A Buzzfeed article and video called “What Does The World Eat for Breakfast?” have been circulating around social media websites lately. They’re so popular because of how fascinating it is that not everyone in the entire world eats eggs and pancakes for breakfast. In fact, only a handful of countries do, while other countries have their own unique variations of breakfast.
India:
In India, dosa, sambar, and chutney are eaten for breakfast. What are any of these? Dosa is a fermented crepe or pancake made from rice batter and black lentils which may be used to dip sambar into which is a vegetable stew of chowder based on a broth made with tamarind. India definitely takes a more savory twist on breakfast.
Photo by Daisy Dolan
Vietnam:
The Vietnamese traditionally have pho for breakfast which is a noodle soup consisting of broth, linguine-shaped rice noodles, a few herbs, and meat. If you’re interested in trying some pho, Becker dining hall on west campus often has a pho bar!
Photo by Delissa Handoko
Kenya:
Heading over to Aftrica, Kenyans enjoy flatbread, fruit, and uji. Uji is like a Kenyan take on oatmeal as it consist of millet flour, corn flour and boiling water and salf, sugar, margarine, butter, cinnamon, or fruits can be added for flavor.
Photo Courtesy of TheFutureIsUnwritten
Brazil:
In Brazil they have local fruits and toast with ham on it. There is a wide variety of colorful fruits not commonly seen in the U.S. that are typical in Brazil like guarana, acai, caju, Brazil nut, coconuts, guava, and passion fruit.
Photo by Daisy Dolan
United Kingdom:
In the UK breakfast is the most similar to what it is in the US with eggs, sausage, and bacon (rashers), but they don’t often have pancakes and waffles. Rather, they often have grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, sausage, baked beans and black pudding. In the UK they also don’t drink coffee as much as they do tea with milk.
Photo by Alison Weissbrot
Japan:
The Japanese have miso soup, white rice, and pickled vegetables for breakfast. In America we often eat these foods as appetizers when we dine at a Japanese restaurant but they are in fact a large portion of Japanese breakfast. Becker and Alice Cook houses on west campus also often have Japanese breakfast foods at brunch on the weekends.
Photo by Daisy Dolan
The Netherlands:
Dutch breakfast, like many European countries, is usually a simple affair consisting of bread and cheese or some sweet topping, like hagelslag (chocolate sprinkles) or pindakaas (“peanut cheese”). However, the Dutch practically invented the pancake, and Dutch pancake houses have gained notoriety for both their plate-sized, savory pancakes, and the smaller, powdered sugar-covered (and insanely addictive) poffertjes.
Photo by Daisy Dolan