The history behind mealtimes
A very interesting read!
(history-magazine.com) TODAY WE DON’T always agree on the names and times of our meals. Some of us have dinner at eight, while others have supper at five. It wasn’t always that way.
The names of meals and their general times were once quite standard. Everyone in medieval England knew that you ate breakfast first thing in the morning, dinner in the middle of the day, and supper not long before you went to bed, around sundown. The modern confusion arose from changing social customs and classes, political and economic developments, and even from technological innovations.
Despite our stereotypes of big English breakfasts of sausages, kippers (sardines), toast, tomatoes, etc., big breakfasts weren’t really common until the Victorian age. Breakfast before the 1800s was usually just toast or some variation of gruel or porridge, except when a lavish spread was offered to impress guests. The main meal of the day was dinner.
In the Middle Ages, great nobles ate the most formal dinner, around noon or one p.m. Their dinner was more than a meal; it was an ostentatious display, a statement of wealth and power, with dozens of servants attending in a ritualized performance. (more…)
And now it has dwindled down to a bowl of Captain Crunch and leftover wings from last night (Oops! Did I say that out loud?)
April 25th, 2007 at 7:10 am
Fried potatoes and eggs is a 24 hour meal. I came home from a trip this morning, seeing what my folks ate last night, so that’s what I ate for breakfast. A little salt & pepper and it’s on!