Anyone can make them. “You just need flour, salt, sugar, sesame and water,” said Manolis Kolovos, owner of the Ionia bakery. Koulouria, or bread rings, originated with the Greeks of Smyrni, on the coast of what is today modern Turkey.

“When Greeks were deported from Asia Minor they brought the recipe for the koulouri with them to Greece,” said Kolovos, “First to Thessaloniki, and then to Athens.”

The family-run Ionia, located in the Athens suburb of Nea Ionia, has been turning out koulouria since 1942. “We used to open at 3 a.m.,” said Kolovos. “Our first customers would come before 5 a.m., and no one would leave without at least one koulouri.”

The koulouri is the breakfast of choice for people on the run. It’s common to see street peddlers carrying baskets of koulouria and selling them to people waiting at stoplights early in the morning.

Panayiotis, 42, sells koulouria outside Syntagma Station. “I started this business five years ago,” he said. After stocking up on his koulouria from a bakery in Psirri, he is ready for business at 5 a.m. sharp. “I have people waiting to buy from me as soon as I start,” he said. “Usually, policemen are the earliest, but I get businessmen and women and students later on during the day, too.”

Just up the street, Pantelis Selma is also getting to work. Selma came to Greece just five years ago, when he was 19. “I didn’t have a job in Albania,” he said, “and my godfather was living here and working at a bakery.” Selma has been selling koulouria for the past three years. “People have come to know me and I have my regulars,” he said, smiling. “I like this job, and I like this tradition.”

What makes the koulouri a tradition? “Growing up, I had just enough money to buy one koulouri,” said Dimitra Fotopoulou. Fotopoulou, 64, was raised in Nea Ionia but her parents were from Lampsako, in Asia Minor.

“We knew the koulouri; no morning was without one,” said Fotopoulou, who today buys koulouria for her grandchildren. “They love holding it in their little hands and taking bites out of it,” she said, handing one to a toddler in his stroller.

Kostas Tsambos, who works in Nea Ionia, said that out of the 15 people in his office, 10 of them will have a koulouri in the morning with their coffee. Tsambos, who chain-smokes, said, “I have three things as soon as I wake up: coffee, cigarettes and a koulouri.”

Prices for a koulouri range from 30 to 50 cents compared to one euro for a croissant. “When my grandfather opened this bakery, koulouria were much cheaper than they are now,” said Kolovos. But even today, the koulouri is a relatively cheap breakfast. Kolovos is a big fan of his koulouria. “They sell stuff that is not good for you [at other places] for three times the price of a koulouri for breakfast,” Kolovos said, shaking his head from behind the counter of his bakery.

“The koulouri is cheap, tasty, and it’s part of a Greek tradition,” said Selma, handing one to a customer, who nodded in agreement.