Culture, history, and meals per day
September 26, 2023 8:30 AM Subscribe
In the US and I think much of Europe, the idea of three meals a day, with possible snacks, is treated as if it's set in stone. I'd like to know what alternatives there have been in different time periods and cultures.
This is about history and culture, not current science or eating fads.
I've already found this BBC article, which was somewhat helpful in how the idea of three meals a day developed, but less helpful in terms of alternatives and not at all helpful for anything outside of Europe. I also found this article about monks and the Rule of Benedict.
Articles about history and culture would be helpful, as would personal knowledge from your own culture or a culture you are familiar with. Not interested in guesses (e.g., stone age people must have xyz).
This is about history and culture, not current science or eating fads.
I've already found this BBC article, which was somewhat helpful in how the idea of three meals a day developed, but less helpful in terms of alternatives and not at all helpful for anything outside of Europe. I also found this article about monks and the Rule of Benedict.
Articles about history and culture would be helpful, as would personal knowledge from your own culture or a culture you are familiar with. Not interested in guesses (e.g., stone age people must have xyz).
About my only detailed historical knowledge is about Samuel Pepys, and in 1660s London his diary generally only mentions two meals: "dinner" - which seems to be the biggest meal, sometime around the middle of the day - and "supper" in the evening. I don't think he mentions eating first thing, but does sometimes talk of having his "morning draft" of beer (mentions in his diary).
posted by fabius at 9:44 AM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by fabius at 9:44 AM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]
Mostly the Old And Ill Ate Breakfast Until the Rise of the Working Man (Romans disdained the meal, few ate it in the Middle Ages, but most eat breakfast now)
Meal patterns and meal orders in Sweden have changed considerably over the centuries according to historical evidence.
A historical exploration of Indian diets
Historical eating patterns of rural Appalachia
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:55 AM on September 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
Meal patterns and meal orders in Sweden have changed considerably over the centuries according to historical evidence.
A historical exploration of Indian diets
Historical eating patterns of rural Appalachia
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:55 AM on September 26, 2023 [4 favorites]
In Poland the traditional pattern (usually kept up for kids) is a light breakfast, second breakfast (we are totally hobbits), obiad/dinner (traditionally soup, entree and dessert), podwieczorek (usually a sweet snack around 5pm) and kolacja/supper (lighter than obiad, often sandwiches). Breakfast / śniadanie apparently meant just 'meal' originally, so it might have been the original big meal. Nowadays obiad may be the only hot meal and the only one not to feature bread in a main role (you still eat lighter soups with bread). It's definitely related to agricultural work, with second breakfast being the noon break and dinner eaten once the agricultural working day is done. Podwieczorek is a not-everyday thing and traditionally a social occasion, the tea and cakes you serve when someone drops by and the least-obligation invitation (being invited to obiad or kolacja is a Big Thing akin to American dinner parties). Since Polish nobility apparently had nothing to do but party and eat, there's also an old name for the last snack before sleep or dawn - podkurek, but it's not currently in use.
This of course has been shifting since industrialisation. Dinner shifts later, kolacja sometimes disappears entirely, second breakfast is getting taken over by the concept of lunch. But a fancy evening meal, even with multiple courses, is still a kolacja - it's the time of day that dictates the meal's name. Which is fun for translators when Christmas Eve Dinner is actually our Kolacja Wigilijna.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 9:57 AM on September 26, 2023 [7 favorites]
This of course has been shifting since industrialisation. Dinner shifts later, kolacja sometimes disappears entirely, second breakfast is getting taken over by the concept of lunch. But a fancy evening meal, even with multiple courses, is still a kolacja - it's the time of day that dictates the meal's name. Which is fun for translators when Christmas Eve Dinner is actually our Kolacja Wigilijna.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 9:57 AM on September 26, 2023 [7 favorites]
Italians have a very defined 4th meal called merenda, which is our afternoon snack. It's mainly for children but it is MANDATORY for children, really, to the point where if you didn't have food it would be like your parents denying you dinner: merenda often is a whole sandwich. We also eat dinner much later, culturally, so lunch at noon, merenda at 4 or so, dinner at 8 makes more sense to me than the US equivalent (at least here in New England) of lunch at 12, snack after school, dinner at 6:30.
posted by lydhre at 11:45 AM on September 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by lydhre at 11:45 AM on September 26, 2023 [3 favorites]
I grew up in an area with a lot of primary industries and shift work. It was pretty common to have dinner at 4 pm or 5pm. I remember being shocked that the news and magazines would talk about "Six O'Clock Solutions" and dinner at 6 or 7. I don't know what is common in other areas, but I was surprised by people eating at 7-9pm when I moved to the city.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 12:27 PM on September 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 12:27 PM on September 26, 2023 [2 favorites]
If you go to conferences or similar events in Malaysia, your meal options (depending on the time of the event itself) would be breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, and/or supper.
Within my Bangladeshi family, afternoon tea was standard. Usually fruit, pastries, and tea/coffee. This would be around 4-5pm.
There's also Ramadhan for Muslims everywhere, where your meals are just before sunrise and at sunset (you fast in the middle). You might also have regular dinner after.
posted by creatrixtiara at 5:15 PM on September 26, 2023
Within my Bangladeshi family, afternoon tea was standard. Usually fruit, pastries, and tea/coffee. This would be around 4-5pm.
There's also Ramadhan for Muslims everywhere, where your meals are just before sunrise and at sunset (you fast in the middle). You might also have regular dinner after.
posted by creatrixtiara at 5:15 PM on September 26, 2023
In contemporary Spain we have desayuno (breakfast), almuerzo (optional, around 11-12h: coffee and toast, or croissant, or small bocadillo, or similar), comida (lunch, around 13-15h), merienda (optional for adults, nearly obligatory for kids as lydhre mentions for Italy, around 17-18h) and cena (dinner, around 20h for early sleepers, 21-22h usually). If you come back home after bar hopping you might have a recena (second dinner) in the early hours. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day, dinner tends to be a lot lighter.
But this seems to be rather recent, and IIRC not earlier than the 1950s-60s. I'd have to check on food historians for earlier times.
posted by sukeban at 12:40 AM on September 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
But this seems to be rather recent, and IIRC not earlier than the 1950s-60s. I'd have to check on food historians for earlier times.
posted by sukeban at 12:40 AM on September 27, 2023 [3 favorites]
Re: England there's Elevenses (which I might've missed in your linked BBC article).
From wikipedia: Elevenses, eaten at 11:00 as the name suggests, typically consists of tea or coffee, often with a few biscuits. Sometimes, cake or other snacks are eaten instead.
My English born ex (born early 1980s) does this with biscuits, while his parents (born early 1950s) did this with toast. His younger siblings hated hot drinks and skipped the practice.
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 1:39 AM on September 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
From wikipedia: Elevenses, eaten at 11:00 as the name suggests, typically consists of tea or coffee, often with a few biscuits. Sometimes, cake or other snacks are eaten instead.
My English born ex (born early 1980s) does this with biscuits, while his parents (born early 1950s) did this with toast. His younger siblings hated hot drinks and skipped the practice.
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 1:39 AM on September 27, 2023 [1 favorite]
If you're interested in the history of meals and mealtimes in the US, I'm working through this book. I find the tone a little grating so I've only made it so far, but the content is good.
posted by OhHaieThere at 10:22 PM on September 27, 2023
posted by OhHaieThere at 10:22 PM on September 27, 2023
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posted by derrinyet at 9:38 AM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]