Rachel Allen

Every week, only in LIFE

When I'm travelling, I always try to make time for a proper slap-up breakfast. For me, it has to be something that the locals are eating — it's the perfect way to get to know a place by seeing how they start their day. When I'm home, I love to use an occasion as an excuse to make breakfast a little more special than usual, and tomorrow’s bank holiday is the perfect opportunity.

Australians seem to do breakfast as well as any country — and especially brunch. It's not just the wonderful abundance of ingredients; it's easier to have great breakfasts when you're so relaxed and happy. Plus, food just tastes better when the sun is shining!

This is a version of a brunch I've eaten in Australia. It uses Mediterranean ingredients, but is the kind of dish you'd see served in a cool Sydney cafe, along with some fabulous coffee — something else Australia does incredibly well.

Eggs abound in so many countries' breakfasts, not just in Irish ones. Nutritious and quick to prepare, they're my breakfast staple, too. I'm lucky enough to have a few chickens in my garden, meaning I can start the day with a few slices of buttered brown bread and a poached egg that couldn't be fresher.

In Mexico, I adore huevos revueltos, which is, essentially, scrambled eggs, with added Mexican intrigue from the sweet onions and cherry tomatoes, plus a kick from the chillies.

Maximillian Bircher-Benner was a Swiss physician who went against the grain of nutritional thinking during the late-19th Century, in which he lived.

Rather than advocating meat and bread, Bircher-Benner thought the way to live healthily was on a diet of fruit, vegetables and nuts. Nutritional science eventually caught up with his pioneering ideas. Bircher-Benner invented muesli as a way to pack nutrition into breakfast.

His original recipe used a lot more fruit than those you can buy today, which usually consist of mostly oats and grains. This is a recipe I eat when I want an especially healthy breakfast treat.