(this is actually a box — sorry about photo)
Post our holiday I was thinking about my favourite meal of the day. Which is breakfast.
This conclusion was reached after many years of purchased breakfasts eaten at a work desk; long Saturday AM diner breakfasts; grazing from fancy buffets on holidays.
As a teenager I didn’t eat breakfast. First meal of the day for a number of years was lunch at school. On a good day, tuna on white and a Coke. On a more average day, something Hostess (Twinkies or chocolate) and a … Coke. When I moved schools in 10th grade I moved from suburban-Westchester- can’t-leave-the-school to a place on the Upper West Side of Manhattan where you could leave and my food intake improved exponentially (sandwiches from deli down the street; fruit).
I enjoy a good or fancy dinner as much as the next person. But, fancy dinners can be hit or miss (eg, the fantastic place in Brittany with lobster risotto and one of the most beautiful plate of small desserts I’ve ever seen after an irritating holiday fight vs the very disappointing birthday dinner for my then husband at chi chi seafood restaurant Le Bernardin in NYC).
In any case I love me a toasted everything bagel and smear with a milky coffee or, better yet, an iced coffee with half-and-half from a deli; a really good croissant with a latte; a plate full of tropical fruit, mini pastries, yoghurt and iced coffee eaten under a fan wafting tropical breezes; a plate of scrambled eggs (loads of pepper), hash browns and toast with milky tea.
On the last day of our London trip, we went back to where we used to live in London to buy bagels from the best bagel shop outside of New York. Alas, when we went by it had become a sweet shop. A casualty of covid, I think. That made me ludicrously sad.
When we returned home we mused over the food — fulsome about some things – including the filled naans (bacon or sausage) and bottomless chai. It occurred to me a food writer I quite like had mentioned that Dishoom, the Bombay-style café where we got all this, did a filled naan and chai box for delivery.
So, I ordered one — which arrived today, late afternoon. So, breakfast for dinner.
We weren’t quite able to re-create the fluffiness of the naans, but they weren’t bad at all. And the chai was quite decent (I am still drinking it as I write). Another box is definitely on my Christmas list now (well, along with the bagels, cream cheese and lox we have on Xmas morning – so maybe this can be had on Boxing Day morning).
This all sent me off to get Serge Lutens Arabie (dried fruit, spices), which I love but gets stuck in the box all summer. While the top of this is cumin-heavy on me, it settles nicely into a sweet dried fruit and spice basket. And even though we’re still getting warm days, the mornings and evenings are much cooler, so Arabie slots in well.
What about you? What’s your favourite meal of the day? Any outstanding memories? And which perfume might you pair with such a meal?
PS For Patty, my one tuberose produced a very small set of blooms. The fragrance was gorgeous and I’m hopeful more will come up next summer
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