|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Breakfast in the track-bounded accommodation can be an important part of service you provide. Other meal options might be not very interesting for someclients who spend most of the day outdoors.
Breakfast should fit in the general image of the business: if you offer a simple room at a low rate, the breakfast served should be simple but nutricious. If your accommodation is luxurious and expensive, the breakfast must pass the critics of a demanding tourist. Also, as decisions to leave or to stay are usually taken in the morning, breakfast might be a decisive point for your clients hesitating whether to stay or to leave. You should keep in mind that it is the contents and the atmosphere that makes breakfast special, and not only the amount.
The simple rule is that breakfast shall be fresh. For most guests the aroma of fresh natural coffee and just-baked bread/toasts is an important feature of breakfast. You can use prebaked rolls that you just need to put in the oven for about 8 minutes – and the irresistible aroma of fresh bread is in the air. The advantage is also that you can keep several kinds of bread in stock for a considerable period of time. When making your breakfast fresh and attractive, remember about time. Your delicious home-made meal will be less appreciated, if the guests have to wait for an hour. Do not offer special things if you are not sure that they can be prepared within limited time (e.g., <15 minutes).
There is a great variety of breakfasts that you can offer at your accommodation. In Europe the best-known types are ‘continental breakfast’ and ‘English breakfast’.
Continental breakfast is a modest breakfast consisting of coffee and a croissant, toasts with marmalade and butter that is common in most Mediterranean countries. In France, it is usually café au lait, served in a special large morning bowl, and a (chocolate) croissant and a toast/brioche with butter. In Italy, the most likely choice is cappuccino or very strong black coffee, accompanied by a slice of toast served with marmalade. Other morning drink options can be tea, hot chocolate, juice. For diversity instead of toasts it is possible to offer sweet pancakes with jam or sweet syrup.
English breakfast is a hearty morning meal consisting of several elements. Traditionally, first served is orange (or grapefruit) juice, it is followed by cereal or muesli with yoghurt (or milk), while the main course is eggs and bacon served with tomatoes and warm sausages, or baked beans in tomato sauce. Eggs can be cooked in different ways - fried, scrambled or poached. To complete the meal, there go crumpets or toasts with jam or honey. A selection of tea or natural coffee is offered during the meal. On special occasions, in English breakfast eggs can be accompanied by a mixed grill including lamb chop, sausage, liver, half a tomato.
Tastes differ – Italian tourists might demand their strong coffee practically with nothing else while British will expect you to serve a generous morning meal. It is difficult to make a choice, but you should think of it from a practical perspective – what is your major clientele, which activities they usually perform, how rich in calories should their breakfast be. It can be best to offer a mixed breakfast in Swedish buffet style: fruit juice or a fresh fruit, cereals with yoghurt or milk, hot eggs and bacon, home baked bread, toasts, butter, homemade jams, natural coffee or black/fruit/green tea.
It is likely that among your clinetswill be some vegetarians, so you will need to take care about breakfast options suitable for them. An example of the so-called vegan breakfastcould be orange juice, hot multi-grain cereal with fruit (e.g., with cinnamon, nuts and a small diced apple), toasts with light margarine and jam, and milk (skimmed cow milk or unsweetened soy milk) / tea / coffee. Or it can consist of a fresh/preserved fruit, scrambled eggs, a breakfast pita topped with light yoghurt, and milk / tea / coffee.
There is another type of breakfast – probably, the simplest, but the most attractive one – it is your traditional regional breakfast. Such breakfasts are special and are usually highly esteemed by guests, since they give an insight into the local eating habits, in a way letting the tourists get acquainted with the customs of the region they have come to discover. In Bulgaria, for instance, you can serve to your overseas guests breakfast consisting of Turkish coffee or tea, sesame bread/toasts and butter, tomatoes, boiled eggs, olives, white sheep cheese, honey, and, what is most important, yoghurt. Such a breakfast is tasty, healthy, and can be presented attractively. Also, it is undoubtedly an appropriate meal for tourists ready to start off for a hard journey in the mountains.
Always keep your target group in mind. If your major clientele is constituted by oriental tourists, you can offer them something more corresponding to their taste - Japanese breakfast (rice, seaweed, vegetables) or Chinese one (dim-sum, shao-mai, won-ton, rice), as ingredients for such meals are becoming available in all supermarkets.
Generally, for tourists travelling to practice sports, preferable meal options are quite basic, the most important required meal being breakfast.hat you start with only one breakfast option. As time passes by and you gain experience, it will become clear which special items may be added and which are not very popular with your guests.
|
|
9.4. Common Meals | 9.4.2. Other Meal Options |
|