Italian breakfast ideas: a ritual that is repeated every morning 

Every morning an Italian wakes up and, as if dragged by an invisible force, climbs over domestic obstacles and reaches the kitchen. Whether he prefers the moka or the electric machine, he puts on the coffee… and waits. There it is, it rises slowly, dense and concentrated, dark and fragrant, boiling hot, only its aroma awakens the senses of the sleepy Italian. A little bit of sugar and down the throat to warm the body still somewhat numb from sleep. Now the day can begin! Actually no, now it’s time to eat. “Where were those biscuits? Maybe there’s a piece of pie left? There must still be some rusks and some Nutella at the bottom of the jar. Well, nevermind, it means I’ll have breakfast at the bar!”

The bar (caffeteria): the favorite location to meet your business partners, or friends and relatives, the ideal backdrop to catch up on missed breakfast at home. That’s the right place to find all the Italian breakfast ideas. The breakfast ritual of the average Italian is consumed between the puff of steam from the espresso machine and the clink of the cups making their eternal rounds between the counter and the dishwasher. There on the right is the cornetti display case: croissants, krapfen, saccottini, trecce and maritozzi. A little further on, perhaps a fantastic pastry cabaret, for those who are never satisfied.

The Italian breakfast menu: the eternal dilemma 

When we talk about the eating habits and lifestyles of Italians, one of the aspects that immediately comes to mind and which we need to analyze is this: what do Italians eat for breakfast? What are some ideas for an Italian breakfast? Consider that the prices of breakfast in a cafeteria or bar have been part of the famous Italian consumer price monitoring basket on which inflation is calculated for decades. In fact, there are millions of Italians who have breakfast in the morning at the counter or at the tables of bars, cafeterias and pastry shops, sipping a coffee, a cappuccino or a latte, more or less quickly, and enjoying a hot croissant or a freshly baked dessert.

For Italians, morning breakfast is a ritual, an essential need, the real morning kick without which you cannot start the working day. But it is also a cuddle, a pleasure, a concession to the taste buds and one’s gluttony, given that people take the opportunity to eat a dessert, perhaps enriched with creams, chocolate or jams, foods that we struggle to find excuses for during the day, due to feelings of guilt and our excessive attention to diet and fitness.

Sweet or savory: what the Italian breakfast is based on 

The numbers are very clear, in Italy the sweet breakfast is by far the favourite, some research carried out in recent years has confirmed that in the morning 2 out of 3 Italians prefer croissants, brioches, donuts, biscuits, pies, sfogliatelle and cannoli, filled with creams, chocolate, jams, marmalades and more. The others alternate between sweet and savory breakfasts, and only 1 in 10 declares that he only eats savory breakfasts. This predilection for waking up gently goes against the grain of what happens in most of continental and northern Europe, where breakfast is considered to all intents and purposes a meal, indeed often the most important meal of the day. Given these premises, in fact, a German, a Pole or a Norwegian interpret breakfast as deserving of attention, balance, balancing of nutrients and the ability to support the body for more hours, given that the following meal usually takes place later than in Italy. Consequently, breakfast becomes savory or mixed, providing for the intake of animal proteins and fats other than those deriving from milk and yogurt, with the presence, for example, of meat, eggs and fish. Continental Europe is therefore much closer to American habits than Mediterranean countries such as Italy, Spain, Greece and France, where sweet baked goods are undoubtedly the favourite.

And what do you prefer? What is your breakfast menu? Do you like Italian breakfast ideas?