Breakfast

Breakfast - it means just that - breaking the overnight fast - and my thoughts turned to it today because not only was I breaking the overnight fast, but in addition I was breaking a diet fast from the day before, plus a morning fast because I had to have a blood test. I was hungry!

Now I am not a breakfast person - I feel awful first thing in the morning and just a tiny bit sick, so not really tempted to tuck in. But this morning I was hungry and crumpets with jam were what I hankered after. Hot, crunchy, yet soft, oozing with butter and home-made jam. Yum!

BREAKFAST FASHIONS

And the lovely David did make me this when we returned plus a tasty cup of coffee of course. Got to have the coffee - that and the shower are what wakes me up in the morning.

Anyway I thought I would look at breakfast - and a short history of - well a history of breakfast in my lifetime. I won’t delve into the deep past. I’ll save geography for another time.

Growing up in England breakfast was a major source of contention between my mother and I and led to frequent shouting matches first thing in the morning. I didn’t want breakfast (I didn’t like eating and besides I wanted to stay in bed as long as possible) and she was anxious that I had a good breakfast - i.e. fried eggs and bacon or similar - before I went off to school. It’s not that I don’t like either of these things - I do - quite a lot - but not first thing. And isn’t it interesting that this was basically so unhealthy, when my mother thought it was doing me good. For not only was there fat in the bacon, but it was all cooked in dripping - not olive oil. The hot breakfast was also

boosted by cornflakes, but since I couldn’t drink milk (it made me throw up) I just had to crunch my way through them. When we came to Australia I was told tales of Australian breakfasts of steak, eggs and bacon but I have never encountered this - maybe out in the outback on a cattle station.

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully. "It's the same thing," he said.” A.A. Milne

Obviously this doesn’t apply to me as I am not a breakfast person - well I always was more of a Piglet than a Pooh and I sort of go along with Piglet’s attitude. But I do love Winnie-the Pooh so and this is particularly nice. David is probably more of a Pooh type.

When I left home and went to university we could pick and choose a bit what we ate and honestly I don’t remember what I ate for breakfast, though I did have it - and I needn’t have. I do remember drinking grapefruit juice though - a boyfriend of mine said it was good for cutting through the mucus in the throat in the morning, not that was why I drank it - he just commented on it. But then he was a smoker - as was almost everyone back then.

And when I finally left home and married I think I more or less gave up on breakfast. Maybe a cup of coffee. Now David brings me a cup of coffee and a little piece of toast, or croissant or crumpet with jam, which i almost force down - he, like my mother, thinks it’s good for me.

So that’s my personal history of breakfast - but out in the anglo-saxon world it has changed too.

The traditional English breakfast is now a bit modified and in trendy restaurants the eggs would be poached and the bacon would be pancetta, drizzled with olive oil and served with oven roasted tomatoes - maybe spinach too. People still like it though. And the trendy variations are endless.

Then there’s the trend to healthy - not quite sure when this started - maybe in the late 60s and 70s - the time of the hippies - when we all went wholemeal and veggie. This is when muesli became the thing but interestingly and simultaneously the supermarket aisles also became packed with cereals that claimed to be healthy but actually weren’t. Think nutri-grain which I used to put on top of my children’s weetabix and rice bubbles. It was advertised as the ultimate healthy food - but I later discovered that it was absolutely drenched in sugar. At least I never gave them cocoa pops or fruit loops. And lots of the muesli you buy in the supermarket has way too much sugar in it - ditto for the muesli bars that go into kids’ lunchboxes. Muesli is sometimes called granola, sometimes clusters - also sugary. And now, of course we have ancient grains as well and I bet these make an appearance in breakfast cereals. It’s a huge industry - breakfast cereals - there’s at least one whole aisle in every supermarket dedicated to the stuff. And to complete the healthy approach - there’s always fruit - whether it be on its own, in a smoothie, drizzled over pancakes or waffles or with the aforesaid muesli.

As for the trendy breakfasts - think all of the above, plus pikelets, waffles, french toast, pancakes - all pretty scrumptious stuff and none of it probably good for you. Maybe that’s why breakfast is so popular.

“Everyone runs around trying to find a place where they still serve breakfast because eating breakfast, even if it's 5 o'clock in the afternoon, is a sign that the day has just begun and good things can still happen. Having lunch is like throwing in the towel.” Jonathan Goldstein

And finally as the quote above says - we can have breakfast all day long. People eat out for breakfast. One of my bosses would go for a swim and then have breakfast in a cafe before coming into work. And you can always pick up a take-away coffee - at the station, in the car wash, in the specialist shop, in the office block foyer or the aforesaid breakfast cafe. It’s everywhere.

So what is it about breakfast? Is it the kind of food itself. Do we all just love this kind of food - mostly it doesn’t take long to prepare? Is it a chance to contemplate the day ahead? It serves so many functions doesn’t it? It puts energy into you to get through to lunchtime, it gives you a chance to plan, it can give you ‘me’ time, and when you are on holiday it is a chance to indulge - think posh hotel buffet breakfasts or the room service champagne breakfast - or to socialise with your friends outside on the terrace in your beautiful holiday home. There have been so many of these and they are the highlight of the holiday - particularly when fresh French baguettes are involved. And even though I’m not really a breakfast person - actually I think this is only first thing - after a cup of coffee and a shower I can indulge very happily thank you.