French Breakfast

I'm in love with breakfasts from around the world. When I found my passion for the anglo-saxon culture when I was 10, I was always curious to know how the British started their morning. I specifically remember the day our English teacher told us about it: cornflakes, grapefruit, toast and marmalade was apparently the classic British breakfast! I will always remember my first Sunday breakfast when I was staying with a host family in Ipswich: fried egg, sausage, blood pudding, tomato, mushroom, beans and toast. It was a bit much but I've always been very open minded with food, so I happily devoured it (though the food coma that follows is never fun. I would not recommend it for every day). 

I love a pretty table set for breakfast. Simple white china and lots of colors in my food. I'm not always able to do this every day during the week, but when I do, it always puts me in a good mood to start the day with a note of elegance. 

Growing up in France,  I would always start my breakfast or petit-dejeuner by squeezing the juice of an orange. For years and years, I ate bread (usually from a baguette) or biscotte (it's close to a Melba Toast if you like) with butter and jam along with a bowl of chicory coffee - my absolute favorite breakfast drink. Now I add plain yogurt to the menu and often replace the chicory coffee with a cup of Earl Grey. 

In France today, most people still have a hot drink: coffee, tea or hot chocolate - a popular one among children. With the Anglo-Saxon influence, cereal has known a huge success, even though bread definitely still is at the center of the table along with butter and jam. Brioche is another item that commonly comes to mind when you think about breakfast in France. It's a rich and lightly sweet bread that we eat plain or along with jam. 

So what about croissants you ask? They are most definitely the ultimate petit-dejeuner food, along with the runner-up, pain au chocolat. But because they are so high in fat, most people choose to keep them as an occasional weekend guilty pleasure. It's always a treat in France to surprise the person you live with, by going to the boulangerie to buy freshly baked and warm croissants and pains au chocolat for breakfast. 

Saturday was one of these days, where I wished I was back home, to be able to do just that. Even if I can't find croissants as good as I would in France (or maybe I'm not going to the right places in Austin), I like to recreate a French breakfast once in a while.  I just hop in the car when I wake up and go buy a fresh baguette and a couple of croissants. I usually always have some good quality butter in the fridge (I like President, an imported brand from France) and Bonne Maman fruit preserves, which I find everywhere now in the US. I try to bring back my favorite chicory coffee brand back from France but otherwise I use Cafe Du Monde in the US, which I serve with milk only (and sugar of course). 

Needless to say, Saturday's breakfast hit the right spot. But I'm always curious to learn more about other breakfasts. So this is an open call to all you readers from around the world! Tell me what you eat for your petit-dejeuner, and feed my curiosity.