Theme Thursday: The Search for Catalan Breakfast

(Our contribution to Theme Thursday.)

Is there such a thing as Catalan breakfast? Searching my various Catalan and Spanish cookbooks for such recipes lead me to wonder. This Wikipedia definition seems a bit closer to the truth but not quite there:

In the morning: a very light breakfast, consisting of fruit or fruit juice, milk, coffee, or pa amb tomàquet "bread with tomato". Catalans tend to divide their breakfast into two parts: one early in the morning before going to work or study (first breakfast), and the other one between 10:00 and 12:00 (second breakfast).

I was thinking back to my trip to Barcelona in 2007 and my first morning when, typical of my routine, I was up before 6 a.m., had done journal writing and was ready to head out for breakfast by 7 a.m. The hotel doorman looked at me very grumpily as I roused him from his chair and he unlocked doors and gates and gave me a look as if to say "Didn't get enough last night and going out for more?"

When I stepped out into l'Eixample, the sun was up and there were plenty of people on the street and hustle and bustle, mainly coming from bars and discos that were wrapping up the night. I found a cafe open and it was filled with plenty of diners, obviously sobering up just in case they decided to take a nap, shower and saunter into work around 11.

The Barcelona dinner hour of after 9 p.m. still suits me, but I doubt that I will abandon my rise by 5:45 a.m. sensibility. There have to be some compromises in life

Sittin' Around, Hangin' Out, Doin' Our Thang