Breakfast Traditions

The concept of breakfast in Western civilization is a comparative newcomer. In Medieval times, the Roman Catholic Church standardized the day with two meals – a heavy lunch and a light supper. Only children and the ill were served a small breakfast. It wasn’t until the 15th century that breakfast began to be socially acceptable.

The hearty breakfast seems to have originated in the British Isles where early risers craved hot food to warm them up before venturing outdoors in the cold damp climate. Traditional British breakfast foods include bacon, sausages, eggs, fried bread, porridge, oatcakes, potatoes and a mug of tea. To these, North Americans have added steak, pancakes, grits, biscuits, hash browns, tomatoes, baked beans and fruits or fruit juices.

The hearty breakfast contrasts to the continental breakfast consisting of a hot beverage and some kind of cereal, bread, roll, bagel or pastry. Fruit juice and cheese are often added to this light fare.

In China, Southeast Asia and hot equatorial regions brunch is more popular than breakfast. The typical breakfast in Japan consists of rice, seafood and fermented foods which are not different from foods eaten throughout the rest of the day.

As a child I was never much on breakfast – much too early to be eating. In my teens I was satisfied with a glass of juice before running out the door. Even today I rarely eat much for breakfast. The exceptions are times when I have to be up early for something special – then food can help me wake up a bit.

Porridge is the name most commonly associated with cooked cereal. It’s a traditional food in Northern Europe and predates the first baked bread (baking bread isn’t possible without an oven).

Shown is a hot breakfast cereal from Scotland – oatmeal. Gruel, rolled oats, steel cut oats, brose and skirlie are variations of oatmeal prepared in differing ways to change the flavor, texture or speed of cooking. As the growing season is short and wet, oats are much better suited to raise in Scotland’s climate than wheat.

Modern commercial preparations of oats – rolled oats, steel cut oats and powdered oats are much more convenient that the harvested oat groat. They have been mechanically processed to remove the husk (that’s why they’re called groats instead of whole oats) and further processed to break through the hard bran covering to speed up the cooking process.

Oats are very healthy – the fiber helps reduce cholesterol, the antioxidants fight hardening of the arteries, and the beta-glucan can help control blood sugar levels.

Other cereal grains used in hot cereals include barley, soft wheat, corn, potatoes, rye, buckwheat and rice. Pease Porridge (made famous by the child’s nursery rhyme) is made from dried yellow peas (legumes).

Cold cereals are commercially packaged breakfast foods that trace their origin to the vegetarian movements of the late 1800′s. The Kellogg brothers invented corn flakes – the first commercially successful breakfast cereal and sold one million cases in the first three years (between 1906 and 1909) of manufacture.

The patent on corn flakes (registered on 5/31/1894 as Granose) has long since expired and they are now made by many companies. The same can be said of Kix, which was the first puffed cereal. In the 1920′s, producers began to refine the flour to remove the fiber and began to add sugar to make their product more attractive for children. (Needless to say, these decisions caused rifts between those who felt these accommodations to popular taste were a sellout and those who wanted to increase market share.)

Manufacturers now expend vast sums of money to build proprietary machinery that can produce a uniquely branded cereal product at a low cost and continuously market that product to retain their market share in spite of patent expirations. A good example of this strategy is Chex (created by Ralston Purina) – currently available in rice, corn, wheat – with or without sweeteners or other additives (chocolate, strawberries, nuts and cinnamon) Many people enjoy these in party mix recipes – a great example of a niche marketed product that crosses over into a new market. The shape and checkerboard texture of Chex is trademarked (derived from Purina’s red & white checkerboard logo), so competitors must create new shapes and struggle to gain market share.

Granola which is a mixture of rolled oats, nuts and honey also dates from the late 19th century and is a favorite of the health food crowd. In addition to being a breakfast food it is munched by hikers and campers because of its high calorie content or enjoyed by snackers as a granola bar.

Cold cereals can be enjoyed with milk, water, yogurt or eaten dry. The addition of bite sized fruits is so popular that many packaged cereals contain dried fruits such as raisins, raspberries, blueberries and sliced bananas.

Mix a starch (like flour) with water to make a batter, pour on a flat hot surface until cooked on one side, then flip over and brown the other side. That’s about as simple as a pancake can be.

From there, the sky’s the limit. Ours are about 3 inches in diameter, made from wheat flour, milk and egg – with sugar, salt and baking powder to make them rise a bit. We topped them with peach slices and a bit of honey.

In some parts of the world the starch differs a bit – in India fermented rice might be used, Germans might use potatoes, johnnycakes made with corn meal are a tradition in the Americas. Milk or buttermilk are traditional in Northern Europe and North America, but some in Asia use soy milk – others water. Sourdough was first used by the pioneers who didn’t have baking powder – they just kept adding flour & water to the sourdough starter as needed to make pancakes and bread.

Variations on size, thickness, fillers, toppings and sweeteners distinguish regional varieties. The French prefer very thin crepes – Eastern European Palatschinken are very similar. Some like to include fruits, others chocolate chips, cheeses or bacon. European influences are seen in former colonies. For example: English styles are common in English speaking countries – often with regional influences.

Bagels originated in Krakow, Poland in the 16th century. They were a practical solution for members of the Jewish community who were forbidden to cook on the Sabbath. The dough was mixed and shaped on Friday before sunset and allowed to rise overnight in a cool environment to prevent the yeast bubbles from collapsing. It was then boiled and subsequently baked as soon as the Saturday Sabbath had ended. The hole in the middle and the boiling and baking sped up the cooking process so that the family would quickly have bread in the house.

Bagels are often served with cream cheese. This is referred to as a schmear. The cream cheese in the photo contains chives and bell pepper – which makes it a vegie schmear.

The process of boiling before baking gives the bagel a distinctly chewy texture. Commercial bakeries may simplify the process by baking in an oven that has steam injection. This requires less labor, but the results are more like a bagel shaped bread roll – fluffy, soft and not chewy the way it’s supposed to be.

Since the 1500′s the concept of a bagel has spread around the world and resulted in many variations. The most popular is the New York bagel – it contains malt as well as flour, water, yeast and salt. This variety spread across North America after Harry Lender discovered in 1954 that he could freeze bagels so they could be stored or shipped and still stay relatively fresh.

Today bagels come in many varieties – with seed, salt, onion and/or garlic coverings, pumpernickel, rye, sourdough, whole wheat, bran or multigrain. Even blueberries and chocolate chips are common items on bagel store menus (at least here on the West Coast).

Bagels have become such a familiar item in the American food vocabulary that fast food restaurants use bagels in breakfast foods and luncheon sandwiches.