Of late, my preoccupation with breakfast has been at an all-time crescendo. I wake up hungry, just like I have been for the past 29 years. However, when I wake up, I carefully plan what my first meal is going to be. This plan is as delightful as it is daunting. Buttered toast, fruit bowl, organic homemade granola; poached eggs on crisp brown toast; sunny side ups with sausages; tomatoes along with a grilled chicken breast; breakfast rolls, scrambled eggs and bacon; muffins, ham and hollandaise? Clearly, the first decision I make daily goes a long way in determining my disposition for the next eighteen hours. Sometimes just like Bilbo Baggins, I do consume a second breakfast around 11. This may consist of a white bread and salad sandwich, a tub of yogurt, a very strong black coffee with no milk and no sugar, dried fruits, salami slices, sugary donuts, or maybe a decadent cheesy omelet. Although Gandalf really has the best breakfast (feast) in literature. “Two whole loaves (with masses of butter and honey and clotted cream) and at least a quart of mead,” finished off, of course, with a delicious pipe of tobacco!

In the novel The Stranger, Albert Camus wrote: “Je me suis fait cuire des œufs et je les ai mangés à même le plat” – “I cooked some eggs and ate them out of the pan.” And sometimes I do too, but only when my flatmate ChoonCracker isn’t looking. She does make some pretty killer playlists. Go listen!

Breakfast behaviour consists of the following. You must have all supplies, cutlery and beverages before you begin breakfast. You must put your phone away after you have photographed your breakfast of course. You must bring a book to the table if you are dining alone and you must have a breakfast playlist.

This is perfect breakfast music. It will nourish your confidence and help you kickstart the day. “The scent of a lemon drips from your eyes”, that is my favourite line from this song. It makes me want to “lie in the sand and visualise”.

Another song that peps me up, before I’m assaulted by traffic and expectations is Mary Mary’s Shackles. Nothing like some gospel on loop as I fork my papayas and melon!

JB Priestly, the novelist, said something, which I absolutely adore. Here is the quote to end my reflections on breakfast. Though I insist you fetch yourself a peanut buttered toast first (better still, if it was fried!).

“We plan, we toil, we suffer – in the hope of what? A camel load of idols’ eyes? The title deeds of Radio City? The empire of Asia? A trip to the moon? No, no, no, no. Simply to wake up just in time to smell coffee and bacon and eggs.”

Here’s a lovely read from The Guardian. 10 of the best breakfasts in literature. Breakfast courtesy Olive Bistro  and photographs courtesy @lucidillusions_

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