Continental, English and American breakfast: differences and essentials

You've booked your flight for the holidays and defined the must-see stops; all that's left is to reserve a room in a hotel. You decide on the formula with half or full board, filter by price, and you find yourself facing the choice between continental, international, English, American breakfasts… in short: you know there will be a buffet, but you're not quite clear on what it will consist of.

This is a rather common confusion, especially for us Italians who always have clear ideas about food. Today, let's clarify this doubt, for a holiday choice targeted to your tastes: here are all the differences between continental and international breakfasts!

The continental breakfast

The basis of the continental breakfast (where the term indicates the continental area of Europe) is the Mediterranean diet. The Italian breakfast is a small part of this.

Most of the products brought to the table are sweet, accompanied by classic morning beverages like espresso coffee, cappuccino, latte, and hot tea. Then, a juice or – even better – a freshly squeezed orange is added.

And in terms of food? Here's what cannot be missed in the continental breakfast buffet:

• coffee, tea, and derivatives

• freshly squeezed juice or juice

• croissant, butter brioche, or slices of cake

• toast, butter, and jam

• yogurt, fresh fruit, and cereals

• cold cuts and cheeses (not spicy)

The English breakfast

The division between European breakfasts is mostly due to the English taste for the first meal of the day. More similar to our lunch, it includes both sweet and savory foods, with a preference for the latter. There isn't much difference in beverages: hot tea (English Breakfast, of course), milk, American coffee, and orange juice.

Eggs are the stars of the dish, prepared mainly soft-boiled or fried (but also poached, hard-boiled, scrambled...). The accompaniment might make us Italians turn up our noses: beans in tomato sauce are not exactly part of our tradition.

So what specifically does the English breakfast buffet consist of?

• hot tea, milk, and American coffee

• orange juice

• eggs

• bacon or sausage

• cooked vegetables: grilled tomatoes, grilled mushrooms, and beans in tomato sauce

• toast, butter, and jam

• pudding

The American breakfast

Despite coming from across the ocean, the American breakfast is more similar to the continental than the English.

Traditional beverages are accompanied by eggs (cooked according to preference), bacon, and pancakes: a sweet and savory mix, where there's no prevalence of either.

Here are the essentials of the American breakfast buffet:

• tea, milk, American coffee

• eggs (scrambled, boiled, or fried)

• grilled bacon or sausages

• pancakes (or hot cakes, which are thicker) with maple syrup or honey

• yogurt and cereals

Which one do you prefer? Do you like to stick to your routines even on vacation, or do you prefer to try totally new and different things from the usual?