Start your morning with a worldly breakfast from spots in Waterloo region: Andrew Coppolino

South Indian dosas and idlis, fatteh from the Levant, or Peruvian pork sandwiches — the evolving world of breakfasts is a wide and tasty one.

In just about any country, the first meal of the day can either be a casual, relaxed family event or a grab-and-go out-the-door snack munched on the way to work.

Below are a few select breakfasts from the growing range of food communities in Waterloo region, Guelph and Wellington County. The meals can be found at restaurants or as make-at-home dishes.

A new and unique addition to the food scene is a Peruvian restaurant in Kitchener called La Crema. They prepare a version of a breakfast sandwich: pan con chicharron is a deep-fried pork sandwich with sweet potatoes and salsa criolla onion sauce.

Colombian take-away venue El Antojo Bakery and Café sells arepas and chorizo, parts of a "calentao" breakfast, according to Santiago Cortés of El Antojo on Weber Street E. across from Eastwood Collegiate.

"Calentao is a scramble of rice, beans, fried eggs and arepa," Cortés said. "Sometimes people add Colombian chorizo as well."

We have many casual and familiar breakfast joints that serve classic bacon and eggs and diner-style coffee, but I've recently added an eastern European breakfast to my list of favourites.

Jasna's European Meat and Deli offers casual dining at the back of a packed-to-the-rafters grocery store on Courtland Avenue.

Beef-lamb-veal ćevapi sausages are nestled in a pillowy-soft bun of lepinja bread that sops up those seasoned juices along with some hot fries. Slather on a bit of kaimak cream cheese and maybe some avjar, a roasted red-pepper condiment.

Many of the soups and noodles dishes in Thai and Vietnamese cuisines that North Americans tend to order at the supper hour are also cooked up as breakfast dishes.

In Vietnamese homes, breakfasts might include banh mi, noodle soups, steak and egg, and sticky rice, according to Annie Nguyen of Nguyen's Vietnamese Restaurant in Guelph.

"What we eat for lunch and dinner, we mostly eat for breakfast," Nguyen says. "If people have time, they will sit down and eat different kinds of noodle soup or congees. For rushing, they will eat mostly wraps, subs or steamed buns."

Rice plays a significant role in Filipino homes, says Katriona Tioco of Waterloo's Gayuma Catering, the previous night's repast becoming the foundation for the morning meal.

"The next day for breakfast, we will have fried rice and that goes with some leftover dishes from last night. Typically, dried fish or Filipino chorizo we call it. It's sweet and made with ground pork," Tioco says.

'We always have eggs'

The combination of foods is a portmanteau word, "longsilog:" long is the sweet sausage, sinangag for the fried rice and log for egg.

"We always have eggs," Tioco added. "Every day. Eggs are a must."

She says in her home province, breakfast could also include boiled saba banana dipped with maskubado sugar or fermented shrimp or fish.

"We eat it with coffee, dark chocolate or salabat, the ginger drink."

Eggs, in fact, are virtually a common denominator for the breakfast world and are rarely far from your plate: they are on virtually every menu.

And as new Canadians with southeast Asian heritage have joined our communities, so too have restaurants that serve unique egg dishes; there are a few interesting new additions to the local food scene.

Eggholic: Indian Veg & Egg Street Food is open on University Avenue East in Waterloo: they prepare mulvani bhurji which is scrambled eggs in a coconut gravy, among other egg dishes.

Paranthe Wali Gali on King Street E., Kitchener, serves a tandoori chicken omelette with masala fries and garlic mayo, while opening soon nearby is Ande Wala which calls itself an "omelette boutique" specializing in Indian-style omelettes.

You will also find eggs in the unique crepe of Brittany, in northwest France: the buckwheat galette.

At newly opened La Plouc Crêpes, Nash Catami left software development and coding behind her and made the leap to her crêperie on Spruce Street in Waterloo in August — after a couple of research trips to France to learn about making crêpes.

Smartly folded four times with a sunnyside-up egg peeking out at the centre, galette complète is a relatively simple combination of ingredients that is perfect for a filling, nutritious breakfast and it's gluten-free, too.

"Galette is made with buckwheat flour. As we make the crêpe, we cook the egg on the batter. We then add toppings such as smoked turkey breast or ham and a variety of cheeses such as Emmental," Catami said.

At Arabesque, co-owner Mamoun Yanes says something like fatteh of chickpeas and toasted pita is a regional dish, perhaps like the delicious shakshuka dish of eggs poached in tomato and pepper, and can be found in many kitchens.

Traditionally, households might also make baladi-, akkawi- or halloumi-style white cheeses and preserve them in brine, Yanes says.

"It's local cheese made at home in the spring and used throughout the year."

Get a za'atar and tea on way to work

The range of breakfast foods, according to Yanes, is wide: more involved meals for families and friends on weekends, but for a quicker breakfast it might be a boiled egg and some baladi.

Popular are dishes related to fava beans that include olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, tomato and parsley, or mixed with tahini, yogurt and hummus.

"These foods belong to the entire region," Yanes said. "Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Israel."

If not the exact dishes, you can find the ingredients and flavours at area Middle Eastern restaurants.

But Yanes also cites mana'eesh, a Middle Eastern flatbread similar to pizza, as he describes a scenario that will sound familiar to many people in Waterloo region and Wellington County: grabbing a morning coffee and donut en route to the office.

"On your way to work you go to a mana'eesh store, get a za'atar and tea and head to work. Like going to Tim Horton's for a coffee and quick breakfast snack."