FREQUENT FLYER
Emily Elyse Miller, founder of creative agency Trends on Trends, weighs in on the best morning meals around the world in Breakfast: The Cookbook. By Destin Tay.
Emily Elyse Miller, author of Breakfast: The Cookbook and founder of the Breakfastclub
Not many of us have time for a sit-down breakfast. More often than not, we find ourselves haphazardly rushing through a bowl of coconut nut cereal or grabbing a ham sandwich to go before heading to the office for the daily grind.
Food and travel writer Emily Elyse Miller begs to differ. The 29-year-old is a firm believer of fully experiencing a culture through its food. Whether she’s grabbing pastries at Flora Coffee in NYC, or wolfing down suri grub worms in the Amazon.
Why did you choose to focus on breakfast instead of lunch or dinner?
I find breakfast much more intimate and personal. It’s the start of someone’s morning routine, and it holds different meanings to people. That’s another reason why I started the Breakfastclub. There’s no brouhaha; it’s just a bunch of people gathering to have a truly genuine and meaningful conversation about our food over a hearty breakfast.
Breakfastclub also runs food tours in major cities. What was the motivation?
I wanted to spread my experiences with global breakfasts. As a New York native, I thought NYC was the perfect place to launch a breakfast tour due to the diverse landscape of cultures that can be found here. From Dominican breakfast plates at El Castillo de Jagua, to Shanghainese wonton soup at Wu’s Wonton King and spice shopping in Kalustyan’s, you can find virtually everything. As of now, we also organise tours in Glasgow, Lisbon and Mexico City.
Many breakfasts are served as quick, fuss-free street food. What are some of your favourites?
One benefit of staying in New York is the abundance of street vendors here. I love heading down to Flushing and grabbing a jianbing from street vendors there. I also enjoyed kaya toast with eggs in Singapore; in fact, I had trouble testing out my recipe for kaya back in NYC as it’s notoriously difficult to get a hold of fresh pandan here.
What is a Chinese breakfast you will always remember?
I spent some time with Margaret Wong in Macau. We started off with fresh, hot egg tarts from her bakery, Margaret’s Café e Nata and finished with a yum cha session with her friends. It was decadent but oh so good. Everyone should have two breakfasts!
You’ve a keen eye for aesthetics. How would you present a plain bowl of congee?
I absolutely love congee and it has the potential to be like ornamentally decorated açaí or smoothie bowls. It’s great as a base for endless mix-ins, driven by whichever locality you’re based in. I’d add a splash of colour with some soy sauce, freshly grated turmeric, pork floss and a beautifully poached egg.
What would be your perfect breakfast?
A fried egg, half an avocado (with bagel seasoning on both) and a hot steaming mug of coffee. Alternatively, I’m all for variety so I love nothing more than having a bite of this and that. The Efendi Hotel in Akko, Israel does a fantastic hotel breakfast of traditional Israeli fare.