Sweet vs. Salty

Breakfast is the first meal of the day, usually consumed in the morning when you wake up. Breakfast meals vary widely in different cultures around the world, but often contain a carbohydrate such as cereal, rice or bread, fruit and/or vegetable, protein, and sometimes dairy with a beverage. Dietitians state that eating breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Studies have found that people who skip breakfast are likely to have problems with their metabolism and weight. I decided to write about breakfast because I used to be someone to not eat breakfast until I went to college. My typical breakfast meal is yogurt with berries, but sometimes a banana with a hot chocolate. On occasion I have a piece of toast as well. Someone would look at my breakfast and think that I do not eat enough, but that is what I like to have at breakfast.

Today, most Americans eat a light breakfast, but will enjoy a traditional hearty breakfast on weekends, holidays, and vacations. Drinking only coffee or skipping breakfast also happens. Eating out for breakfast or brunch at diners or pancake houses is common on weekends and holidays. A typical American hearty breakfast consists of eggs (fried or scrambled), a type of meat, and one or two starchy dishes (hash browns and toast). A lighter breakfast would be a starchy food (such as toast, pastry, cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, or waffles) either alone or served with fruit and yogurt. Restaurants that serve breakfast base their menus around egg dishes and pork meats (sausage, ham and bacon). Pancakes and waffles are also very popular. A typical breakfast at home is instant oatmeal or cereal with milk. People are also eating healthier breakfast items such as yogurt, whole-grain cereal, fresh fruit or egg-white omelets. Coffee is the most common breakfast beverage. Tea, milk, hot chocolate, orange juice, and other fruit juices such as grapefruit and tomato juice are served at breakfast.

A typical Italian breakfast is a cappuccino and brioche. Italians enjoy a light breakfast, usually consisting of coffee (an espresso or a cappuccino) and a pastry, something sweet. In Italy, breakfast is typically an on-the-go meal or eaten at a breakfast bar while standing. The word for breakfast in Italian is colazione. Coffee is an essential part of breakfast in Italy. Espresso is a shot of black coffee in a small cup and a cappuccino is black coffee with milk froth on top. For children, coffee is discouraged and either plain milk or hot chocolate is their beverage until they start to like coffee. The two most common pastries that are eaten in Italy are a brioche or biscotti. Biscotti are a kind of sweet bread that is baked, cut, and then baked again to form slices of hard, sweet biscuit which is then dipped into coffee to soften. Brioche is a soft sweet bread made with eggs and butter which can be dipped into coffee or spread with bread. Cornetto, the Italian version of French croissant is also very popular and can be either unfilled, with cream, or with a fruit jam.

Most Americans take their time to relax and eat their breakfast, while Italians take a shot of espresso at the bar and take their pastry to go and eat while walking to work. Americans consider breakfast their most important meal of the day, while Italians eat a light breakfast because lunch, pranzo, is the heartiest and most important Italian meal. Lunch is eaten between 12-2pm and lasts a long time. Traditional Italian lunches are long meals, which usually have an antipasto, a primo or first course which is usually a non-meat hot food, such as spaghetti, and then a second course, where meat or fish is usually served. A dessert (dolce) and fruit is often served last to finish off the meal with a sweet. As you can see, Italians prefer their lunch meals over breakfast.

On the first day of classes, a few of us decided to go to Seventyniners, a local bar near school, to have a typical Italian breakfast before Italian. I got an espresso shot and a cornetto filled with chocolate. I had never had such a sweet breakfast before, and I loved it! I am not sure how much I prefer this type of breakfast because I would prefer just a piece of fruit and drink, but the coffee I can get used to. Every week or so I get up early before class and run downstairs to a local coffee shop to get a cappuccino. I have sometimes eaten a piece of bread with nutella which is also a great start of my day! Nutella is a hazelnut flavored spread that is commonly eaten in Italy. Although very tasty and sweet, it is the not the best thing for anyone to eat every day, so I try and avoid eating it for breakfast. Maybe this is just me, but it seems as though Italians eat many pastry and carbohydrates for their meals, yet seem to be so skinny. How is that possible?

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