Maybe it’s because I’ve been funneled into the depths of the viral food content algorithm on TikTok, but recently, I’ve been seeing multiple posts a day about so-called “Balkan breakfast,” a form of breakfast ostensibly eaten in the Balkans involving whole, raw vegetables eaten with the hands and/or with the help of a small pocket knife, bread ripped straight from the loaf and myriad other ultra-simple ingredients that essentially require no actual cooking.
It is, if you ask me, just another iteration of “girl dinner,” albeit less gendered, more culturally specific and eaten at the beginning of the day, not the end. All the same elements are there: the seemingly random ingredients plucked from the fridge, the desire to eat with one’s hands instead of utensils, the appeal of a fresh, healthy meal without much effort.
I, too, am captured both by the idea of girl dinner and the Balkan breakfast, and I understand why these kinds of meals are so apt to go viral. They capture a simplicity that we seem to have lost in the constant rumble of our current food culture.
Living in 2024—especially if you happen to be located in a large or mid-sized city—means that you have basically unlimited food options available to you at nearly all times. Not only can you go out to restaurants that serve Indian, Italian, Thai, Bangladeshi, Greek, Ethiopian, Polish, Vietnamese food whenever you want, but through food delivery apps, you can actually get all these cuisines delivered to your door whenever you want them. Sometimes I stare at Uber Eats for 40 minutes just trying to decide what to eat before deciding to go cook a cheap packet of ramen instead.
Even if you don’t want to eat out, having a knowledge of other cultures and cuisines, which is easier than ever before for anyone with internet access, means that most peoples’ lists of dishes they can make at home are quite a bit more varied and extensive than their parents’ recipe boxes ever were. You no longer just have to decide on a recipe from the church cookbook; rather, you have to wade through a whole internet’s worth of recipes to come up with your dinner plans for the night.
Not only do we have pretty much endless options to choose from when it comes to what to eat, but we also face a lot of noise around what we should be eating, flavor preferences aside. If you want to stay lean, aim for 120 grams of protein a day, or limit your carbs, or use spray oil instead of regular olive oil, or only eat one meal a day. The rules are often restrictive and contradictory, and many of us are confused about the foods we should be eating for optimal health.
All of these factors, taken together, make for a truly mind-boggling food environment. No wonder so many of us are attracted to stores like Trader Joe’s and Aldi, which limit their offerings and provide a more streamlined grocery shopping experience.
In the midst of this food culture chaos, the Balkan breakfast and girl dinner both serve to quiet some of that noise. They’re meal formats that require little to no cooking and that often call for ingredients in their whole, unaltered form. There are no emulsions or ice baths or timers; you just plop some produce on a plate, slice a piece of cheese and snack on a few slices of bread. Why bother making a sandwich, for example, when you can have all the same ingredients in a deconstructed format that requires barely any effort?
Sure, the Balkan breakfast may not be for everyone, just as girl dinner only spoke to those overwhelmed by the looming task of cooking a well-planned dinner on a nightly basis. But for those of us who find themselves regularly boggled by a food culture that offers us endless possibilities, a meal as simple as the Balkan breakfast can sound like a welcome respite.
Samantha Maxwell is a food writer and editor based in Boston. Follow her on Twitter at @samseating.
