tirsdag, august 01, 2006

A breakfast invitation

In honor of my last full day in Lisbon, at least on this trip, please join me for my usual Portuguese breakfast. If it's not breakfast time when you read this post, you may, if you like, come back later. But of course, breakfast can be eaten at all times of the day, or night. I've taken you to my local pastelaria, and taken the liberty of ordering you a galão de máquina (milk with a shot of expresso, preferably though not always served very hot), and a torrada (thick toast, cut into sticks and dripping with butter). I encourage you to follow my ritual, pacing the galão so that you have some liquid for each toast stick, with a bit remaining at the end to wash it all down. I prefer to eat the sticks on the end, those with more crust, first, followed by the softer sticks in the middle, but you may of course choose your own eating strategy. While you eat, I will tell you a breakfast story, or is it a parable?

The other day, I walked into my usual breakfast place - I'd been going there for two weeks already, so I considered myself a regular - and my usual server was not there. I was a quarter of an hour later than normal, it was hard to find a seat (I don't normally stand at the counter except at lunch), and the man who took my order was, well, a bit distracted and a bit ditzy. It made me ill-at-ease. But then, my food arrived, and it was perfect; the torrada not too dark, not too light, with enough butter (and I have the grease stain on my trousers to prove it - the phrase 'dripping with butter' here is not a metaphor); the galão also the perfect shade, and really, really hot. Just the anticipation of indulging in such a repast turned all well with the world again. Yes, living proof of the power of breakfast.

I hope you've enjoyed it...and next time, may I suggest breakfast at your place? I look forward to whatever will be on the menu.

11 kommentarer:

theblackscorpio sagde ...

This Friday or Saturday, should we take a lunch? Should we be a lot of people, like Annemarie and Kari, etc.?

Vanessa sagde ...

that sounds like the PERFECT breakfast

sophie sagde ...

that looks so yummy -
the milky coffee a perfect
morning treat.

at my house:
eggs benedict with salmon and
artichoke
and fruit salad...mostly with
mango.

chai tea and great music!

Meow (aka Connie) sagde ...

Mmmmm, I love breakfast, thank you for sharing.
Hope you are well.
Take care, Meow

theblackscorpio sagde ...

Here is some Norther Germany cowtossing material:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanni-kim-whisky/201954113/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanni-kim-whisky/201954036/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanni-kim-whisky/201953983/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanni-kim-whisky/201953949/

Also: Flensburg Harbour http://www.flickr.com/photos/vagabund022/199738568/

(photos not by me)

HanktheDog sagde ...

Toast is by far my favorite breakfast-a big fat slab of cinnamon raisn from the Italian Market, where Molly tells me they cook it in a wood burning oven. All I know is that it finishes a close second only to left over cat food!
HanktheDog

Greg Mills sagde ...

Rocked the raspberry yogurt and the fresh raspberries this morning. Existed in a perfect platonic Raspberry World for a few minutes before going to a meeting that was not all that raspberrific.

Verification word: not raspberry, sadly.

i'm marion sagde ...

Mmmmm. If I find it hard to get out of bed, I just have to think of breakfast - makes it a lot easier. There's always coffee, milk and good music involved. And ideally things dripping with butter.

Dok Holocaust sagde ...

milk with a shot of espresso? I want!

Devil Mood sagde ...

I have to say I'm not a big fan of torradas in coffeeshops precisely because they drip butter everywhere and I prefer them drier. But I«m glad you could indulge in it everyday, if it made you happy :)

kimananda sagde ...

Ms. Scorpio, lunch was fun...let's do another one at the end of the month!

Connie, it's my favorite meal of the day too, which would be hard to tell as I often skip it. I'm glad you enjoyed this virtual one.

Vanessa, it is pretty good, actually.

Sophie, that sounds wonderful...I'll let you know when I'll be by to have some with you! :-)

Meow, thank you, too!

El G., both your 'good you' breakfasts and your 'bad you' breakfasts sound wonderful!

DBA, make that cheese on toast, and I'll be by soon. That's my favorite from when I was in Lonon.

Hank, cinnamon raisin, yum! I'll help you eat it, so you have more room for the cat food.

Greg, that sounded truly delicious. Well, until the part about the meeting of course.

Helen, it was pretty good...I recommend it when you're in Portugal.

Marion, I love the idea of breakfast, but don't make time to actually eat it often enough.

Morose, I recommend it...I suppose it's just a latte with extra milk, and with high quality coffee.

Ms. Mood, that was actually the first time I'd dripped torrada butter on my clothing...I'm usually pretty good about keeping the torrada over the plate at all times. And now that I'm back, I miss the breakfasts most of all. They definitely made me happy.