They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Maybe that's why many people may be open to trying foreign food at lunch or dinner, but they're not adventurous enough to experiment with anything new at breakfast. But what about you? Below, we look at typical breakfasts in four different countries. Would you have them or are they too spicy, too fattening or just too different? SOUTH KOREAThe traditional breakfast is rice and soup. People then choose extra dishes to go with it such as grilled fish, vegetables and kimchi, which is pickled cabbage with chillies. Kimchi is so popular that the first Korean astronaut took some with him to the international space station! Of course, these days, many Koreans have such busy lifestyles they don't have enough time to make breakfast and just grab a quick coffee and some cereal or toast. BULGARIABreakfast in Bulgaria includes tea or strong coffee, sesame bread and butter, cheese made from sheep's milk, honey, olives, boiled eggs and — most importantly — kiselo mlyako, a local yoghurt. Bulgaria has a lot of people aged over 100 and many believe that the secret behind this is their yoghurt, which most Bulgarians eat every day. COSTA RICAMany Costa Ricans start their day with the national dish, gallo pinto, which is a mixture of fried rice and black beans. It's lightly spiced and often served with fried plantain (a kind of banana used like a vegetable in a lot of Central American and Caribbean cooking), cream and fried eggs. There's usually some strong local coffee as well— or perhaps some agua dulce (sweet water), which is made from sugar cane juice. IRELANDAs people become more concerned about their health, fewer Irish eat the traditional Irish breakfast, or fry, because it has too much fat. However, many still eat it if they stay in a hotel, or they cook it on a special day. It consists of bacon, black pudding (a kind of sausage made with blood), white pudding (another kind of sausage), fried eggs, fried mushrooms and toast — all served with strong Irish tea! 本文选自《英语周报·初中教师版》
