Youtube Breakfasts

While searching out new breakfasts I often come across great videos on Youtube, some of which I've already shared (Burek, Jumbo Breakfast Roll).  My favourite are videos on location because they really capture the authentic flavour and mood of the meal.  In fact, this entire blog was inspired after watching a video about a Pakistani breakfast called Halwa Puri.  Please enjoy it and others I've come across:

Halwa Puri:

I find everything about this video so fascinating.  What does this breakfast taste like?  Is it sweet, salty, spicy?  I have no idea.  And how do you eat it out of those plastic bags?  (Not to mention the mystery of how they get everything in them without making a mess!)  We've yet to try Halwa Puri, mainly because it seems like good breakfast excursion and I've yet to figure out where to buy it in Toronto. (Although I don't doubt that it's out there somewhere...)

Knefe:

You may remember Knefe from the Lebanese breakfast entry.  The first time I saw this video I immediately texted Jon to tell him that I wanted to add this machine to our kitchen...

Kaya Toast:

Kaya Toast is virtually unheard of food here in Canada, but this commercial gives a real window into it's popularity in Asia.  It almost rivals Tim Horton's with it's sappy sentiments.

Depression Breakfast:

This great-grandmother is 93 and has her own vlog about cooking on Youtube!  Incredible.  Even more incredible, she says they ate cookies for breakfast during the Depression years...

Plov:

The national dish of Uzbekistan, Plov or O'sh is eaten all times of day.  But in this video it looks like they're enjoying it in the traditional feast held the morning before a wedding.  O'sh is serious business and the men of the family pride themselves in their O'sh making skills the same way a North American man might pride himself on his BBQ-ing.  You'll notice that only men are invited to this particular occasion.  Exclusive perhaps, but these feasts have been known to feed as many as 1000 men at a time - that's a lot of rice!

Pastechi:

Okay, this video loses me around Dr. Horatio Kilpatient's appearance, but I do like getting to see a bit of Aruba and the food cart scene.

Sesame Street:

What does Cookie Monster eat for breakfast?  Watch to find out.....

Week 26 - Desayuno - Aruba

PASTECHI

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that before researching this breakfast all I knew about Aruba was that it was in the Caribbean somewhere and featured prominently in the Beach Boy song Kokomo.  I now know that Aruba is off the Venezuelan coast, is part of the kingdom of the Netherlands (sorry no Hagelslag to be found), and has an utterly delicious breakfast treat - the Pastechi.

Pastechi can be found all over Aruba as a roadside breakfast snack (like Canada's Timbits), and have a few variations.  You can enjoy the Pastechi di Keshi (with Cheese), the Pastechi di Pisca (with Seafood) or the Pastechi di Carni (with Beef, spices and often, the dreaded raisin).  I felt like I'd put Jon through quite enough in the last couple of breakfasts, so I settled on the Pastechi di Keshi.

Pastechi are really just another variation on the world's most common handfood - the turnover.  When you think about it everybody has some variation on the handy dough pocket filled with delicious goods:  Eastern Europe has perogies, Asia has Mandu/Gyoza/Dumplings, South America has Empanadas, India has Samosas, etc.  So Aruba and some of the neighbouring islands have Pastechi, a light pie-like pastry that is filled and deep-fried.

And since Aruba has a large Dutch influence, what other cheese is used but Gouda (preferably smoked).  I haven't had a lot of Gouda experience, so was very happy to discover that I loved it.  It was creamy, salty and just perfectly.... cheesy.

The whole Pastechi package together was very satisfying.  I was scared the deepfrying might make the dough stodgy but in fact they were light and delightfully crispy (though the cheese did tend to escape).  And they certainly were "addictive" as I read on other web-sites.

The Verdict:

For Ease of Preparation:

Deep-frying first thing in the morning is always a little scary.

For Degree of Separation:

For Guestability:

I think that I would only make this again for guests.  Too much work for just two people, but they would be a hit with company.  Who doesn't love deep-fried cheese?

For Sustainability:

We certainly were full, in a, "Oh my goodness, did we really just eat that entire tray?" kind of way.

I'd like to take a moment to introduce a new category in The Verdict, "Costability".  This is a simple rating of how pricey the breakfast was to make.  Please keep in mind that this is very subjective to my location and certain ingredients may be cheaper/more expensive where you are.  I've decided to include this because I've found vast differences in the grocery costs and I think it's really interesting.  For example, Japanese breakfast at over $60 (!) was by far one of the most expensive, while Ethiopian at well under $5 was the cheapest.

Costability:

A relatively inexpensive breakfast.  The turnover itself used simple ingredients I had available in my pantry.  Gouda was the only item I needed to purchase.

Overall Appeal:

I'm always super excited when a previously unknown food turns out to be the bee's knees!  Pastechi you were a great find.

For something altogether different, next time we check out breakfast in Iran....

Week 22 - Jamaica

ACKEE and SALTFISH with FRIED PLANTAINS and JOHNNY CAKES

Researching breakfast can sometimes be a difficult task - not a lot is often written on the subject.  Not so for Jamaica where their typical Sunday breakfast is actually the national dish of the country!

I've long been interested in Caribbean cuisine, it has such a great mix of cultures (English, Portuguese, Chinese, Indian, Central American) brought together with each islands' unique style.

Ackee and Saltfish is a dish I'd definitely heard of before, but only really understood in the abstract.  I mean what the heck is an Ackee?  Is it meat, vegetable, mineral?  The little picture on the cans I've seen at the grocery store did nothing to help solve this mystery.  Here's what wikipedia had to say:

It is related to the lychee and the longan, and is an evergreen tree that grows about 10 metres tall, with a short trunk and a dense crown.  The fruit is pear-shaped. When it ripens, it turns from green to a bright red to yellow-orange, and splits open to reveal three large, shiny black seeds, surrounded by soft, creamy or spongy, white to yellow flesh—arilli.

So it's a fruit....that's served with Saltfish....for breakfast. Sounds like a great
Sunday morning adventure.

Making up Ackee and Saltfish was actually quite labour intensive.  The Saltfish had to be boiled and carefully shredded (avoiding any nasty little bones); the myriad of ingredients (ackee, tomato, onion, bell pepper, scotch bonnet pepper, thyme, scallions, garlic) had to be chopped and prepared; and finally everything had to be lovingly stir-fried in an exacting order.  Add to all of this the prep of the side dishes (fried plantains and fried dumplings called Johnny cakes) and you've got quite a lot going on.  But when it was all complete, it created quite the colourful breakfast.

I have a confession - I hate fish.  For my family and friends that's not much of a secret, in fact Jon was astounded when I announced we would be having saltfish for breakfast.  So, I didn't like Ackee and Saltfish at all.  (Fish doesn't get much fishier than saltfish).  But that doesn't mean I couldn't appreciate it.  It was certainly flavourful - spicy, fishy, with that very Caribbean hit of thyme.  And the ackee turns out to be almost like an avocado in taste and texture.  It was creamy and soft and great at taking on the flavours of the rest of the dish.  For all those fish-lovers out there I'd recommend this breakfast - Jon gave it a thumbs up.

The Verdict:

For Ease of Preparation:

Boiling fish first thing in the morning is not so fun.

For Degree of Separation:

It's sort of like eggs and bacon, I guess....

For Guestability:

I'm going to try to put aside my dislike of fish here for breakfast-science.

For Sustainability:

  

For Overall Appeal:

While not my favourite taste-wise, this was a fun breakfast to make and delightful to look at.

For something completely different, next week we'll be heading to Egypt!

Week 16 - Cuba

TOSTADA

After last week's exotic Gunfo, I thought we'd stick a little closer to home with the simple Cuban breakfast:  Tostada and Cafe con leche.  Or, toasted buttered bread and coffee with milk.


Now, from all this breakfast research I know that a large portion of the world regularly eats toast first thing in the morning so it would seem silly to feature such an ordinary food.  But so many sources talked about the awesome wonder of Cuban Tostada and actually argued about the best bakery to go for Cuban bread that I figured it was worth investigating.

Cuban bread is fairly simple and is traditionally made in long white loafs similar to Italian or French bread.  It has a secret ingredient however that sets it apart - that old chestnut from our grandmother's kitchen, LARD.

When I set about making Cuban bread I have to admit that I didn't even know where in the grocery story to go to find lard.  After searching the baking and dairy aisle I finally found it hiding among the vegetable oils and pickles and was astonished by it's low price.  (For those foodies out there, I realize that quality lard is best obtained at the butchers.)

Once out of the oven the bread, like all fresh baked bread, smelled great.  In fact it was so inviting that we cheated and skipped the toasting altogether, just smothering the hot bread with butter and stuffing it in our mouths. (It should've technically been toasted like a panini and dipped in our coffee.)

Mmmmmm, it might've been my imagination but I think that maybe Cuban bread did taste creamier and smoother than regular white bread.  Other than that it tasted like.... bread with butter.  But sometimes the simplest things are the best.

The Verdict:

For Ease of Preparation:

I give this a three because as far as breads go it was fairly simple.  It would be even easier if you lived in Miami or Cuba and could just pick this up at your local Bodega.

For Degree of Separation:






Bread with butter, 'nuf said.

For Guestability:






Nothing is more warm, inviting and hospitable than fresh-baked bread.

For Sustainability:







For Overall Appeal:

Though rather ordinary, Tostada was a welcome break or "palate-cleanser" from five crazy months of exotic breakfasts.

Join us next time as we tackle one of the most complex breakfasts yet - traditional Japanese 朝食.