coffee for breakfast, while many others will eat savory dishes that Americans don't usually consider breakfast.

Let's check out what countries around the world eat for breakfast:

Egypt

The national dish of Egypt is ful medames. It's a fava bean stew, that is served with little dishes of olive oil, salt, pepper, chili flakes, crushed garlic and cumin, to flavor how you like (Nichols, 2019). Certainly sounds like something we would consider lunch or dinner... but the Egyptians serve this up in the morning. Sounds tasty to me! I also love how it has options to flavor it to your preferences. It personalizes the meal for each person, and you can switch it up whenever you like!

Germany

My go to argument that foods should be enjoyed at any time of day is the German breakfast. My mom works at a German based company, and has told stories of how her coworkers enjoy their breakfasts. It's a lot of meat... Usually it's a selection of cured meats and cheeses, with bread to go along side it. There may be a plateful of raw vegetables or a selection of jams and honey to accompany the bread. Sometimes they might toss in an egg or two. When you look at it though, seems more of what we would call lunch.

Japan

I think I might be moving to Japan, because their breakfast sounds ideal to me. Often they'll eat miso soup, rice and grilled fish (Nichols, 2019). No wonder why Japan is the second country with the oldest life expectancy rate (Worldometer). There's a ton of vitamins and minerals in fish and miso soup, which makes them super good for you (that's a rant for another day).

To you a Japanese breakfast might sound weird, but to them a jelly donut in the morning might sound strange to them! For me, both are equally acceptable and encouraged.

Middle East & Central Asia

Haleem is a dish popular throughout the Middle East as well as Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. It's a similar to a stew made from wheat, barley, minced beef or mutton, lentil, lots of spices and sometimes rice (Mehran). I have no idea what this could taste like, but I'm extremely curious. Ok looks like I'll be going to the Middle East soon!

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My point with all this is that it's ok to eat sweet, savory or spices dishes at any time of day! These four different cultures have existed way longer than the Unites States of America, and as you can see they enjoy very different breakfasts than we do. This shows that there's no reason not to enjoy whatever type of food you want at any time of the day! So the next person who gives me the stank eye for having ice cream for breakfast, will be hearing it from my lawyer!

*Disclaimer* I'm not saying you should eat gummy worms three meals a day. You should be eating meals that give you the nutrients you need to feel happy and healthy :)

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Sources

Life expectancy of the World Population. Worldometer. (n.d.). Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/life-expectancy/

Mehran, A. (n.d.). Haleem: A wheat and Meat Persian breakfast. Turmeric & Saffron. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://turmericsaffron.blogspot.com/2010/01/haleem-wheat-and-meat-persian-breakfast.html

Nichols, D. (2019, January 17). What breakfast looks like in 50 countries. The Daily Meal. Retrieved August 15, 2022, from https://www.thedailymeal.com/travel/what-people-eat-breakfast-around-world-slideshow/slide-20