My Favorite Fried Egg on Toast

Author Notes

Of the various camps people divide themselves into, one I am especially interested in is the “breakfast people” and the “not breakfast people.” (I’ve heard it so many times, “oh, well, I’m not really a breakfast person.”)

For years I didn’t eat breakfast at all, until some of my high school friends shamed me into it; I was sold by the idea of giving my metabolism a boost. I started easy with a banana and milk, then graduated to granola with yogurt, and then one day I looked up and discovered I’d become obsessed with breakfast.

I may eat bread and cheese 7 days running for lunch, but my breakfasts will likely be varied and well planned. If I stay at your house, I will probably wake up early and make both of us breakfast, even if it’s Wednesday.

And that is why I’m here now, writing about breakfast. Because I think breakfast isn’t just the most important meal of the day, it’s also the most awesome.

Sure there’s relatively solid science to suggest it’s healthier to start your day off with a little something, but I think even more important is the tone breakfast sets for the day. It’s your chance to start off right. No matter how much you want to take a sledgehammer to your alarm clock, and maybe also to the people around you, if you take a moment to eat breakfast and at least pretend to be pleasant, you’ll have gained some solid culinary and social footing that can last you through the day.

Of course, I don’t expect everyone else–or even anyone else–to plan out new breakfast ideas with the zeal I do. That’s why I’m doing it for you! A word of warning: there will be eggs. Eggs are one of my perfect foods and breakfast is an excuse to eat them. But, there will also be yogurts, and nuts, and fruits, and vegetables, and fish, and grains. There will be speedy weekday breakfasts and more time consuming weekend breakfasts (that can be stretched into the week).

Those will come. For now, let’s start simply with a fried egg on toast. A fried egg on toast may seem dull, but there are few things as satisfying or sublime as a really good fried egg on toast. It’s a breakfast that needs no innovation to make it great, just a little attention. Here’s how I like to make mine, with a nicely crisped, runny egg and a faint whiff of spice. —fiveandspice