Each Thursday, Emily Vikre (a.k.a fiveandspice) will be sharing a new way to love breakfast -- because breakfast isn't just the most important meal of the day. It's also the most awesome.
Today: Even if you can’t travel, you can breakfast!
As a total breakfast person, I have great respect for cultures that really know how to put together a breakfast spread. I do like a simple piece of toast and cup of coffee for breakfast on occasion, but it doesn’t capture my fancy like the epic breakfasts of, say, Denmark or Germany -- both of which involve a seemingly endless parade of breads, meats, cheeses, spreads, and sometimes beer.
So, when a friend of mine and her Turkish husband took a group of our parents on a tour to Turkey (without me??!) and I started to get reports back about the marvelous breakfasts, I was very intrigued. And jealous. There was one day when I received a flurry of text messages to let me know they had eaten three breakfasts in a row -- my idea of a dream day!
From what I’ve gathered, your general Turkish breakfast includes eggs, tomatoes and cucumbers (either sliced or as a chopped salad), maybe some olives, fresh cheese or yogurt, and bread, usually with honey or jam. There can be other elements, but those make up the backbone. Guided by nothing more than this vague second-hand knowledge, I decided to make my own Turkish, er, Turkish-ish, breakfast. You can cook your egg how you like, but I’d say a runny yolk is a must. It slips and slides around, mixing with the juices of the vegetables and the creamy yogurt into a flavorful mess that’s a perfect dip for your bread. Even if you can’t travel, you can breakfast!
Serves 1
1 egg (or 2)
1/4 cup diced cucumber
1/4 cup finely chopped tomato
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon chopped flat leaf parsley (optional)
1 good-sized scoop of thick (Greek-style) yogurt or labneh
Fluffy flatbread or bread for serving
See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.
Photo by Emily Vikre
Join The Sandwich Universe co-hosts (and longtime BFFs) Molly Baz and Declan Bond as they dive deep into beloved, iconic sandwiches.
Listen Now
Written by: fiveandspice
Popular on Food52
15 Comments
I loveeeeeee this. I've heard superb things about Turkish breakfasts, especially about kaymak - a type of clottted cream, served with honey (read: http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/11/snapshots-from-istanbul-turkish-breakfast-is-awesome.html). Someday, I'll watch beautifully embroidered rugs move with the wind, while I feast on a seasoned tomato-cucumber salad, eating kaymak and the softest bread ever.
Thanks for 'travelling' by breakfast.
See what other Food52 readers are saying.