The Pleasure of a Slow Breakfast

On weekend mornings, good coffee and the simple pleasure of starting the day without rushing.

There's a particular kind of morning I look forward to. The sort where you wake up without an alarm, put the kettle on and realise you don't actually have to be anywhere for a while.

No checking the time every five minutes. No eating a piece of toast while standing at the kitchen counter. Just the prospect of a proper breakfast and a morning that's entirely your own.

It doesn't happen every day, of course. Most mornings are a little more practical than that.

But when the opportunity comes along, there's something very appealing about taking your time over the first meal of the day.

And the best part? It doesn't require anything particularly elaborate.

Breakfast Without the Rush

During the week, breakfast often becomes something we fit around everything else.

There's work to get to, children to organise, messages to answer and a mental list of things that need doing before the day has properly started. Sometimes breakfast is a quick bowl of cereal. Sometimes it's a banana eaten on the way out. And sometimes, despite our best intentions, it's simply coffee.

There's nothing wrong with any of that. Life is busy, and not every morning can begin with a beautifully laid table and freshly squeezed orange juice.

But there's a difference between eating because you need to and sitting down to enjoy what you're eating.

On slower mornings, even the most ordinary breakfast can feel different.

Toast tastes better when it's still warm. Coffee is much more enjoyable when you're not drinking it between tasks. And sitting at the table for twenty minutes can feel surprisingly luxurious when you're used to doing everything at speed.

The Breakfasts We Remember

Some of my favourite memories from travelling involve breakfast. Not necessarily anything expensive or particularly impressive. Often, it's the opposite.

A small café with tables spilling onto the pavement. Fresh bread brought to the table while it's still warm. A strong coffee served in a glass. Somewhere in the background, the sound of people beginning their day.

In North Africa, breakfast can be wonderfully straightforward. Fresh bread with olive oil, honey or cheese. Eggs cooked with tomatoes and spices. A pot of mint tea poured into small glasses.

In Morocco, you might find msemen, the flaky square flatbread that's particularly good with honey. In Algeria, there's kesra, a semolina flatbread that's lovely with olive oil or simply eaten warm.

These foods don't need much added to them.

Part of the pleasure is the setting, of course. But it's also the fact that breakfast feels like something worth sitting down for. And while it's easy to associate that feeling with being on holiday, there's no reason we can't bring a little of it into our own kitchens.

Good Coffee Makes a Difference

For some of us, the morning doesn't properly begin until we've had a cup of coffee. There's something comforting about the familiar process of making it. Grinding the beans, filling the cafetière, waiting a few minutes before pressing down the plunger. It gives you a reason to stop doing everything else for a moment.

You don't need an expensive coffee machine to make a good cup, either. A simple French press and some freshly ground coffee can produce something delicious. The same goes for tea. Whether you prefer a strong breakfast tea, mint tea or something herbal, making a proper pot and sitting down to enjoy it feels quite different from grabbing a mug on the way out.

We love a good café breakfast, but there's something equally enjoyable about making your favourite drink at home and having nowhere else you need to be. Especially when you can go back for a second cup.

Keep the Food Simple

A slow breakfast doesn't need to involve an hour of preparation. In fact, we'd argue that the simplest breakfasts are often the nicest. A few ideas we keep coming back to:

• Soft scrambled eggs on toast. Add a little butter, black pepper and fresh herbs if you have them.

• Greek yoghurt with fruit. A handful of berries, some toasted nuts and a drizzle of honey.

• Warm flatbread with olive oil. Particularly good with olives, cheese or sliced tomatoes.

• Porridge with cinnamon. Add chopped apple, dates or whatever fruit happens to be in the kitchen.

• Tomatoes and eggs. Gently cook tomatoes with olive oil, garlic and spices, then add the eggs and serve with bread.

None of these requires much effort, and most can be made with ingredients you probably already have.

If you're feeding several people, put a few things in the middle of the table and let everyone help themselves.

Bread, eggs, fruit, cheese and a pot of coffee can make a perfectly good breakfast without anyone needing to spend the whole morning cooking.

And if you fancy croissants from the local bakery instead, that's a perfectly good option too.

Make the Table Somewhere You Want to Sit

We've always liked the idea of using nice things on ordinary days. The handmade plate you bought on holiday. The serving bowl you usually save for guests. The tablecloth that's been sitting in a drawer because you haven't had a reason to use it. Breakfast is as good a reason as any.

You don't need to create an elaborate table setting. A clean table, a favourite mug and a proper plate are quite enough.

On a weekend, you might put a tablecloth down, bring out a wooden board for the bread or serve fruit in a bowl rather than straight from the packet. It's a small change, but it can make the kitchen feel like somewhere you want to spend a little longer. And that matters, particularly when the dining table spends much of the week doubling as a workspace, homework station or somewhere to leave the post.

Sometimes it's nice to remember what it's actually there for.

Breakfast Is Better Shared

One of the things I enjoy most about a slow breakfast is that it gives people time to talk. Not necessarily about anything important. It might be deciding what to do with the weekend, discussing something you've read or catching up on what everyone has been doing. There's no particular agenda.

In many families, sitting around the breakfast table is one of the few opportunities to spend time together before everyone disappears into their own activities. And if you're having breakfast alone, that can be equally enjoyable.

A quiet kitchen, something good to read and the freedom to take as long as you like over your coffee is a pretty appealing way to spend a morning. You don't always need company to make a meal feel worthwhile.

You Don't Have to Earn a Slow Morning

It's surprisingly easy to feel that a leisurely breakfast is something you should only enjoy once everything else has been done. The washing needs putting on. The house could do with tidying. There's shopping to organise, and perhaps a long list of jobs you've been putting off all week. Before you know it, the morning has disappeared.

But the jobs will usually still be there in half an hour.

You can sit down with your breakfast before getting started. You can read a few pages of your book without feeling that you ought to be doing something more productive. And you don't need to turn it into another routine to perfect.

Some weekends you'll have time for a long breakfast. Others will be busy from the moment you wake up.

That's life.

The point isn't to create an ideal morning that you then feel disappointed about not achieving.

It's simply to enjoy the quieter ones when they come along.

A Morning Worth Making Time For

Perhaps the reason slow breakfasts appeal to us so much is that they're so ordinary.

You don't need to travel anywhere, book a table or spend a great deal of money.

You can make something delicious from what's already in the kitchen, pour yourself a coffee and sit down for a while.

Open the window if the weather's nice. Put some music on. Bring out the good plates.

And if breakfast turns into brunch because nobody was particularly interested in getting up early, even better.

Some mornings are worth taking your time over.

Explore The Pantry Edit for the kitchen and tableware pieces we're enjoying at the moment, from a classic French press to handmade ceramics and everyday serving essentials.