12 Jan, 2008
The Globalization of Breakfast
Posted by: drobinson In: Breakfast & Brunch:The Kick Start Meals
Depending upon our national, regional or ethnic backgrounds, most of us grow up with very definite ideas about what is or isn’t a proper breakfast food. Well, get ready to move out of your morning comfort zone. Breakfast is following lunch and dinner into the Great Cultural Exchange of Cuisines, as our taste buds are being seduced by exotic concoctions.
In fact, these days it would be foolish to assume that the couple digging their chopsticks into a traditional Japanese breakfasts of rice, pickled vegetables, seafood and tea in a hotel dining room are actually from The Land of the Rising Sun. Neither should we be sure that the man assembling a curry platter is a native of India; or that the woman sampling tahini, humus and grape leaves has even a drop of Greek blood in her veins. I’ve learned this lesson in a posh Swedish hotel, while watching a group of Somali travelers share a smorgasbords of herring, smoked salmon, sardines and cheeses fit for a royal Scandinavian feast.
Actually, it’s a good thing that we are falling in love with — and are shamelessly poaching on — each other’s cooking. Teaching our taste buds to be adventurous has certainly made our meals — and especially our breakfasts — a lot more fun. Who knows… This cross-cultural culinary cooperation might even lead to better international relations.
