Holiday breakfast delights

Breakfast on holiday is for me one of the best moments of the day. Whether is on a cafe’ terrace, on your hotel room balcony, or by the pool, there is nothing better than having some fresh food when the air is still fresh (this is if you manage to wake up before midday!) while planning the activities for the day.

In this post I decided not to tell you about how good healthy bowls of açai berries on organic yogurt with Manuca honey and toasted almonds are. I do agree, they are good and healthy and photograph nicely on Instagram. But I prefer to talk about that food you can have only in a  some places and it’s sounds very weird as a breakfast choice before you try it, but then you fall in love and it is all you can eat for the rest of the holiday.

Top of my list is typical from Sicily, in Italy, Coffee granita with panna, served in a glass and accompanied by a bum brioche. It is one of the best things you are going to have! Coffee flavoured crushed ice (I am sure the Sicilians will not appreciate the simplicity of this description), with whipped cream on top. The brioche is either dipped inside the glass, or filled with the granita. Both ways this is a spectacular breakfast and if you are not into coffee, there is a million different flavours. Try it in Taormina or the Eolian Islands.

Move to the Carabbians and another favourite of mine is Doubles. Doubles (never use the singular) are a staple in the island of Trinidad and Tobago, although originated in India. They are basically a thin flat bread (flour pancake) filled with spiced chickpea curry, with a hot pepper sauce, pickled green mango, and a tart tamarind sauce. They are as sloppy as they come, so get extra napkins as you will be eating from your hand. Best ones are from a stand close to the airport in Tobago! And if you make it to Mauritius you will be surprised to see that they love to have a very similar snack called Dahlpurri, around 10am. Go figure!

Still in the Americas, in Colombia I loved “el desajuno tipico”. Huevos Pericos is scrambled eggs served with arepas, cheese...and hot chocolate. You think this doesn’t work in 30 degrees heat...but it does. It was hilarious in Cartagena to hear every morning our waitress asking one of the cute guys if he wanted “the typical”...without specifying she meant eggs...



And finally, another delight I can’t say no to. Nothing beats a good Spanakopita for breakfast after a night out in Mykonos. And probably even better is having it before going to bed at 6 in the morning. Spanakopita is a popular Greek pie made of crisp phyllo pastry dough with spinach and feta filling. Another great breakfast treat to try with a freddo cappuccino in one of the islands beach clubs!