TikTok videos have sung praises for a combination of fresh vegetables, bread, cheese, cured meats, eggs, and pickles. Experts say it’s delicious and good for you.
By Leah Worthington NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Move over, Mediterranean diet, a new food fad is in town.
The so-called “Balkan breakfast” brings a smorgasbord approach to the breakfast table, typically featuring a spread of whole and raw foods, including fresh vegetables, bread, cheese, cured meats, eggs, and pickles. Apparently tracing its origins to a TikTok of a man chowing down on hunks of bread, cheese, and whole peppers—utensils and plates be damned—the phenomenon has become a source of intrigue.
“There’s an assumption that this is what everybody in the Balkans eats,” says Macedonia-born writer and recipe developer Irina Janakievska. “You almost ignore all the extraordinarily diverse culinary practices of a region.”
So, does the Balkan breakfast deserve a place in our daily diet routines? And how Balkan is it really? Experts explore the cultural roots and potential health benefits of the latest viral food trend.
What really is Balkan breakfast?
Sorry to disappoint, but the concept of a Balkan breakfast may be fundamentally misleading.
“There’s no such thing as a unified ‘Balkan breakfast,’” Janakievska says. The writer recently published The Balkan Kitchen, a cookbook featuring recipes from the Balkan region (formerly known as Yugoslavia). She says that while elements of this breakfast trend can be found in traditional Balkan breakfasts, the trend is a gross oversimplification of a rich culinary history.
“It’s certainly not reflective of how a vast majority of people in the region eat,” she says. “So my caution is that people take this [trend] with a pinch of salt.”
Janakievska says that “elements of [the Balkan breakfast trend] are kind of accurate,” specifically the balance of proteins, carbohydrates, dairy, and fresh, raw produce. However, the exact elements vary widely by region, socioeconomic status, climate, season, and even religion.
TikTok’s version of a “Balkan breakfast,” which primarily features variations of the same whole, raw ingredients, has a distinctly rural flavor, she explains. While summer breakfast plates are more likely a celebration of tomatoes, sweet peppers, and watermelon (á la “Balkan breakfast”), hearty, savory porridges made from buckwheat or polenta are common winter fare—particularly in the colder, mountainous areas. And many ingredients are regional, like Albania’s crepe-like flija, or prosciutto, pečenica, and other cured meats from the Dalmatian region of Croatia.
Contrary to what social media may have you believe, not every day is an occasion for a huge spread. Often breakfast is simply a pastry, such as a burek and a Turkish coffee or a glass of yogurt. But weekends can call for more elaborate meze, including plates of eggs cooked with stewed veggies, kajmak and other homemade soft cheeses, vegetable preserves like the popular sweet bell pepper and eggplant relish called ajvar, and layered pastries filled with everything from meat to vegetables to jam. Pickled vegetables are common throughout the Balkans, as are fruit preserves. The portions tend to be small and, she adds laughing, “We do use plates and cutlery.”
As customary as it may be in the Balkans, this small-plate style approach to eating isn’t unique to the region.
“That culture is Mediterranean in general,” says food historian and professor at the University of the Pacific Ken Albala, pointing to similar food presentations like Spanish tapas, Basque pinchos, and Italian mezze platters. And breakfasts filled with fresh, whole ingredients are common in Turkey, Egypt, and as far east as Israel or Lebanon. “I can’t think of what would make that distinctively Balkan.”
The benefits of a Balkan-style breakfast
When it comes to Balkan breakfast, the overall emphasis on convenience, simplicity, and fresh, local ingredients makes for a healthy and adaptable morning routine.
“I think it’s a great breakfast,” Albala says. Eating small portions of food in a variety of textures and flavors will “keep your taste buds interested” without consuming too much of any one thing.
From a dietary standpoint, a Balkan-style breakfast is a fairly balanced meal. “It certainly has a variety of foods which means more nutrients—and a wider variety of nutrients,” says Toby Amidor, registered dietitian nutritionist and author.
To up the nutritional value, Amidor suggests swapping white breads for whole grains—and not too big a portion—and keeping the cheese intake to an ounce. She also warns against overdoing it on the cured meats, which are associated with colorectal cancer and heart disease. Instead, go for some high-protein tinned fish, a boiled egg, or yogurt.
For Amidor, what can make the Balkan breakfast ideal is that it’s customizable to each person’s needs. The smorgasbord approach requires very little time or effort and is easily adaptable to what’s seasonally, and financially, available.
“I think that a lot of people miss out on breakfast,” Amidor says, adding that the vast majority of Americans don’t meet their daily fruit and vegetable intake. “This is a nice way, a pretty simple way [to have more variety]. There’s no cooking involved.”
