The art of making a great breakfast
For Laura Ascari and Elisa Paganelli, breakfast is the best meal of the day, so they have dedicated an entire cookery book to its many forms
Even before our paths crossed, we both loved the early hours, the first kisses of light on little household objects, the haze of fine airborne dust caught in a ray of sunshine between the curtains. As in a film, our daily rituals were just visible through our two windows; two magically parallel lives.
The warmth of the covers giving way to the sharp air of morning; the first cup of tea clasped in both hands. Peeping out at the day with eyes still blurred with sleep. If we had been able to describe the joy of small things, it would have been this moment, suspended in the light of a day that was still to be loved. And it was precisely breakfast that brought us together, that enabled us to discover our enormous artistic and culinary affinity. We began to photograph and draw, driven by the desire to blend our respective creative worlds and curious to see what would happen. So it was a dream that took shape. A dream that we literally put into the oven and took around the world, to discover what breakfast is like in your home – and in everyone else’s.
@Lauraascari and @elisaupsidedown
Baked porridge (Alaska)
Rolled oats take on rich, fruity flavours and a crunchy texture. Spend a few moments with your nose in a book and sipping a hot chocolate to kick off a special day.
Serves six
190g porridge (rolled) oats
150g brown sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
70g almonds, chopped
160g dried cranberries 1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
2 large eggs
480ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
60g butter, melted
2 apples
1 Put the oats, brown sugar, almonds, half the cranberries, the baking powder, cinnamon and salt into a large bowl and mix together well.
2 Break the eggs into a separate bowl and beat them lightly with a fork, then stir in the milk and vanilla extract. Add this mixture to the oat mixture together with the melted butter.
3 Peel, core and dice the apples, then arrange them in an even layer in the bottom of a greased baking dish. Pour the oat mixture uniformly over the apples. Scatter with the remaining cranberries, followed by a sprinkling of brown sugar.
4 Bake in a preheated oven, 180C/ Gas Mark 4, for 40-45 minutes until golden. Increase the oven temperature to 250C/gas Mark 9½ (or as high as possible), and cook for a further 2-3 minutes to brown the top.
5 Serve with a hot chocolate or a nice glass of warm milk.
Hafragrautur (Iceland)
Nutritious and balanced, this is a breakfast to help face the long, cold Icelandic days among geysers and puffins in the land of ice.
Serves four
600ml milk
300g porridge (rolled) oats
pinch of salt
60g brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon (and extra to serve)
1 tsp vanilla extract
maple syrup
almonds
ground cinnamon
a selection of fresh fruit
1 Gently bring the milk to the boil in a saucepan, add the oats and salt and continue cooking, stirring, for a further 5 minutes.
2 Remove from the heat and stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rest for 2 minutes.
3 Serve your Icelandic breakfast in a nice bowl drizzled with some maple syrup. If you like, you can also add a few almonds, a sprinkling of cinnamon and some fresh fruit.
Bolón de verde (Ecuador)
Here, wonderful scents and aromas bring to mind forests thick with
mangroves, plantain trees and pink flamingos.
Serves two
2 large green plantains
1 tsp crushed dried chilies
200g semi-hard cheese (such as Provolone), diced or grated
200g pancetta, diced
vegetable oil, for frying salt
1 Remove the ends of the plantains, slice through the skin lengthways and cut them in half. Boil in salted water for about 30 minutes.
2 The skins will have come off almost completely. Discard the skins and blitz the flesh in a blender. If the result is too firm, add a little of the water used to cook the plantains.
3 Add the chilies and a pinch of salt, then leave the mixture to rest in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
4 Shape the mixture into small balls, then push into the centre of each a little grated or small piece of cheese and a piece of pancetta, sealing the mixture around the filling. Fry the bolón in hot oil until golden all over, then enjoy them with a fried egg and the freshest fruit juice.