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"'When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,' said Piglet at last, 'what's the first thing you say to yourself?' 'What's for breakfast?' said Pooh. 'What do you say, Piglet?' 'I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?' said Piglet. Pooh nodded thoughtfully. 'It's the same thing,' he said."

A. A. Milne, 'The House at Pooh Corner'

Did you know?

The word ‘dinner’ actually means breakfast as it comes from the Latin word ‘disjejunare’, which literally means ‘break the fast’.

Breakfast in The Americas

Argentina

In Argentina and Uruguay, breakfast consists mainly of espresso coffee, café con leche, or yerba mate. There are also croissants, brioches, or facturas with dulce de leche, filled churros, French bread with jam and butter, grilled sandwiches of ham and cheese known as tostados, and sweet cookies or crackers.

Brazil

Brazilians refer to breakfast as either café-da-manhã (morning coffee) or desjejum. Breakfasts vary in the different regions of Brazil with black coffee, milk, yoghurt and white cheese proving widely popular. Coffee or juice often accompanies croissants, other kinds of pastry, French bread with jam or butter, grilled sandwiches of ham, cheese and tomatoes called misto-quente, slices of cake such as corn cake, orange cake and carrot cake. In the Southern States a steaming yerba mate infusion in a traditional gourd called chimarrão is often drunk. The cold version is called tereré.

Chile

In Chile, breakfast is a light meal of coffee or tea and two types of bread – marraqueta and hallulla – which are accompanied with jam, butter, cheese or jelly.

Colombia

In Colombia there are various staple breakfast foods. In the Cundinamarca region people eat changua: a soup of milk, scallions and cheese. In the Tolima region, a tamal tolimense is eaten with hot chocolate and arepas (corn bread). Tamales tolimenses are made with rice, dry legumes, beef, chicken and pork, egg and potato, covered with maize dough and cooked in a banana leaf.

Cuba

Cuban breakfast has evolved since the Communist Revolution. Before this time breakfast consisted of café con leche that was sweetened and then included a pinch of salt. Toasted and buttered Cuban bread was then dunked in the coffee. Since the revolution the lack of availability of coffee amongst other things has changed breakfast in Cuba, which now consist of sopa de chicharo (salted green pea soup), coffee when available, and saltine crackers.

Ecuador

Breakfast in Ecuador varies greatly between regions. On the Pacific Coast most breakfasts will consist of strong black coffee brewed in a traditional aluminium pot (café de olla), fried plantain and a local hard white cheese. In the highlands a typical breakfast will include black coffee or herbal tea (infusiones) with fresh bread rolls, scrambled eggs and a type of corn called mote.

Mexico

In Mexico, breakfast is called ‘el desayuno’. Roughly translated, those words mean "super-hardy meals filled with colour, spice and flavour that match the character of the people who live in Mexico". Throughout the Republic of Mexico, breakfasts vary by region due to the produce available, ethnic diversity and proximity to neighbouring countries. Similarities in regional cuisine stem from Native American traditions (primarily Aztec and Mayan) and the influence of three centuries of Spanish rule. Tortillas are a core part of many breakfasts and these may be eaten with spicy egg or sausage. Breakfast cereals are now very popular in Mexico and a wide range of fruit is often eaten.

United States of America and Canada

Typical items on the breakfast menu in America and Canada include porridge, grits (maize porridge), eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, pancakes, waffles, bagels and pastries. Cereal has become very popular in recent decades and most will have coffee, tea and juices.