SC - Break Fast, Dinner, Supper...

[James F. Johnson]

lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:

> When i lived in France in the early 1970's, the French people i knew
> claimed the French didn't eat breakfast during the week; they said
> they ate no meal until lunch. In my observation, they had cafe au
> lait - a big bowl of milky coffee - and bread with butter and/or jam
> before they left for work - but, no, this wasn't breakfast, according
> to them. Then around 10 or so, they'd stop work and eat bread and
> sausage-type meats, maybe some olives or fruit, and something to
> drink - although they made fun of the American coffee break. Then
> around noon they ate their *first* meal of the day, lunch. Yeah,
> right, uh-huh. So, although the official line is "no early morning
> meal until lunch", in fact they ate the equivalent of at least one
> meal before lunch. I know this is my modern experience, but, well...

Of this, consider thinking of a meal not as ingesting nourishment, but a
social activity held at the table. Traditional French mid-day meals last
about two hours. Shop keepers would close down the shops and return to
the home for the full two hours, businessmen would likewise take a two
hour lunch break and go home for a substantial meal. Sitting down at
table with family and talking over a food for several hours is
significantly different than morning coffee and buttered bread, or a
mid-morning snack of bread, cold meats, and fruit.
> 
> Given the portability of things like bread, cheese, dried sausages,
> fruit, etc., i am guessing that in the Medieval and Renaissance
> periods people at work, travelling, or at play (sport hunting, for
> example) would have had the opportunity to eat, albeit not at an
> official "meal" (since they're not sitting at a dining table). So
> perhaps the "two meals" policy only refers to sit-down meals at a
> table with others.
> 
> Would i be far off base assuming that although two meal were
> "prescribed", people of the Medieval and Renaissance periods had more
> than two opportunities to eat during a day?

The original Old English meaning of 'meal' meant a 'measured' or 'fixed
time' for the meal. Consider that a set time for a meal is far more
important if it is a meal for many people, all gathering at a pre-set
time, than if it's for just an individual eating at their own
convenience. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, breakfast in a
middle to high class house was often a sideboard buffet, to which one
served themselves as they awoke and rose, rather than trying to
co-ordinate everyone to the table at the same time in that short space
of time between waking and the meal. 

I suspect that your own suspicion that while there was only two meals a
day, people ate more than just twice a day, and that a meal means more
than just eating food, is correct and on the right path.

Seumas
- -- 
Roi ne suis prince, ni duc, ni comte aussi; je suis sire de
Bruyerecourt.