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The history of meal times (and number of meals consumed) makes for fascinating study. These differ greatly from culture to culture and through time. They also depend upon the socio-economic class of the person who was eating. If you are studying the meal times of a specific place/people/period please let us know. If you just need a basic overview of Anglo-American practices, these notes will get you started:
What Time is Dinner?, History Magazine
ABOUT ANCIENT GREEK MEAL TIMES
"Meal times are variable, but a midday meal was usually called ariston lunch... and an
evening meal deipnon, dinner. The latter was perhaps typically the biggest meal of the
day, and for some the only meal."
---Siren Feasts: A History of Food and Gastronomy in Greece, Andrew Dalby
[Routledge:London] 1996 (p. 12)
ABOUT BRITISH MEALTIMES (overview)
"In the beginning of the sixteenth century in England, dinner, the main meal of the day, used to
begin at 11:00AM.
Meals tended over time to be eaten later and later in the day: by the eighteenth century, dinner
was eaten at about
3:00PM...By the early nineteenth century, lunch, what Palmer in Moveable Feasts calls "the
furtive snack," had become
a sit-down meal at the dning table in the middle of the day. Upper-class people were eating
breakfast earlier, and dinner
later, than they had formerly done...in 1808...dinner was now a late meal and supper a snack taken
at the very end of the
day before people retired to bed. For a long time luncheon was a very upper-class habit; ordinarily
working people dined
in the early evening, and contented themselves as they had done for centuries with a mid-day
snack...Supper now means
a light evening meal that replaces dinner; such a meal is especially popular if people have eaten a
heavy lunch..."
---The Rituals of Dinner, Margaret Visser [Penguid:New York] 1991 (p. 159-160)
Anglo-Saxon period
"Taking meals at regular times was seen a good thing in moral terms: every mouth needs food;
meals shall take place at their proper time'...Gluttony consisted of eating before the time of the
meal, as well as taking too much. Regular mealtimes seem to have been seen as evidence of an
ordered, civilised life. Morever, in large establishments, serving meals at set hours would have
saved time. Punctual meals were particularly important in monasteries where the offices had to be
observed. When meals were taken, or even how many meals a day there were, varied according to
the calendar, social class, and personal preference. The novice of the Colloquy seems to eat first
soon after midday...The Regularis Concordia mentions the prandium ad sextam at
noon, and a cena between Vespers and Compline allowed daily from Easter until Whitsun.
From Whitsun until September 14 (apart from certain fast days which included Wednesdays and
Fridays) and on all Sundays and feasts of twelve lessons there were also two meals a day but the
prandium was not taken until none (3 p.m.). A single meal ad noman between
Nones and Vespers was the rule for the winter period from September 14 to Lent; in Lent and on
Quarter Tense days the one meal was ad vesperam (after Vespers). So it appears there
was a main, midday meal, though this might be put back to mid-afternoon, or later, for which the
term was ge-reordung or non-mete. According to the Old English Rule of
Chodegang, if preostas ate twice a day then it was a midday and evening, and at
Aethelwold's monastery the monks had dinner and supper...An ealier meal than dinner or supper
is referred to--the undernswoesendum. Undern was roughly the period of
dawn...In contrast to the monastic regimen where the main meal was at or around midday, it is
possible that in a secular time-table, main meals were at the third hour and again at supper time, to
allow a full day's activity between them. A number of individuals, usually for religious reasons,
chose to have only one meal a day. There may have been others whose meals were similarly
limited from lack of resources, but we do not hear of them."
---A handbook of Anglo-Saxon Food: Processing and Consumption, Ann Hagen [Anglo
Saxon Books:2992] (p. 69-70)
Medieval era
"...what were the mealtimes and how often did people eat a day? The very poor doubtless ate
when they could, but the slightly better-off peasants seem generally to have eaten three times a
day. These meals consisted of breakfast at a very early hour to allow for dinner at about 9 a.m., or
not later than 10.00 a.m., and supper probably before it got dark, perhas at 3.00 p.m. in the
winter. The times and number of meals were originally derived from the hours of devotions of the
Church. Monks ate the main meal of their day after the celebration of nones, which was nine hours
after daybreak. This was in practice at some time between midday and 3.00 p.m. The evening
meal had to be a reasonable time after this, at or after vespers (around sunset). Three meals a day
were accepted as reasonable by most later sixteenth-century writers, such as Andrew Borde,
although he thought that this was only good for the labouring man: anyone else should be content
with two. It has been suggested that breakfast was only eaten by children and workmen, but
certainly by the fifteenth century it was quite commonly taken by everyone....although the 1478
household ordinance of Edward IV specified that only residents down to the rank of squires
should have breakfast, except by special order...The time was only specified as a 'convenyent
hower', although to break one's fast after devotions was the generally recommended procedure.
Earlier reference to breakfast sometimes meant dinner, literally, in these cases, the first meal of the
day. Sir William Harrison thought that in previous times (not specified) there had been four meals
eaten a day, that is breakfast, dinner, nuntions (or 'nuncheons', taken about noon) and late
supper. Nuncheons was usually something eaten by workmen who were given payment for
it...Edward Prince of Wales (son of Edward IV) probably dined at 11.00 a.m....and supped at
5.00 p.m....The staggering of meals in large households, with the servants eating earlier than the
lord...was common."
---Food and Feast in Medieval England, P.W. Hammond [Wrens Park Publishing:Pheonix
Mill] 1993 (p. 104-5)
Renaissance period
"...what time to eat? Should the midday meal or evening meal be larger? Entire books were
composed on this very topic. Medieval theorists, and common custom through the Renaissance,
favored the "prandium," or dinner, at ten or eleven in the morning, as the larger meal. Digestion,
it was thought, is fortified by movement and the heat of the sun...authors, armed with a purified
Galen and other Greek authors, promoted the larger "coena," or supper, at around six in the
evening. They argued that distribution of humors and spirits, the third stage of digestion, is
stronger during the day, but concoction is much stronger when the mind and body are at
rest...Most authors agreed that two meals are sufficient, although some Arabists favored three
meals in two days or food every sixteen hours. The English vehemently defended their custom of
taking breakfast. Most agreed in condemning the between-meal and late-night snacks, or
"merenda" and "collations." The latter term originally referred to the light monastic meal at the
end of the day, which derives its name from John Cassian's "Collations," which was read during
the meal. It eventally came to mean all late-night nibbles or after-dinner dainties...Digestions, it
must be remembered, was thought to proceed in distinct separate stages rather than one long
continual process along the digestive tract. Thus, knowing how long each stage requires also
reveals the ideal time to eat. A meal must not commence until the former meal has been
thoroughly processed...Such a schedule would mean rising at 6:00, dining from 10:00 to 11:00,
supping from 6:00 to 7:00, and sleeping at 11:00."
---Eating Right in the Renaissance, Ken Albala [University of California Press:Berkeley]
2002 (p. 112-3)
Early modern Europe
"One detail that comes primarily from literary evidence is the time of day when meals were
customarily taken. This was acutally a matter of debate among dietary writers in the sixteenth
century, but most of the deferred to the authority of ancient authors like Galen and recommended
two meals per day. The first smaller meal, dinner, should be taken at around 11:00 a.m., and a
larger meal, supper, follows six hours later at around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. These authors reasoned
that since the digestive powers are stronger during sleep when the digestive heat is withdrawn
inward, and because there are more hours between the evening and morning meal, that supper
should be larger. These recommendations follow ancient practice, and concide with early modern
custom in Spain and some parts of Italy like Venice and Genoa. But the rest of Europe followed a
different pattern--eating the larger meal in the late morning and smaller meal in the evening. The
evidence for this comes foremost from literary descriptions of meals that usually take place
mid-day. Even in the vast majority of cookbooks that offer menus, the grander meal was held at
mid-day...What is clear is that meal times gradually shifted, dinner being held later and later in the
day.
In the sixteenth century dinner was held around 11:00 a.m. By the seventeenth century it had
crept to 12:00 or 1:00 p.m. Samuel Pepys, the seventeenth-century English diarist, recorded
several dinners he ate at 12:00 replete with heavy drinking. In the eighteenth century fashionable
dinners, and the gentry and business classes in the cities who sought to imitate them, ate dinner
later and later in the afternoon...Actually the usual dinner time was 2:00 or 3:00 p.m. by
mid-century and by the late eighteenth century it was perhaps as late as 4:00 or 5:00 p.m. Only in
more recent times has it come to rest in the evening, when supper consequently became less
important. This development necessitated the invention of a new mid-day meal, lunch, which only
became standard at the very end of the eighteenth century. Even more elusive is evidence for
breakfast. Judging from cookbooks and dietary literature there was no such meal, or at least it
was only recommended to children, invalids and the elderly who have weak digestive systems and
must eat smaller meals more frequently. Nevertheless, there was such a meal, and some people
took it regularly...What appears to have happened is that as dinner moved later in the day, people
were hungrier first thing in the morning, especially when the evening meal was relatively small. In
countries where the evening meal was larger, breakfast did not become important. In southern
Europe it is still not a proper meal, but merely coffee and perhaps a piece of bread or pastry. In
England and the north the pattern was quite different...By the eighteenth century breakfast...was
eaten around 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning. Only in the nineteenth century did it emerge as a full
and sumptuous meal with bacon, eggs and even steaks. Thus the three-meal-a-day pattern we are
familiar with is a relatively recent phenomenon. The English afternoon meal called "tea" as a
snack between lunch and dinner also did not emerge until the nineteenth century...This kind of
evidence of course only relates to the meal patterns of the upper classes. From the comments of
dietary writers who usually disapproved of common custom, it is certain that laboring people ate
many more meals, usually a breakfast, dinner in the mid-morning, some form of snack at sundown
and then a small supper late in the evening. This pattern also persisted despite the shift in meal
times among elites."
---Food in Early Modern Europe, Ken Alabala [Greenwood Press:Westport CT] 2003 (p.
231-4)
18th century Britsh mealtimes:
The British Housewife: Cookery Books, Cooking and Society in Eighteenth-Century
Britain, Gilly Lehmann (various references throughout the book; charts p. 385-6)
"A Short History of [British] Mealtimes
1780
Breakfast 10AM; Dinner 3-5PM, Tea 7PM, Supper 10-11PM
1815
Breakfast 10AM (leisurely), 9AM (less leisurely), 8AM (working people); Luncheon Midday;
Dinner 3-5PM; Supper
10-11PM
1835
Breakfast, before 9AM; Luncheon (ladies only) Midday; Dinner 6-8PM; Supper depending upon
the timing and
substantiality of dinner
1860s/Middle Class
Breakfast 8AM (town), 9-10AM (country); Lunchoen 1-2PM; Dinner 6-8PM (depending upon
formality and
place)
1900
Early morning 8AM (tea, bread and butter); Breakfast 8-8:30AM; Luncheon Midday; Afternoon
tea 5PM, Dinner 7:30-8PM
1930s
Breakfast 8AM; Lunch/upper classes or Dinner/rest Midday-1PM; Afternoon tea 4PM; High tea
5-6PM; Dinner 7-8PM;
Supper 9-10PM.
---Consuming Culture: Why You Eat What You Eat, Jeremy MacClancy [Henry
Holt:New York] 1992 (p. 61-66)
[NOTE: These pages contain far more information than is paraphrased above. If you need details
please ask your
librarian to help you find a copy of the book.]
Period mealtime details
Current British meal times
"Mealtimes...These vary somewhat depending on the region of the country you are visiting, but in
general breakfast is
served between 7:30 and 9, and lunch between 12 and 2. Tea--an essential and respected part of
British tradition, and
often a meal in itself--is generally served between 4:30 and 5:30. Dinner or supper is served
between 7:30 and 9:30,
sometimes earlier."
---Fodor's Great Britain [1992] (p. 34)
ABOUT AMERICAN MEALTIMES
"American meal patterns over the past four centuries have varied across different regions of the
country and have been determined by an individual's occupation, social class, gender, ethnicity,
and personal preferences. Seasons, holidays, and the weekly round of activities also played a part
in determining what is eaten when. All meals, whether served at home or in a restaurant, are
structured events...In colonial times, American meal patterns followed European
practices, in which the extended family participated in meals, which occurred three times a day;
the standard meals were breakfast, dinner, and supper. As the first meal of the day, breakfast...was
eaten immediately upon rising or a few hours later, after the earliest chores have been
completed...Working men and schoolchildren returned home for dinner, the main meal of the day,
which was traditionally served in the early or late afternoon...Supper, the last meal of the day, was
light and, sometimes, optional. It was eaten in the early evening...The traditional meal pattern
began to change duirng the mid-nineteenth century, due in part to the growth of cities and the
shifting of occupations of American men. The first meal to change was dinner. As towns and cities
grew, it became more difficult for wokers to return home for dinner at midday as the distance
between home and the place of work increased...Dinner, the most important meal of the day,
moved to the evenings, when the family could dine together at a more leisurely pace. The midday
repast came to be called lunch...and evolved into a small, light, and frequently rushed meal--often
something brought from home in a tin pail or a brown bag, or a quick bite in a workplace
cafeteria. Sandwiches, soups, and salads became common luncheon foods...After World War II,
the American meal pattern changed yet again...Snacking became increasingly common as the
century progressed, and the "three squares" diminished in importance."
---Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew F. Smith editor [Oxford
University Press:New York] 2004, Volume 2 (p. 65-7)
Early 20th century USA
Mealtimes, and meal titles, at the turn of the 20th century were a reflection of social status, not location. Wealthy folks emulated the latest British etiquette while farm families and poorer folks stuck to the traditional agrarian standards. Folks living in institutional settings (military, hospitals, schools, prisons) ate according to regulations. For example: A wealthy person's dinner party would commence anywhere from 6-8PM, while a mid-western farm family might be sitting down to dinner (their main meal of the day) at noon. The wealthier you were, the later (and longer) the breakfast. Lunch cut across all social classes at this time. Priviledged ladies entertained each other with fancy luncheons while factory workers and school children chowed down sandwiches in brief, prescribed breaks. Regardless of time and place, the general distinction between dinner and supper is the former indicates the main meal of the day; the latter is a light repast. If you took your dinner at noon, you supped at 5 or 6. If you took your dinner at 8, you might sup at 11. Period etiquette books were written for the wealthy and upper middle classes. Meal times and dining notes generally address social occasions rather than family (informal) meals. General notes here:
[1904]
"The hour for luncheon is usually half after 1, the matter of time being its chief distinction from a breakfast, as the latter is served at noon; though another point of different is that while luncheons are frequently given without any more particular meaning than enjoyment, breakfasts come after certain ceremonies or occasions, as for instance, a wedding breakfast or a hunt breakfast....The dinner hour varies from half after 6 to 8 o'clock."
---The Good Housekeeping Hostess, facsimile 1904 edition [Hearst Books:New York] (p. 14-15)
[NOTE: This reprint is readily available. Your local public librarian will be happy to help you obtain a copy. It contains detailed descriptions of how to give parties from invitations to instructions for serving.]
[1905]
Formal dinner at 8PM (p. 6); "Formal luncheon is served as a rule at one, half-past one, or two o'clock--not later than the latter hour, lest it spoil the guest's appetite for dinner." (p. 36-7); "The modern supper is not, as a rule, the first and foremost object of an evening's entertainment, but is usually an adjunct to some other form of festivity, such as a theatre or card party, or reception. Among the exceptions to this are the so-called game, wine, and
fish suppers, popular among the "men-folk." Suppers are of various degrees of formality--from the delightfuly informal chafing-dish "spread" to an affair scarcely less elaborate than the formal dinner...there is no variation from the general rules applying to those features of the formal dinner...[no specific time recommended ] (p. 42-43); "The formal breakfast--or perhaps it would be more accurate to say the company breakfast, for this meal is not as a rule very formal--is much in favor with people of the leisure class...who frequently have considerable time to kill...The hour for a breakfast is usually twelve o'clock, but very often it is as early as ten; never later than noon, for it would then infringe upon the hours appointed by custom for luncheons." (p. 49); "In America the six-o'clock dinner prevails very generally, and the "Five o'Clock Tea" custom has gained comparitively little foothold; it has been adopted by the leisure clases, and is also popular with the college girl, the bachelor maid, the artist, and the so-called Bohemian circle." (p. 53)
---Consolidated Library of Modern Cooking and Household Recipes, Christine Terhune Herrick [R.J. Bodmer Company:New York] 1905 , Volume 1: The Modern Hostess
In sum, American famlies in this period could be eating breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner (wealthy, priviledged), supper OR breakfast, dinner, supper (agrarian, rural) OR breakfast, lunch, dinner, (middle class, industrial workers).
Appetizers, hors d'oeuvres, starters, antipasto, gustus, tapas, maza, mezze, zakuski, dim sum, smorgasbord...small foods served before meals to whet the appetite play integral roles in many cultures and cuisines. Offerings and traditions developed according to regional taste. It is important to note that appetizers were not part of all menus through time. In many cuisines this is a relatively recent practice. This explains why there is no such thing as "authentic" colonial American appetizers; only creative adaptations based on period recipes.
"...many of the great cuisines of the world -- Chinese, Japanese, Middle Eastern, Spanish, French
and Italian, just for starters -- have long recognized that dawdling over small servings of many
different dishes, sharing tidbits and discoveries, not only stretches out a pleasant social evening
but bonds friends together in a very emotional way. In fact, the
very word "companion" comes from the Latin com panis, or "with bread," meaning the person
you share meals with -- friendship defined by dining...The most familiar versions are Middle
Eastern mezze and their Spanish derivatives tapas; Chinese dim sum (meaning, sweetly, "touch
the heart"); French canapes and hors d'oeuvres (themselves derived from the Russian zakuski);
and Italian antipasti. In Vietnam, such drinking dishes are called "do nhau" -- literally, "little
bites," and sounding not unlike "doughnut." The Thai, who might be the world's masters of
outdoor gourmet dining, call them "kanto." Indians refer to samosas and other such little fried
finger foods, cheerfully enough, as "chat."
---"Bite-Size Cusine," Eve Zibart, Washington Post, Sept. 4, 1998 (p. N26)
ANCIENT GREECE & ROME
"The Athenians were also responsible for inventing the original hors d'oeuvre trolley, which
other Greeks adduced as proof of their miserly disposition. An Athenian dinner, claimed Lynceus,
was an insult to a hungry man. 'For the cook sets before you a large tray on which are five small
plates. One of these holds garlic, another a pair of sea urchins, another a sweet wine sop
[probably
some scraps of wine-soaked bread or marinated fish], another ten cockles, the last a small piece of
sturgeon'."
---Food in History, Reay Tannahill [Crown:New York] 1988 (p. 69)
"The Romans served many different appetizers to begin their banquets. The most popular items
were seasoned eggs and egg-based dishes, vegetables, salad, mushrooms and truffles, assorted
shellfish, cheese with herbs, olives, sausages, and even more filling dishes, such as complicated
fricassees and casseroles, which today would be considered complete meals in themselves."
---A Taste of Ancient Rome, Ilaria Gozzini Giacosa [University of Chicago:Chicago] 1992
(p. 49) [book includes recipes adated for
modern kitchens]
"Starters (prommolsis and gustation). The aperitif was supposed to aid digestion. Aperitifs
included vermouth (wormwood), spiced wine, mead or muslum; it was traditionally poured into a
communal drinking-bowl and passed from guest to guest. The ritual, called potio, consolidated
the sense of convivality. The promulsis might consist of oysters, marinated octopus,
marinated vegetables, cauliflower, onion, garlic, snails, sea urchins, wild mushrooms and, above
all, salsamentum, such as ham, bacon and especially salted fish. A Roman meal usually
began with eggs and ended with fruit...Eggs were boiled, baked, or sucked raw from the shell.
Patinae usually involved large numbers of eggs: hot or cold stuffed omelettes, custards,
and tarts like quiches...Olives were rarely absent. Black or green and salted as they are today, they
were served without further preparation. Sometimes they were pitted and gorund into a kind of
tapenade: epithyrum...Dishes such as epithyrum were eaten with bread, which was
never absent. It was also the base for various moretum dishes...Rabbit, sow's udder and
roast pork might appear as starters, but lighter dishes, like sausages, fish and meatballs, dormice,
small fish and birds, were more usual."
---Around the Roman Table: Food and Feasting in Ancient Rome, Patrick Faas [Palgrave
MacMillan:New York] 1994 (p. 78-9)
"Salads, cooked vegetables, fungi and some light egg or fish dishes supplied the 'gustus' or hors
d'oeuvre at a Roman meal."
---Food and Drink in Britain, C. Anne Wilson [Academy Chicago:Chicago] 1991 (p. 326)
Antipasto?
"Antipasto...is an Italian term for 'hors d'oeuvres'...English actually took the word over in the
sixteenth century, and partially naturalized it to antepast ( The first mess [course], or antepast as
they call it, is some fine meat to urge them to have an appetite,' quoted in the Harleian
Miscellany, 1590)."
[in the 19th century]" The debate on popular, bourgeois, and aristocratic cooking influence the
structure of the meal, modifying it profoundly. Many dishes were moved to a subsequent course,
while others were assigned a new role...Among the many issues related to form, the question of
the antipasto was the most important. With its profusion of different foods, it was the only part of
the meal that reflected the courses offered on the tables of the aristocracy. Its evolution in the
bourgeois meal continued to be tied to the stimulation of appetite and the dietary organization of
the menu. The success it attained in lower-middle-class festivities, in trattorie and fine restaurants,
and its decline at the dinner table made it all the more enigmatic, especially since its contents
altered without ever changing completely...From the historical viewpoint antipast should not
really be considered in the category of hors d'oeuvre. The term antipasto first appears in the
sixteenth century, and Domenico Romoli usues it in the modern sense to mean the initial course.
The term "hors d'oeuvre" by contrast is used by Massailot in Paris in 1691 to indicate dishes,
such as artichoke hearts or pork trotters, that served as a supplement to the first of second course,
as a kind of entrements that could also be presented after the roast. Etymologically, as Panzini
shows, if a meal is considered to be the main project (oeuvre), then preparations that are
supplementary or marginal to it are considered outside (hors) its scope. Il cuoco
piemontese (The Piedmontese cook), written in 1766, uses the term in this sense, citing
supporting soups as the hors d'oeuvre but limits its use to the first course. It was only in the
following century that "antipasto" and "hors d'oeuvre" became synonymous. Romoli reflects the
appetizing function of this course by proposing fresh, unsalted cheese, capers, and little fritters,
which are meant to stimulate the appetite without filling the stomach. It was initially a cold but
very varied course..."
Artusi, in Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well ( c. 1891) adds:
"Appetizers or antipasti are, properly speaking, those delicious trifles that are made to be eaten either after the pasta course, as is practiced in Tuscany, which seems preferable to me, or before, as is done elsewhere in Italy. Oysters, cured meats such as prosciutto, salami, mortadella, and tongue, or seafood such as anchovies, sardines, caviar, "mosciame" (which is the salted back of the tuna fish), etc., may be served as appetizers, either alone or with butter. In addition, the fried breads I describe below make excellent appetizers."
Artusi's recipes include Crostini di Capperi (canapes with capers), Crostini di Tartufi (truffle canapes), Crostini de Fegatini di Pollo (canapes with chicken livers), Crostini de Fegatini di Pollo Con La Salvia (canapes with chicken livers and sage), Crostini di Beccaccia (woodcock canapes), Crostini Diversi (various canapes), Crostini di Caviale (caviar canapes), Crostini di Accuighe (anchovy canapes), Crostini die Caviale, Acciughe E Burro (canapes with caviar, anchovies and butter), Sandwiches, Crostini de Fegatini e Acciughe (canapes with chicken livers and anchovies), Crostini di Milza (canapes with spleen), Crostini Fioriti (fancy canapes), and Baccala Montebianco (salted codfish mont blanc style).
Artusi's book is easily obtained in English translation. We recommend the Murtha Maca/Stephen Sartarelli translation, Marsilio Publishers, NY ISBN 1-56886-039-0. Your librarian will be happy to help you get a copy.
MIDDLE EAST
SPAIN
"The tapas tradition--that delightful Spanish custom of gathering before lunch and again before
dinner for a glass of wine or beer and a sampling of appetizers--is so very popular in Spain as
much for the Spaniard's overriding need for company and conversation as for the delicious food,
which may range from the sophisticated to the most simple fare...Tapas will be found in even the
smallest bar in the tiniest village. The choice in such places will typically be limited to cured ham,
chorizo, and cheese, unless there is someone unusally inventive in the kitchen. But it is in the big
regional centers of Madrid, Barcelona, Santiago de Compostela, Sevila, and Malaga where tapas
often become inspired and are of an overwhelming variety. The Bar Gayango in Madrid is perhaps
the epitome of a tapas bar, where no less than seventy-six tapas...are available...Tapas are
sometimes taken on the honor system, but in general are served by waiters...The word tapa,
meaning cover or lid, is thought to have originally referenced to the complimentary plate of
appetizers that many tascas would place on top of one's wineglass--like a "cover." Anything,
however, served in small portions can be considered a tapa...Tapas and first course dishes are
often interchangeable...While it is obvious that canapes and tartlets would be served only as tapas,
any of the clam or mussel dishes are also excellent as first-course offerings."
"Tapas are savour snacks served in Spanish bars, and typically washed down with glasses of cold
vino or manzanilla sherry. They are now of considerable diversity, ranging from simple olives,
potato salad, and small spicy sausages to fried shrimps, stuffed peppers, and squid cooked in its
ink. The word tapa literally means 'lid' in Spanish, and its gastronomic application comes from the
practice of covering glasses or jugs of drink on the bar with edible 'lids', such as a piece of bread
or sausage, to keep out the flies."
RUSSIA
FRANCE
"Hors d'oeuvres...a French term which has been current in a food context since the 17th century
(In England, only from the 18th), indicating minor, usually cold, items of food served at the
beginning of a meal. In the 20th century, until quite recent times the hors d'oeuvres trolley was a
familiar sight in restaurants, incorporating up to several dozen little recipients containing the
various delicacies on offer. Typical items would be anchovies, sardines, slices of smoked fish,
olives, radishes, sliced tomato (or other salad vegetable), various sorts of sausage and other
charcuterie, etc. Hot hors d'oeuvres could be miniature savoury pastries or tiny fritters or other
similar tidbits; but these do not belong to the mainstream hors d'oeuvres tradition."
[1869]
"Hors-d'Oeuvre in General Use. In this chapter I give a selected list of the hors-d'oeuvre most in use in ordinary
households; it may be objected, that these belong rather to the maitre d'hotel's department, than to the cook's; but this will
not be the case in smaller establishments, where the plain cook will have to attend to these, in addition to her ordinary work;
this list of hors-d'ooeuvre has therefore appeared to me to have its proper place in domestic cookery. It is customary to dish up
hors-d'oeuvre in small oval dishes or flat boats."
[1903}
"Cold and Hot Hors-d'Oeuvre
ENGLAND
SWEDEN
"Smorgasbord. The best-known feature of the cuisine of Sweden, is related to the Russian
Zakuski and also to Hors D'oeuvres and Mezze, but less closely to Tapas. It assumed something
like its present form in the course of the 19th century, following old traditions of placing all foods
on the table at once and of guests bringing their own contributions. Nowadays, it is usually
prepared by the hostess, without contributions, and consists in an assortment of cold dishes,
cometimes supplemented by hot ones, served either as the preliminary to a meal...or as a full
buffet meal. The literal meaning of the term is buttered-bread table', which might lead one to
expect an array of open sandwiches. In practice the various savoury items (cured herring in
various forms, other seafood delicacies, cold meats, various salads, and cheeses) are presented
with various Swedish crispbreads or the like, and only a few items, if any, would appear as
miniature open sandwiches. When smorgasbord is a full buffet meal, a typical sequence of
course' would be herring (always first); other seafood items such as gravlaks; what are called
small warm dishes'...cold meats and the like; cheese/fruit/light dessert."
About Swedish smorgasbord in the United States
"Smorgasbord. A buffet meal of Swedish origins that has become in this century a very popular
party spread. The word...first appeared in American print in 1893. The idea soon caught on, so
that by 1941 the West Hartford Ladies Aid Society Swedish American Cook Book listed several
suggestions for a smorgasbord, including the following items: butter balls, Swedish rye bread,
pumpernickel, hardtack, pickled herring, baked ham, smoked tongue, lingonberries, radish roses,
omelets, "Rulle Pulse" (rolled pressed lamb), "liver pastej" (liver paste), jellied veal, head cheese,
hot Swedish meatballs, Swedish pork sausage, brown beans, Swedish fish pudding, smoked
salmon, stuffed eggs, potato salad, "sill salad" (herring salad), meat and potato sausage, fruit
salad, Swedish apple cake, and coffee with cream. Today smorgasbords may still contain many of
these same times, as well as dishes from other countries."
"[The Fifties] While French cooking carried the most cachet (and was considered the most
difficult), Scandinavian cookery--to go with the plethora of blond Danish Modern furniture and
bright -colored Dansk pots decorating the choicest homes--was In, In, In. And though
Scandinavian restaurants were popular...Scandinavian food was most often found a buffet parties.
For what could be more modern, more chic, more fun, and easier, than a smorgasbord at a party?
Said House & Garden (November 1959), "As a good delicatessen can supply the bulk of the fish
appetizers, cold cuts, Scandinavian cheese and breads, you can afford to spend time making salads
and hot foods and preparing and garnishing one or two spectacular dishes such as a Swedish
salmon in aspic." Decorations for a smorgasbord were easy, too. All the hostess needed were a
few Swedish straw stars, some slim white candles, and the food, arrayed on teak trays, Swedish
crystal bowel, and gleaming chafing dishes. To go with the food: beer and aquivit...and pots of
strong, hot coffee...Salmon in aspic never caught on big as a party dish, but Swedish meatballs
became an American standard for both home eating and for buffets.
"About Smorgasbord. This Scandinavian spread has bee in this country so thoroughly adapted to the casusal cocktail hour that some of
us have lost sight of its original importance. Smorgasgord in its original country is a square meal in itself, not the prelude to one. Its mainstays of meat and fish--and the aquavit which washes them down--are climactic inperatives when subarctic weather
hovers for months outside the door...The food of which a somrgasbord is traditionally composed are sufficeitnly dissimilar to
require at least three plates and silver services per person...Typical of those [dishes] first presented are herring, hot and cold,
smoked el, salmon or shellfish--a served with small boiled potatoes, seasoned with dill-and at least three kinds of bread with small
mountains of butter balls...With the first change of plate come cheeses, deviled eggs, pancakes and omelets with lingonberries,
sausages, marinated and pickled vegetables and aspics. With the next, hot foods follow, such as meatballs, ham with apples, goose
with prunes, tongue and baked beans."
Wondering about Swedish meatballs?
It should be remembered tht while over-elaboration should be guarded against, in such as
precede a simple dinner, careless service is inexcusable. Dainty service and suitable garnish must
not be neglected; tiny dishes of glass or white china, holding just enough for one person, are most
suitable and effective for dotting about the table; though for less ceremonious occasions large
dishes may be used, say two or three, each containing a distinct variety.
The following list will enable a selection to be made, and suggest many other combinations.
The chief materials available are anchovies, anchovy paste or butter, beetroot, capers, cress,
celery, chervil, cods' roe paste, cucumber, caviare, herring roes or filets, marinaded herrings,
lemons, lax (Norwegian salmon), mussels, olives plain or stuffed; oysters, pickles, smoked ham,
sausages, tongue, &c.; tarragon, tomatoes, &c. &c. Various potted meats, fish pastes, and
butters, play an important part in the garnishing of the dishes. Many small savouries which would
also be served as Hors D'Oeuvres will be found under that
and other headings later on...." (p.21)
Recipes in this book include Anchovies, Bouchees de Harengs, Bouchees de Saumon, Caviare,
Devilled, Canapes a la Premier, Canapes d'Olives, Croutons a l'Alberta, Sardines in Aspic,
Shrimps a la Dorisa and Hors D'Oeurvres Assortis. (p. 21-23)
Breakfast, like most meals, is a moveable feast that depends upon cuisine, culture, and class.
Food historians agree on these three points when it comes to breakfast:
ABOUT AMERICAN BREAKFAST
The history of the American breakfast is a reflection of the history of our country. What
people ate for breakfast, how much, and when evolved as our country progressed from
native culture to agrarian society, through the industrial revolution and onto modern days. Most
traditional American breakfast items were brought here by the people who settled our
country. Historians confirm eggs (esp. omeletes), sausage, and pancake-type foods have been
enjoyed since Ancient Rome and Greece.
Breakfast also tells the story of social interaction and scientific advancement:
What time was breakfast? What was typically consumed at this meal throughout American
history? This is a fascinating study. The answers depend upon who you were, where you lived,
how much money you had, and what you did for a living. As a rule, the more money you had, the
more you ate, the later you ate it, and the more time you spent around the table. Throughout our
country's history, it is not unusual for many hard workers to put in a couple of hours of work
BEFORE breakfast.
"Even more elusive is the evidence for breakfast. Judging from cookbooks and dietary literature
there was no such meal, or at least it was only recommended for children, invalids and the elderly
who have weak digestive systems and must eat smaller meals more frequently. Nevertheless, there
was such a meal, and some people took it regularly. The word itself comes from the late Latin
disjejunare, meaning "to un-fast' or break the fast of the evening. Remarkably, the word
was contracted in the Romance languages to disnare or disner in Olde French, or
dinner in English. Thus the word dinner actually means breakfast. But the word is not recorded in
English until 1463 in a royal account book that records expenses for breakfast, but it is not
entirely clear whether this was an early dinner or another meal, the one we know know as
breakfast, eaten first thing in the morning."
"Breakfast...Native American breakfast consisted of cornmeal mush and perhaps cornbread, both
items the first European settlers adapted for their own breakfasts. The settlers also breakfasted on
a quickly prepared porridge called "hasty pudding," made with cornmeal and molasses. Later
bread or toast and coffee or tea were the usual breakfast, while in the nineteenth century affluence
brought more variety to the diet and larger portions of meats, fish, cheese, bread, jams, and often
a tot of rum or cider. Also popular were pancakes, especially buckwheat pancakes, which were
consumed in stacks with butter and molasses or maple syrup...
In different parts of the United States different food items are served for breakfast, although a
meals of eggs, bacon, toast, and coffee seem ubiquitious, with the addition in the South of grits,
ham, or biscuits, in the West with chile peppers, and in the Northeast with sausages and
hash-brown potatoes, and in urban restaurants with preparations of eggs benedict, finnan haddie,
melon, french toast, caviar, waffles, Danish pastry, fruit, English muffins, and many other items In
Jewish communities breakfast may consist of bagels and cream cheese.
The popularity of breakfast cereals began in the middle of the nineteenth century and has
continued since then, especially a children's breakfast item."
Why do many Americans think of eggs & bacon as breakfast?
Excellent question! With no definative answer.
The American habit of breakfasting with eggs and pork products (bacon, sausage, Taylor Pork Roll) descends from British roots. General notes traditional English
breakfasts here.
Why eggs in the morning? Some hypothesize the practice descends from the days when many people had their own chickens, hense ready eggs supply. Eggs were harvested in the morning. The fresher the egg, the tastier it was. Immediate consumption might also been a a convenience to the cook: eggs eaten are
eggs that do not need to be stored. And then, there's the practical side. Eggs cook quickly.
RECOMMENDED READING
Some traditional American breakfast foods:
"TRADITIONAL AMERICAN BREAKFAST" THROUGH HISTORY
[Colonial era]
[18th century]
[19th century]
20th century
COMPARE WITH BRITISH BREAKFAST HABITS
"If the British are known for any culinary achievement it is the great British breakfast and it was in
this century that it achieved its status. Even in the nineteenth century bacon for breakfast would
become almost de rigeur, even for the lower classes, as long as thy could afford it...At the
beginning of Victoria's reign the essence of the breakfast, eggs and bacon, with the eggs cooked
in a variety of ways, had already become the expected way to start the day. The meal began with
porridge or cream of oatmeal...continued with the cooked part, and finished with toast and
marmalade; coffee or tea was drunk with it. Both the porridge and the eggs and bacon could be
cooked beforehand and left in heated dishes upon the sideboard for the master and mistress to
help themselves...As the family became richer the breakfast grew, almost as a reflection of the
power and affluence of the British Empire iteslf."
What is the current "traditional" English
breakfast?
SURVEY OF BRITISH BREAKFASTS THROUGH TIME
[Medieval times]
"...what were the mealtimes and how often did people eat in a day? The very poor doubtless ate
when they could, but the slightly better-off peasants seem generally to have eaten three times a
day. These meals consisted of breakfast at a very early hour to allow for dinner at about 9.00
a.m., or not later than 10.00 a.m., and supper probably before it got dark, perhaps at 3 p.m. in the
winter, The times and number of meals were originally derived from the hours of devotions of the
Church. Monks ate the main meal of their day after the celebration of nones, which was nine
hours after daybreak...It has been suggested that breakfast was only eaten by children and
workmen, but certainly by the fifteenth century it was quite commonly taken by everyone.
Breakfast was regularly allowed for in the accounts of Dame Alice de Bryene at the beginning of
the fifteenth century, although the 1478 household ordinance of Edward IV specifies that only
residents down to the rank of squires should have breakfast, except by special order...The time
was only specified as a convenyent hower', although to break one's fast after devotions was the
generally recommended procedure. Earlier references to breakfast sometimes meant dinner,
literally, in these cases, the first meal of the day."
"For those who had the means or lived in a region where wine was plentiful and cheap, pieces of
bread, or "sops," soaked in wine were a popular breakfast."
"People in the Middle Agest usually ate two meals a day: as substantial dinner around noon, and a
light supper in the evening...Although not officially recognized as a meal through most of the
Middle Ages and frowned on by moralists, breaking the overnight fast too soon for an
early-morning breakfast was a comon practice among peasants and craftsmen, who started work
at
daybreak and found it hard to hold out until dinner. By the fifteenth century, the nobility, too,
began the day with bread, meat, and ale. Also traditionally allowed a small morning meal were
children, the elderly, and the sick. Grown men, not wanting to be associated with these groups,
tended to feel apologetic or embarrassed to admit that they had breakfast."
[Tudor period]
"The 'traditional' large British breakfast was not something the Tudors indulged in. Some did not
eat breakfast at all, while those who did generally enjoyed a light meal of bread and sometimes
cold meat. At Court, only dinner and supper were served, and Thomas Tusser recommended that
servants should not be allowed to sit down to eat before they had done some work."
"Breakfast was not a family meal: those who took it (and not all did) had it in their rooms."
What kinds of food were available in Tudor England?
If you need to serve a Tudor breakfast you might consider toasted bread with marmelade and
some (cold) ham. Tudors didn't drink coffee or tea. They drank ale (beer) with most of their
meals!
[1660s]
[Georgian & Regency periods] The Elegance of
Breakfast
[1780]
[1815]
[1835]
[1840s]
[1854]
[1860s]
[1861] Breakfasts,
Mrs. Beeton (#2144-2146)
[1900]
[1930s]
LOOKING FOR CURRENT BREAKFAST CUSTOMS AROUND THE WORLD?
Breakfast Around The
World
If you need more information, ask your librarian to help you find these books:
1. The International breakfast book: greet the day with 100 recipes from around the
world/
Martha Hollis
CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST
Acccording to the Larousse de la Langue Francaise [Librarie Larousse:Paris] 1979 (p.
511), the word 'dejeuner', meaning "to take a meal in the morning or afternoon," dates in print to
1155. The term petit dejeuner' was in use by 1540.
"What appears to have happened is that as dinner moved later in the day, people were hungrier
first thing in the morning, especially when the evening meal was relatively small. In countries
where the evening meal was larger, breakfast did not become important. In southern Europe it is
still not a proper meal, but merely coffee and perhaps a piece of bread or pastry. In England and
the north the pattern was quite different."
"Breakfast. The first meal of the day, which literally breaks the fast of the night. Two quite
different breakfast traditions can be traced--the first hot drink (and pick-me-up) of the day, and
the first meal of the day, which is much more substantial. In France this is the petit dejeuner, milky
coffee with bread in some form, not commonly called the 'continental' breakfast, and often
bought in the cafe, on the way to work...Other simple foods that are popular for breakfast include
fresh fruit and yogurt."
Continental breakfast was known to Americans by the turn of the 20th century. According to this
article from the New York Times, it was not very popular.
"Undoubtedly it is true that during the past few years there has been a well defined effort to
substitute the Continental breakfast of rolls and coffee for the hearty meal of many dishes that has
so long been served in this country but, though this project has received the support of more than
one American of high social station, it has failed ignominously, and simply because the great mass
of the people agree with William Dean Howells in designating breakfast as their "best meal."
If you are a culinary/business student studying the "business" aspects of continental breakfast
(consumer preference, market trends, innovative ideas) ask your librarian how to access magazine
and newspaper articles. Here you will find notes from travel magazines, hospitality journals (free
continental breakfast as a guest incentive) and foodservice trades (what's new in continental
breakfast?).
Culinary evidence confirms well-supplied leisurely enjoyed meals have been the privilege of the
wealthy and noble classes since the beginning of civilization. Dining times, order of service, length
of meals, and proper social etiquette vary with period and culture but one point remains constant:
only the very rich could afford to spend extended time and expense indulging themselves in the
pleasures of food.
According to the food historians, brunch is a turn of the 19th/20th century tradition
originating
in Britain. It is generally founded on the same principles of leisured priviledge. That may explain
the American popular tradition of Mother's
day brunch . What better way to show mom how much she
means to the family than by elevating her status to this elite level? It's as much about
the food as it is about the time it takes to enjoy the meal.
"Brunch...a portmanteau word combining 'breakfast' with 'lunch' for a meal taken late in the
morning or just around noon. According to the English magazine Punch (August 1, 1896),
brunch
was 'introduced...last year by Mr. Guy Beringer, in the now defunct Hunter's Weekly, and
indicating a combined breakfast and lunch, probably one taken just after arriving home from
hunting. The practice of having brunch did not really take hold in the United States until the
1930s, but today it is part of many hotel and restaurant manus on weekends..."
"Credit for the word brunch, however, belongs elsewhere. The 1972 supplement to the Oxford
English Dictionary says it first appeared in Hunter's Weekly in 1895. According to the
Aug. 1,
1896, issue of the magazine Punch: ''To be fashionable nowadays we must 'brunch'. Truly
an
excellent portmanteau word, introduced, by the way, last year, by Mr. Guy Beringer, in the now
defunct Hunter's Weekly, and indicating a combined breakfast and lunch.'' The Oxford
dictionary
says the word is university slang. Evan Jones, author of American Food: The Gastronomic
Story, says he first became aware of brunch at the famous Pump Room in Chicago's
Ambassador Hotel in 1933. In the days before jet travel made bicoastal living a matter of hours
each way, movie stars with business on both coasts would stop between trains in Chicago on their
way across the continent. On Sunday stopovers they brunched at the Pump Room. Mr. Jones says
it was as much a scene as lunch at the Four Seasons is today. "
"As a family became richer the breakfast grew, almost as a reflection of the power and afflucence
of the British Empire itself. As the map of the world glowed pink, the sideboard in the morning
room began to be laden with extra dishes. It already had a choice of cold cuts, comprised of sliced
meats, and perhaps even a whole leg of ham or tongue...it was a short step to dipping chicken or
pheasant legs in mustard and heating them up in the oven...A Breakfast Book of 1865,
suggesting a huge number of other dishes...brawn, pickled pork, curres and devilled bones, fried
potatoes, pork chops, veal cutlets, bloaters and anchovies. As well as this, the cook could make
us dishes like ham toast, croquettes, hashed game and rissoles...Then there were savoury
puddings, savoury pies, galantines and meat in jelly...Major L., who published Breakfasts,
Luncheons, and Ball Suppers in 1887, divides breakfast into four types: the family breakfast;
the dejeuner a la fourchette, where the items were introduced in courses similar to dinner; a cold
collations (which must produce an ornamental effect); and the amigu which is an entertainment of
a very heterogenous character, having the resemblance to a dinner, only that everything is placed
on the table at once; releves, soup, vegetables, and hot entremets are held to be ineligeble...These
are breakfasts designed for the weekend house party; Major L. suggests that they should contain a
variety of items and he repeats much of what we hav heard before: he thinks that sportsmen can
eat whatevery they like, but he is concerned that ladies should be more abstemious though he
admits that they rarely eat meat for breakfast'. By meat he means roasts and cutlets becuase then
he goes on to list what ladies may eat; this includes ham, bacon, chicken, kidneys, roast larks,
broiled duckings and devilled turkey...Such opulence and conspicious consumption of luxuries is
reminscent of Renaissance princes, medieval kings and Roman emperors."
"Although the meal itself came to glory in the United States, the word is a British invention,
coined in 1895 by Guy Beringer in a visionary article titled "Brunch: A Plea." Instead of England's
early, a postchurch ordeal of heavy meats and savory pies, the author wrote, why
not a new meal, served around noon, that starts with tea or coffee, marmalade and other breakfast
fixtures before moving along to the heavier fare? By eliminating the need to get up early on
Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday-night carousers. It would promote human
happiness in other ways as well. "Brunch is cheerful, sociable and inciting," Beringer wrote. "It is
talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow
beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.""
Earlier reference??!
Menus & trends
1924: America:
A Winter Breakfast
A Summer Breakfast
What is served for brunch in American restaurants? You can check several historic
menus with the Los Angles Public Library's Digital Menu collection.
Use keyword search: brunch. Many of these are from the 1980s, some are from the 1960s.
Popularity is an interesting measure...#times a dish shows up on menus does not necessarily correlate with actual consumption. Take
Eggs Benedict, for example. This can be a a very rich and heavy item. I know folks who expect to see
EB item on the menu but would never consider ordering it. It is our experience that
America's brunch crowd falls into two categories: young & experimental (they order anything, often eschewing heavy cream sauces) and old & health
compromised (eggs benedict of yore no longer digestible). Brunch buffets are the hardest to measure scientifically. We have seen folks consume everything from made-to-order
overstuffed omelettes with breakfast meat & artisan breads to gourmet yogurt, dry bran muffin & exotic fruit. A selection of Japanese foods are offered in our local
banquet hall's 2007 Easter Brunch menu. Both diners enjoying their meals immensely. Brunch is about
family/friends, choice and leisure. Your best bet for identifying current, trendy brunch innovations may be contacting key restaurants and ask which menu items sell
best (& to whom).
American brunch sales trends & consumer patterns are tracked by the National Restaurant Association: Mother's Day brunch projections [2006] & Easter Brunch statistics [2000].
If you want to research current brunch trends ask your librarian how to access EBSCO's
Masterfile and Business Source Elite databases. Together they provide nearly 700 articles on
brunch, 1984-present. You can add extra terms (a city, venue, ingredient, chef etc.) to focus your
search. Databases that cover newspapers & trade journals (ReQuester, Proquest, Dialog Business
& Industry) give serve you an even broader array of information. Ask your librarian which databases are available to you at home.
Lunch was introduced as a ladies' meal in the 18th century. Definitions and menus evolved through
time. The Industrial Revolution played a key role in establishing this meal as our modern noontime repast.
"At the beginning of the sixteenth century in England, dinner, the main meal of the day, used to
bein at 11:00 a.m. Meals tended over time to be eaten later and later in the day: by the eighteenth
century, dinner was eaten at about 3:00 p.m. French dejeuner, like "breakfast." once meant
the first food eaten after waking from a long spent foodless...dejeuner is now used for
"lunch,"... In English, lunch or luncheon (originally also called "nunch" or nuncheon") was in the
first place a snack between meals. Dr. Johnson's Dictionary (1755) said Lunch or
Luncheon was "As much food as one's hand can hold"; he suggess that it derives from "clutch" or
"clunch."...By the early nineteenth century, lunch...had become a sit-down meal at the dining table
in the middle of the day. Upper-class people were eating breakfast earlier, and dinner later, than
they had formerly done. Lunch having displaced the afternoon dinner...and having become a
substantial regular meal with a name of its own...By the late nineteenth century, luncheon had
become a social occasion mainly for elite women; at this time of day their menfolk were busy
seeing to their financial affairs...The corresponding French institution was dejeuner a la
fourchette, the lady-like "fork luncheon." Nowadays, lunch...has returned to its ancient
function as a workday snack."
"The midday snack was not dignified by a name in the eighteenth century, but the omission was not long permitted. In 1808 Jane
Austen described to her sister a day she had recently spent at Godmersham" 'The Moores came yesterday in the Curricle betwen one
& two o'clock, and immmediately after the noonshine which succeeded their arrival, a party set off for Buckwell to see the Pond
dragged...' Thsi term is a variant on wht Dr. Jonson called 'nunchin, defined as 'a piece of victuals eaten between meals'.
Twenty years later, it was called 'lunch' (defined by Johnson as 'as much food as one' hand can hold') that had take over. IN
1829 the committee of the exclusive Almanack's Club decreed that the correct word was 'lunch': 'luncheon is avoided as
unsuitable to...polished society'. The lexical uncertainty, and the preoccupation with the politeness of the term, shows that the
new meal was at first reserved for the upper classes: hardly surprising, since the main meal of the day, dinner, was still at
mid-day for the working classes."
"The prolonged and busy morning meant that there was no real need or accepted hour for lunch, and this meal crept only
gradually into existence during the second half of the nineteenth century; by that time breakfasts had become earlier and dinners
still later, so that lunch was viewed as a private family affair for mothers and children who needed some nourishment in the middle
of the day, not yet as another social meal to whoch guests could be invited. Afternoon tea in the drawing-room, as we know know it--
tea, with any combination of bread and butter, sandwiches, biscuits and sweet cakes, taken about four or five o'clock--was the latest
of modern meals to be created, a specifically social function inveneted by the leisured hostesses of the Edwardian
era. However, even if lunch did not officially exist in Jane Austen's lifetime, its origins were already there in the custom of
offering refreshments to morning callers, who by definition would arrive between 11.00am and 3.00pm. Such refreshments could include
cold meats, sandwiches, cake and seasonal or preserved fruits, which taken together could add up to quite a satisfying meal.
If the morning's business were shopping in town rather than calling upon neighbors, pastry-cook shops would provide tarts,
buns and other confectionery, to be washed down with a glass of whey, at a very modest charge. The coaching inns would also undertake
to provide cold food for travellers breaking their journeys in between the recognised mealtimes. Such an unofficial small meal might
be referred to, especially in the south of England, as a 'nuncheon'-a dialect word, with many variant spellings and pronounced
something like 'noonshine'."
"...dinner was by far the most significant meal of the day. At one time it had been held around noon, or in the early afternoon,
but the association of high status with mealtimes led ot a creeping inflation of the dinner hour. My Austen's day, the upper classes
served dinner to their children at about 2:00 or 3:00PM, while the adults ate at 5:00 or 5:00. The result was a long gap in the
middle of the day when no food was served...as the gap between breakfast and dinner widened, with everyone trying to eat later than
their neighbors, it became more common to have a little something between breakfast and dinner. However, this meal, known variously
as noonshine, nuncheon, or luncheon, did not become standard during Austen's lifetime. Even families who regularly indulged in
sandwiches, cold meat, or some other light fare around noon, the food was seen as refreshments or a "collation"...rather than
a full meal. It was eaten in the drawing room, which rather deprived it of full mealtime status. It might also be consumed on
the road at a inn, when travelers were at the mercy of schedules and of inn location. In such circumstances, they ate when they
had the chance, regardless of time and fashion. "Lunching" was not an English verb until the 1830s and did not become an
acceptable term among the educated until still later. On occasion, people chose to take their afternoon meal outdoors, in
which case the meal might be referred to as 'cold meat," a "cold collation," or a "picnic," The practice of eating outside
with packed lunches was also known as "gipsying." All members of the party were supposed to contribute something to the
meal, rather like a potluck dinner today..."
"The Nineteenth Century. The traditional meal pattern began to change during the mid-nineteenth century, due in part of the growth of cities and the shifting
occupations of American men. The first meal to change was dinner. As towns and cities grew, it became more difficult for workers to return home for dinner at
midday as the distance between the home and the place of work increased. Workers earning an hourly wage did not have paid lunch breaks, so they tended to
eat as quickly as possible...Dinner, the most important meal of the day, moved to the evening, wene the family could dine together at a more leisurely pace. The
midday repast came to be called lunch (shortened from "luncheon") and evolved into small, light, and frequently rushed meal--often something brought from home
in a tin pail or a brown bag, or a quick bite in a workplace cafeteria. Sandwiches, soups, and salads became common luncheon foods. Although somewhat more
the masters of their own schedules, professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, and businessmen, rarely had time to return home for a long afternoon meal. So they
ate larger, hearty breakfasts and big dinners, and skipped lunch or ate something light at work...By the late nineteenth century, the evening meal became the major
meal of the day; it evolved into an occasion for entertaining. Among the affluent, dinner was served later and the offerings were much more sumptuous then they had
been."
No such thing as a free lunch? False!
"Ploughman's Lunch"
Interesting question with several possible answers. Food historians confirm laborers (medieval ploughmen, pastoral
shepherds, copper miners, etc.) typically consumed simple, portable, belly-filling foods at midday. These dinners (the
practice of calling this midday meal lunch began in the 18th century, but was not widely accepted until the 20th) were
brought from home. Most often they consisted leftovers from the previous night's supper. Indeed, bread, cheese, salted
meat and preserved fruit/vegetable (aka pickle) were simple to pack and easy to consume without the aid of utensils.
Copper miners in Cornwall "lunched" on Cornish pasties for this reason.
The "Ploughman's Lunch" one finds in British pubs today is a modern twist on this old theme. According this British food
historian, this *standard* menu option dates to the 1960s. Notes here:
"The ploughman's lunch is often taken as an example par excellence of the hijacking and perversion of traditional food.
What, it is asked, could a ploughman find less satisfying after a back-breaking morning in the fields than an exiguous
piece of tasteless, unidentifiable cheese, a flaccid roll, a couple of limp lettuce leaves, and a dollop of commercial
pickle? The ploughman's as it is often abbreviated, began to appear in the pubs of Britian in the late 1960s. It was quick
to arrange, making it easy for publicans to satisfy the growing demand for pub food more adventurous than a packet of
crisps, and it had the added advantage for the marketing men of conjuring up a nostalgic vision of a simple hearty country
food. The basic ingredients--cheese, bread, and pickle--have remained the same, although what a Victorian farm labourer
would have thought of the pate which is now sometimes substituted for the cheese is nobody's business. What was the
nineteenth century's idea of what a ploughman had for lunch? ‘The surpised poet swung forth to join them, and an
improvised sandwich, that looked like a ploughman's luncheon, in his hand.' (J.G. Lockhart, Memoirs of the Life of Sir
Walter Scott, 1839)."
Period American cookbooks offer few suggested luncheon menus. Luncheon in the mid 1800s was still considered a fashionable meal practiced by the wealthier classes. Dinner was still the main meal of the day for most folks; often served at noon. This distinction sometimes causes confusion when searching for menus of this era. There are entire books written on dinner menus.
American lunch notes, 1863:
Sample luncheon menus, c. 1886
"Roman Punch Served in Ice Tumblers
French, from verb "diner," meaning to dine. First instance of this work in English print is 1297:
"The chief meal of the day, eaten originally, and still by the majority of the people, about the
middle of the day...but
now, by the professional and fashionable classes, usually in the evening."
""Dinner," in North America, increasingly means any evening meal, light or heavy; the word "supper" is used less and less, and
"dinner" can now be quite swift and small. Dinner parties usually take place at night."
"Dinner...The main meal of the day...The word dinner, dating to the thirteenth century in England,
derives from the
French "diner." Supper is also found in English as of the thirteenth century, from the French
so(u)per, itself possible
related to "soup," which was often the simple repast of the evening meal. In American usage,
"dinner dates in print to
1622. In America the tradition of eating the heaviest meal at midday was superceded in the 1820s
by the demands of
workers whose mealtime was often not paid for by their employers, thereby necessitating a quick,
light meal before
getting back to work. This became known as lunch, and the main meal of the day, "dinner," was
consumed after work
ended.
Sunday dinner?
"It is...easy to understand that the habit of cooking a joint on Sundays and using up the remains far into the following week derives from the difficulties of shopping
in English town life."
"The tradition the main meal in the afternoon was carried on as the "Sunday dinner," since
Sunday was for most
people the only day of the week off from work. Even after the five-day workweek became the
norm, the Sunday dinner,
held anywhere from noon onward, continued to be an American family gathering."
Modern families mourn the demise of traditional Sunday Dinner:
"Every near-by road, park and restaurant bears witness to the passing of the old-fashioned Sunday dinner from the neighborhood
of New York. Who, any longer, eats such a Sunday diner as did every self-respecting family a few decades ago--or less? The meal
used to be a ritual. The ceremony began with the dropping in, after morning worship, of relatives in black coats and rustling
silks. They gathered in the parlor to discuss every one who was not there until the aromas from the kitchen reminded them of
Sunday diners of their own. Some, however, always remained for the rolling back of folding doors. Sunday dinner was the weeek's
"company" meal. Among other things there would be chicken and pickles after grandmother's treasured recipe. In Summer there was
ice cream, home made, most likely, and in such quantities that every one was sure to get enough. But the oncoming generation will
cherish no such memories. The once set repast has become almost anything from a "shore dinner" to a mere snack. Sometimes it is
dispensed with entirely, a late breakfast and an early supper striving to bridge the gap. The pace of modern life is to blam, and tow
of its major problems are specifically responsible. Servant girls have looked upon the lot of their sisters in factory, office and
shop and rebelled against the seven-days-a-week job. They demand their Sundays off, and get them, letting the brunt of the burden
fall on the housewife. The housewife in her turn revels at the prospect of spending the day of rest in the kitchen; and so che
bundles the family off, maybe to a restaurant, maybe to a park or a bench refreshment stand, maybe for a picnic in the woods.
Even were help available for serving a Sunday feast at home, it is not very likely that New York would remain faithful to the old-
fashioned form. The traffic problem prescribes a Sabbath of a new order. Elsewhere one may attend servcies most properly and make
one's way home to dinner in peace and comfort, all without sacrificing the outing that every automobile owner considers essential
to Sunday; for when dinner is done, ample time remains for a spin on little-crowded country roads. But the New Yorker knows that he
must devote his day to the jaunt. New Yorkers take their lunch baskets with them and gayly speed away; or with less forethought
they keep going until some favorite inn is reached, or one of the Joneses and the Jenkinses have recommended, or one that merely
catches the eye in passing. Dinner on Sunday, in consequence, has lost its importance. It is no longer Sunday dinner."
French, from verb "souper," to sup. First instance of this word in English print is 1275.
"The last meal of the day; (contextually) for the hour at which this is taken, supper-time; also such
a meal made the
occasion of a social or festive gathering...Formerly the last of three meals of the day (breakfast,
dinner, and supper); now
applied to a substantial meal of the day when dinner is take in the middle of the day, or to a late
meal following an early
evening dinner. Supper is usually a less formal meal than late dinner."
"Our words "soup" and "supper" both come from "sop," the soaked bread that so often used to fill out the broth in its bowl."
""Supper" now means a light evening meal that replaces dinner; such a meal is especially popular if people have eaten a heavy
lunch."
---Rituals of Dinner, Margaret Visser [Penguin Books:New York] 1991 (p. 160)
People have been cooking on open fires since the beginning of human history. The meat they
cooked, fuel they used and structures they built depended upon what was available in that place at
that time. The history of barbeque is connected with European explorers and the New World.
According to the food historians, there are several theories about when & where
barbeque/barbecue/BBQ began:
"The word comes from the Spanish "barbacoa," which in turn had probably come from a similar
word in the Arawak language, denoting a structure on which meat could be dried or roasted.
When the word first entered the English language, in the 17th century, it meant a wooden
framework such as could be used for storage or sleeping on, without a culinary context. However,
by the 18th century it took on the first of its present meanings, and--at least in the USA--the
second one too. The third meaning, like the apparatus itself, became commonplace in the latter
part of the 20th century."
"Barbeque (outdoor grill)...An open-air cooking apparatus, usually charcoal burning, for grilling
or spit-roasting meat or fish. Charcoal cookery is the most ancient of cooking methods. The
Barbeque method is of American origin, being associated with the legendary conquest of the
West. It was subsequently adopted in Europe. The word probably comes form the Haitian
"barbacoa," meaning grills, but some attribute its origin to the French "de la barbe a la queue"
(from the beard to the tail), referring to the method of impaling the animal on the roasting spit.
There may even be a connection with the French "barbaque" which comes from the Romanian
"berbec" meaning roast mutton."
"From the Caribbean sources, directly or indirectly, the colonists also discovered how to
barbeque. The northern part of Hispaniola, one of the Spanish Islands, had never been properly
settled, the early pioneers having done little more than ship in come cattle and pigs. These, left to
their own devices, had flourished, so that when ship-wrecked sailors, runaway servants and other
kinds of vagabond began to take refuge on the island, the food supply presented no problems.
From surviving Caribs they learned the old island trick of smoke-drying meat on greenwood
lattices erected over a fire of animal bones and hides. The Caribs called the technique boucan,'
which passed into French as boucanier and gave the outcasts their name of buccaneers. In Spanish
the greenwood lattice was called barbacoa,' which intimately became 'barbeque'.
"An Arawak barbacoa was a grating of thin green sticks upon which meat was grilled above and
open fire....The Indians sliced their meat into thin strips, laid it upon the barbacoa and cooked it
slowly, exposing it to the smoke of the wood fire below, which was constantly enhanced with the
fat of the animal. Cooked and cured in this way, meat took on a more interesting flavor than that
obtained by the South American Indians, who cured their meat by drying it in the sun...To cook
meat on a barbacoa was, in the language of the early settlers, to boucan...One of the first men to
report on the Indian methods was Pere Labat, and extraordinary French priest who live in the
Caribbean in the late 1600s..."
"The Dictionary of American English shows that the word [barbeque] was in used in
America at least by 1655, when it first appeared in print, and by 1733 it had taken on the
implications of a social gathering. By 1836 barbeques were popular in Texas...Regional
distinctions and preferences for various styles have long been part of folkloric debate in
America..."
"Barbecue is a method of slow-cooking meat over coals, also known a barbeque, bar-b-q, BBQ,
or simply cue....Most authorities agree that both the word "barbecue" and the cooking technique
derive from the Taino and Carib peoples of the Caribbean and South America. The Spanish
conquistadores reported natives of Hispaniola roasting, drying, and smoking meats on a wooden
framework over a bed of coals, called a barbricot, which the Spaniards pronounced barbacoa. The
derivation from the French barge a queue, literally "from beard to tail," has been discounted.
Europeans had of course been cooking meat over fires for thousands of years. It was the low heat
of the coals and the consequent slowness of the process that set the New World method apart.
One Early French explorer reported: "A Caribbee has been known, on returning home from
fishing fatigued and pressed with hunger, to have the patience to wait the roasting of a fish on a
wooden grate fixed two feed above the ground, over a fire, so small as sometimes to require the
whole day to dress it." The Europeans in the New World quickly adopted this novel method of
slow cooking, discovering fairly early that hogs made great barbecue...Barbecue parties featuring
whole hogs became fashionable enough by the late 1600s that Virginia passed a law banning the
discharging of firearms at barbecues...The barbecue as a social occasion has been well
documented...The oldest form of American open pit barbecue is practiced all along the flat coastal
plain of the southeastern United States where the English colonists originally settled."
About barbeque sauce
We will probably never know who invented the first tomato-based barbeque sauce [and how it
tasted] but we can make educated guesses as to how various recipes evolved based on local
ingredients, cultural preferences and popular demand. A close cousin is ketchup, also made with
tomatoes, vinegar, sugar & spices. If you want to read more about the history of tomato-based
sauces in American cookery, ask your librarian to help you find this book: Pure Ketchup: A
history of America's national condiment, Andrew F. Smith [includes historic recipes--some of
which are quite like BBQ sauce].
Many Americans take great pride in their region's recipe for BBQ sauce. Most of these sauces
originate from the southern and central regions of our country: Texas, Kansas City, the Carolinas,
Louisana, Arkansas and Memphis. Other regions also produce local sauces, such as Syracuse,
New York.
History of
tomatoes
Related item? Mongolian Barbecue.
Several cultures have traditions for serving large numbers of people from a common table laden
with festive food. Ancient and Medieval civilizations banqueted. In the Netherlands it's called
Rijstaffel, in Sweden it's Smorgasbord, Spain has Tapas and Denmark offers Smorrebrod. The
French invented Buffet.
It is difficult to acertain the exact history of buffet because this word has several meanings
relating to food. It is not always possible, when reading primary texts, to determine with certainty
how the author is using the word. Food historians tell us the word "buffet" appears first in France,
then England, in the 18th century. A survey of historic New York Times articles confirms the
word was in frequent in the second half of the 19th century. Notes here:
"Buffet. A term which may either indicate a sort of sideboard (usually for the display of silver or
other tableware or for setting out prepared foods); or tables of food set out for guests to help
themselves; or a meal for which such an arrangement has been made; or refreshment room in a
railway station (buffet de la gare in France); or a railway carriage serving refeshments (buffet
car)."
"Buffet. A form of food service whereby diners move along the length of tables set with various
cold and hot foods. The word, from the French and dating in print to 1718, also applies to the
sideboard or cabinet on which the food is placed."
"The word buffet means a large tiered table often set near the entrance of a restaurant, on which
dishes of meats, poultry, fish, cold sweets, and pastries are arranged in a decorative manner. The
buffet of a large restaurant is, in fact, a show of choice edibles..."
"At formal medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque dinners, an edifice of shelves known as a "buffet"
was erected to one side of the dining hall; upon it the family silver--which was often far too
valuable to be subjected to the hazards of use--was proudly displayed. Later the food was
displayed there as well, so that guests could have a preview of what they would be eating, rather
as modern restaurants often exhibit dishes of food to tempt their customers. Later still, yet
another little room led from the dining room, where guests could visit the buffet. These shelves
for display, like the tables, had often been boards set up (dressers in French) for special
occasions; they are the origin of our dresser and cup boards...Beginning apparently in the
nineteenth century, a buffet' meal used to be laid out, not on the dining-room table but on the
dresser or sideboard...A buffet dinner now refers mainly to the action of helping oneself to the
food and then carrying it away to eat it elsewhere; guests often stand to eat, or sit down with their
loaded plates on their laps..."
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the oldest print reference to the word "buffet" as it
relates to a
refreshment bar is 1792:
"1792 Observer 19 Feb 3/3: At two o'clock, the buffets were opened and the company regaled
with a cold
collation." Also: "1810: W Hickey Mem. (1913) I. xi. 129: The buffets, which refreshments were
numerous,
were abundantly supplied with refreshments of every kind."
"At a buffet luncheon or spread, the guests are not seated but partake of the refreshments
standing. When buffet service is used, the food is placed upon an attractively laid table, usually
all at the same time, although it may be brought to the table and served in courses. Plates, silver,
and napkins are arranged upon the table to make the service as quick and easy as possible..."
BUFFET IN AMERICA
Where was the first Chinese buffet served & when?
Buffet was a popular American party option in the 1930s:
Who launched modern American "all you can eat" buffet?
"The man who inspired the all-you-can-eat buffet and brought the Beatles to Las Vegas died
Saturday, better known by his
deeds than his name. A visionary who helped mold Las Vegas for more than a half century, Herb
McDonald, 83, was one
of the first publicists on the Strip, founder of the group that brought the National Finals Rodeo to
Las Vegas and an innovator
in professional golf tournaments. "He was the godfather to all of us in publicity and marketing --
he made the footprints that
we follow today," said Jim Seagrave, vice president of marketing and advertising for the
Stardust...McDonald inspired the
buffet in 1946 more out of hunger than genius, he recalled. One night while working late at the El
Rancho Vegas, the first
hotel on what would become the Strip, McDonald brought some cheese and cold cuts from the
kitchen and laid them out on
the bar to make a sandwich. Gamblers walking by said they were hungry, and the buffet was born.
The original midnight
"chuckwagon" buffet cost $1.25."
"Herb McDonald, a business pioneer whose ideas helped make Las Vegas a hub of international
tourism, died Saturday. He was 83. A publicist for nearly 50 years, McDonald has been credited
for the development of Las Vegas-area signatures such as the Strip's first all-you-can-eat buffet
and the city's status as a popular convention site...In the early 1950s, McDonald launched an
inexpensive buffet at the El Rancho, a tactic that has since been used to attract patrons at virtually
every hotel-casino in Southern Nevada."
Early advertisement for El
Rancho's Buckaroo Buffet, courtesy of the UNLV.
Home buffet menus:
Cakes
Dessert is a complicated topic because the role/importance of last/sweet course in a meal are
cuisine and time dependent. Some cultures (China, most notably) traditionally prefer fresh fruit
over sweet confections.
Who "invented" dessert? No one knows. Food historians tell us the practice of ending a meal with
something sweet probably had something to do with ancient medical ideas regarding digestion.
Many of these ideas continued until the genesis of modern nutrition science (mid 19th century).
Did you know ancient cultures avocated ending the meal with cheese because it was thought to
aid digestion? Culinary evidence confirms peoples of ancient cultures enjoyed sweet treats such as
cakes, cookies, confections, sugared nuts, and dried/candied fruits. These were typically the food
of the wealthy classes. Other people might partake of these treats for special occasions (weddings,
religious festivals). The idea of enjoying a sweet dessert every day by "average people" is a
relatively modern concept.
Food historians caution us that "dessert-type" courses were known by other names in times past.
Ancient Romans consumed "secundae mensa." Medieval England delighted in "subtleties."
Elizabethan England feasted on "banquets." 19th century France dined on "dessert" inspired by
Antonin Careme.
A sampling of Ancient Roman
desserts (Secundae mensa)
Why the word "dessert?"
"Dessert...(de dessevir 2; 1539). 1. Dernier service d'un repas, compose de fromages, fruits,
gateaux, etc.--1. (1692). Fruits, patisserie, etc., qu'on mange a la fin d'un repas; moment ou on
sert ce mets."
"Desservier (lat. deservire, servir avec zele; v. 1050)"
The Oxford English Dictionary (2nd edition) confirms the this information:
"Desserts. A collective name for sweet dishes considered suitable for the last course of a meal,
including cakes, ice creams, creams, raw and cooked fruit, puddings, pastries, and pies. Cheese
have also be included amongst desserts. In Britain, 'dessert' is sometimes regarded as an elegant
synonym for the words 'pudding', or 'sweet', which are used in the same collective sense. The
word derives from French desservir, meaning to remove the dishes, or clear the table. Originally
'the dessert', singular, denoted a course of fruit and sweetmeats, either placed on the table after
the meal, or served at a separate table; in English, it replaced the word banquet, an older name for
a similar course, during the 18th century. The change in emphasis from the 18th century French
dessert' to the 20th century miscellany of sweet desserts appears to have taken place in North
America. The word had a wider meaning for Americans as early as the end of the 18th century,
whereas this usage was not common in England until the 20th century. Originally, dessert, apart
from providing something sweet to nibble, was designed to impress...A formal dessert in the old
sense is now a rarity. One interesting survival is the Provencal gros souper' on Christmas Eve,
which finishes with a ritual presentation of les treize desserts, the 13 desserts, based on local
fruits, nuts, baking, and confectionery...Traditions vary between areas and
families, but there are always 13 items, and they are said to represent Christ and the twelve
apostles."
"Dessert, The last course of a meal. The word comes from desservir (to remove that which has
been served) and consequently means everything offered to guests after the previous dishes and
corresponding serving utensils have been cleared away. In former times at great banquets, dessert,
which was the fifth course of the meal, was often presented in magnificent style. Large set pieces
fashioned in pastry, described often and in great detail by Careme, whose accounts are
accompanied by splendid illustrations, were placed on the table at the beginning of a meal...It was
not until about 1850 that the word dessert took on its present meaning. In ancient times, meals
generally ended with fresh or dried fruit, milk or cheese dishes, often served between meat
courses, consisted of jellies, flans, blancmanges, tarts, compotes, nieules (flat round cakes),
fouaces (fancy pastry), echaudes (poached pastry), waffles and various other small cakes, The
dessert proper consisted of the issue, a glass of hippocras served with oubiles (wafers), followed
by boutehors (dragees with spice and crystallized fruit). In the 17th century, desserts had become
more elaborate and were decorated with flowers. They included marzipan, nougat, pyramids of
fruit, dry and liquid preserves, biscuits..., creams, sugar sweets...sweet almonds in sugar and
orange-flower water, green walnuts, pistachios, and marrons glaces. At the end of the century, ice
creams made their appearance, and at the same time patisserie became extremely diversified, with
different basic mixtures, such as puff pastry, sponge, choux pastry and meringue. In the 20th
century, dessert in France evolved to include cheese and fresh fruit as well as sweet dishes.
However, the term is usually take to mean the sweet course of the meal, whether it is served
before or after the cheese course. The contemporary dessert may include one of a wider range
of dishes, from elaborate gateaux and pastries to simple fruit dishes at a dinner party..."
If you are inclined learn more about the evolution of meals/courses we suggest Margaret Visser's
The Rituals of Dinner: The Origins, Evolution, Eccentricities, and Meaning of Table
Manners
[Penguin:New York] 1995. If you want to research a particular time and place let us know. We
will be happy to help you find the information you need to complete your project.
The term "potluck" has two meanings; both practices are related and have ancient roots:
The Oxford English Dictionary traces the term "potluck" in print to the 16th century:
"Take potluck. To take what is offered to you...Unannounced guests who show up at a friend's
home at
dinnertime are likely to be invited to stay for dinner by are reminded that they will have to take
potluck, i.e.,
to eat whatever the family is eating. This notion of the luck of the pot goes back to Elizabethan
times [as
evidenced by OED definition above], then an unnanounced guest was invited to share potluck,
i.e., the
contents of the large cast-iron pot on the hearth, with the rest of the family...This take
-your-chances-notion
of potluck has developed in modern times into a more general meaning of to take potluck, i.e., to
take
whatever comes your way-whatever is available at that particular time and place...The surprise-me
aspect
of potluck has increased with the invention of the potluck supper (late 19th century), to which
each invitee
is expected to bring a "dish to pass" or a "dish to share"...Such meals are popular at churches,
schools, and
fund-raisers because they capitalize on individual specialties and minimize individual costs. In
some parts of
the country a potluck supper is called a covered-dish supper."
"Group meals often involve the contribution of food by the guests themselves: the banqueters are
in these cases both hosts and guests. The phrase "pot luck" was originally used when inviting
someone to a very informal family dinner, on the spur of the moment. The visitor was to expect
nothing specially prepared, but only what the family would have eaten in any case that day. The
guest's "luck" lay in what day he or she happened to arrive, and what meal had been prepared for
the family. The phrase changed ints meaning with the increasing popualrity of meals or parties
where the guests come with contributions of food: the "luck" now lies in the uncertaintly about
what everyone will bring. The host can suggest what might be needed, but cannot control the
quality of the offering. "Pot luck" dinners in this sense have an ancient history, and exist in some
form in most societies on earth. They usually celebrate the intimacy of the guests, or at least the
hope that they have a great deal in comon. The host's authority is considerably reduced by means
of the arrangement, but the fact remains that the party has to be held somewhere, and the host or
hosts remain responsible for the venue, the guest list, even for the possibility of gate-crashers. The
success or failure of the party still depends mostly on the "givers" of it. Being expected both to
sustain loss of authority, and to retain responsibility, is a peculiarly modern predicament. But the
informality gained is so important to su that we are prepared to pay the price; and enough honour
still attaches to having the premises, being able to pay for a party (even if the guests haelp and
must accept the blame for the food provided), and to knowing the "right" people to ask, that
hosts continue to shoulder the burden and risk of inviting people for "pot luck."
"Potluck. A meal composed of whatever is available or a meal (also called a "carry in" or
"covered dish
meal") whreby different people bring different dishes to a social gathering. In the West "potluck"
meant food
brought by a cowboy guest to put in the communal pot."
"Potluck. A word used by the cowman and other frontiersmen, for food contributed by a guest.
To bring
potluck means to bring food with one."
"Potluck meal. Also potluck (dinner), potluck supper, and var. combinations [By ext from potluck
the luck of
the draw, whatever food is being served] widespread, but less frequently in the South, Central
Atlantic, New
York. Of covered-dish meal, pitch-in dinner, tureen. A meal to which people bring food to share,
usu. without
assignment of particular dishes; the food at such a gathering; also adj potluck in the form of such
a meal.
1929: AmSp 4.420 [College English] Pot luck-Food contributed by the guest. To take pot luck is
to bring
food with one to a party. This is a Western usage, unknown in New York and New Jersey."
[NOTE: This source contains much many more definitions in different American regions through
time. If you
are interested in tracing this word, your librarian can help you find a copy.]
The earliest references to "pot luck" published in the New York Times infer the term was understood to mean
taking one's chances at another's table: General Sam Houston "...dined and taken 'pot luck' with his old enemies, Col. Morgan and Dr. Ashbel Smith'."
["Texas," New York Daily Times, June 8, 1854 (p. 2)]. "Surely it is very pleasant to have so well-furnished
a house that it will never be necessary to darken the parlor windows whoever calls, and to set such a table as that
we shall not be ashamed to have any visitor suddenly drop in to try pot-luck." ["Save a Little Something," New York Daily Times,
April 18, 1855 (p. 4)].
In the last quarter of the 19th century, the contemporary American definition of "pot luck" emerges: participating guests
proferring dishes at a common table. The meal described below qualifies as a 'society' event. Of course, more common (less newsworthy)
meals most likely were enjoyed as well. In churches, community centers, schools, political gatherings, &c.
"The Pot-Luck Picnic...An Impromptu and Enjoyable Dinner--A Display of Culinary Skill. Last evening, at the
Free Trade Club, a dinner was given by Hon. Robert R. Roosevelt to a large number of his friends. Though invitations had been
issued for a week previous, the feast was decidedly of an
impromptu character as far the viands went. The origin of the dinner was something of this kind: The host having met several; ladies
and gentlemen who declared that they were learned in the art of de la gueule, Mr. Roosevelt challenged them to make a display
of their culinary ability. The wager was taken up at once, and hence the the dinner. Cards of invitation of an amusing character were
isued, onw hich the menu was indicated, with the names of the improvised cooks who were to concoct gumbo, lobster cutlets,
plumb pudding, various salads, and coffee. About 50 guests were present...Course followed course in a tumultuous way. Culinary
inspriations and cookery nocturnes of all flavors and tastes crowded one another. Anything like system was discarded, and this was
thought likely to destry the artistic effects of this pot-luck picnic. Hungry guests were perfectly satisfied with whatever
particular dish they happened to find before them...Appetites seemed whetted with the novelty of the banquet...Eating and drinking,
laughter and gayety held their sway for a couple of hours...On the propostion of Mrs. Croly, the great success of the
Pot-Luck Picnic having been firmly established, the lady insisted that such talent ought not to be forever lost, but that a
club shoudl be formed, when similar dinners should be given...This propostiion was accepted by acclamation...Fortune and merit
decided that the following ladies and gentlemen should become the high dignitaries of the Potluck Picnic Club..." [New York Times, March 26, 1879,
(p. 5)].
"Soul food" is a culinary movement, not a dictionary term. Many traditional recipes and
ingredients descended from earlier times. While there
is some general concensus
regarding the "core list" of ingredients/recipes considered soul food, there are many subtle
nuances and culinary diversions. The term "Soul food," as it relates to cuisine, entered the "scene"
of food history in the 1960s. Some notes here:
"The expression "soul food" is a term grafted from the expression "soul music," which in the
1960s referenced black artists noted for their soulful blues and rhythmic music. The term "soul"
was applied also to artists noted for their culinary skills, particularly to field-hand cooks in
antebellum America, who performed culinary miracles with foods then thought to be too common
for the master's table. These included the South's cheapest staples, such as black-eyed peas, yams
or sweet potatoes, collard greens, dandelion greens, turnip greens, chitterllings (the small
intestines of hogs), how maws (the stomach of the hog), ham hocks, trotter (the feet of the hog),
hog jowl (the cheek of the hog), cornbread, and so on. The numerous African American authors
who wrote soul food cookbooks in the 1960s...invariable listed a wide range of foods."
"Soul Food.
"Soul Food, early 1960s, being the "down home" food associated with poor southern Blacks,
Black ethnic dishes often stem from slavery days when slaves were given the cheapest southern
staples and the food parts discarded by the plantation owners, to which they added greens they
had grown themselves or picked wild--and a touch of African cooking. it includes beet greens,
collard greens, dandelion greens, poke greens, and turnip greens; black-eyed peas (1738, they
were brought by slave traders from Africa to Jamaica in 1674 and from there to the American
colonies), hog maw, hog jowel, trotters, and ham hocks; sweet potato pie, and such ubiquitous
southern favorites as corn bread, fried chicken, and watermelon. The new Black awareness and
pride made soul food something of a fad by the late 1960s and both Blacks and Whites were
talking about the new soul food restaurants."
"Soul food" in the news:
"Consider yourself a square if you don't know what 'soul food' is. It includes such down-home delicacies as stewed chicken and rice,
fried chicken, rice, gravy and greens, and ham hocks and black-eyed peas."
"'I'll travel many miles out of the way to get to a place where I can get that down-home 'soul food,' Hank Ballard declared
recently. 'When I say soul, I'm talking about chitterlings, barbecued ribs and chicken, black-eyed peas, collard greens and rice.'
Going a step further, the King recording star said, 'I really believe that the right kind of 'soul food' can really insopire a
musician or a singer to come up with some swinging 'soul music.' If you don't believe it, then just notice where most musicians
go whenever they're in town. They don't flock to the big fabulous steak houses. 'They'll usually eat all their meals at some Sally Mae's,.
Miss Lucy's, or Pearl's small restaurant or in a home near the theater or ballroom thats 'known for good eatin.'"
"How singer James Brown keeps in condition for his exhausting singing and dance routine. Said Brown: 'I eat plenty of soul food--and that
includes chitterlings, collard greens, chicken, rice and gravy, ham hocks and beans..."
"President Johnson set the pace New Year's Day for good luck throughout 1964. He ate blackeyed peas."
"Turnip greens, the nation's most famous 'Soul Food,' has been barred from the cafeteria of the A&M Consolidated School
here. Supt. W.T. Riedel told trustees that parents had complained students were not eating in the cafeteria because of greens and
other vegetables on the menu. Upon hearing the news, a 'Soul Brother' commented: 'Man, they must not be integrated.'"
"Temptations' David Ruffing toasting singer Tammi Terrell with champagne on her birthday. Gotham club prexy Chile Springer turning
down the three dinner parties on his natal day. Settled for a soul cooked meal by our gal Honey."
"A word about 'soul,' a vogue word among Negroes having had a number of transmogrifications these days. Sould can mean a mild
manifestation of race pride and social colidarity--'our thing'--a shared emotional bond of unity and good feeling. In the early
sixties there was a 'soul music' movement among Negro jazz musicians, most of them conservatory-trained, advocating a return to the
roots of Negro music for inspiration, a return to field hand chants work songs, funky blues and gospel rhythms in what was a
rejection of sophistication in favor of strong feeling. Some even felt compelled to eat 'soul food'--deep South and ghetto dishes
like ham hocks and collard greens, pigs' feet, pigs' knuckles and chitterlings."
"History has caught up with Davis Roberts. For years he has cooked the traditional foods of his people. Today, the came foods are
symbols in a social revolution. Down-home cooking has become soul food. 'Aside from its social connotation, soul food is worthy of
popularity on its own merits-for the simple reason that it tastes good.' said the Alabama-born actor. 'It also turns out to have
great nutritional value,' he added with a smile. General acceptance of soul food, a term that has been in public use for about three
years, stems from the civil rights movement. Roberts called it 'a kind of affirmation.' 'It's now enyoing a public popularity, but in the
old days there was always a sort of stigma attached to it as an economy food. Gumbos, for example, were clean-out-the kitchen dishes.
But now soul food has become a sort of luxury. Some of the ingredients are expensive, and you have to run all over town to find them,'
he said. Soul food, a new term for old dishes, was daily fare in the Southern countryside during Roberts' boyhood in Alabama and
Tennessee. The simple cookery was based on what was available, on what could be grown on a little plot of land--turnip greens, mustard
greens, collard greens, kale, field peas, corn, sweet potatoes, cabbage, rutabagas, salt pork and ham hocks. 'People could often keep a
pig when they couldn't keep a cow.' Roberts said. 'Much sould food requires a lot of time because it was cooked by people who had a lot
of time,' he observed. For that reason, the busy actor does not cook it as often as he would like to eat it...One of Roberts' menus,
cooked from childhood memory, consists of collard greens and salt pork, cold beets in vinegar, baked sweet potatoes, buttermilk and
corn bread. Another consists of smothered pork chops and gravy, succotash 'and the perennial corn bread.' Roberts, how had to grapple
with the problem of converting cooking habits into specific recipes, explained that 'soul food requires the kind of cooking that is
done by taste, by someone who stands there and watches and stirs and tastes.'"
"Even the little restaurants that before simply offered 'home cooking' now carry large signs in their windows advertising
'soul food.' The food itself has not changed: chicken and dumplings, spareribs and ham hocks, greens and yams, cornbread and biscuits.
The difference is that now these Southern Negro foods are viewed as part of 'our black cuisine.'"
If you need additional information ask your librarian to help you find:
1. Books on soul food cooking (some may include brief history)
Below please find our notes on 1960s-style cocktail parties, extracted from period sources. James Beard was one of the most influential chefs of this
period. The Joy of Cooking was one of the first "mainstream" cookbooks to offer
instructions for home cocktail parties. If you are looking for menus from different decades please let us know.
JAMES BEARD ON COCKTAIL PARTIES, c. 1965:
"The ever popular cocktail party is an inferior form of entertainment at best, and there is a tendency to make it formal on occasional--something it was never meant
to be. By all means have your house looking its best, use your best crystal and china, and have the food impeccably turned out, but don't be chi-chi. The results
may be silly. Unless they are small gatherings around a tray with bottles and ice, cocktail parties should be planned so that the service is efficient a d quick. Don't
try to set up a professional bar in your house unless you have a barman to go with it, and you will need two if it is a largish party, and more if it is the 'annual crush,'
which so many people use as a way to pay their social debts (and it is not really a very polite way). A large party will also need someone to tidy up from time to
time. Some guests love to trail through a party leaving a wake of glasses, napkins and cigarette messes. if you must do with a minimum of help or none at all, serve
three varieties of drinks--and make good drinks--rather than attempt to offer a selection. The same holds true of cocktail food. Better to have two memorable
snacks than hundreds of undistiguished canapes. In the menus provided here there is usually one item or two of substantial food. It goes without saying that the
food should be attractive to look at and tasty as well. While the cocktail party is the most popular way of entertaining it can also be the most difficult, since there is
so much going on all at once. Don't make your drinks too weak, or your party won't be very lively. Neither make them too generous, or you will have a bunch of
drunks on your hands. Plan four drinks per person, and have some supplies in reserve. Neither the host nor the hostess should drink unless it is something light. To
give a good party you must be on the alert, though you appear to be entirely at ease. What a delight if can be to settle down later with your shoes off and have a
few drinks in peace and quiet."
STANDARD FAVORITES
The Joy of Cooking [c. 1962] lists these drinks: Alexander, Bronx, Gimlet, Gin Bitter, Gin or Whiskey Sour, Perfect Martini, Martini, Pink Lady, White Lady, Perfect Manhattan, Manhattan, Old-Fashioned, Sazerac, Benedictine, Cubana, Daiquiri, Blender Frozen Daiquiri, El Presidente, Knickerbocker, Champagne Cocktail, Curacoa Cocktail, Sidecar, Stinger, Bloody Mary, and Margarita, Highballs, Rickeys, Tom Collins, Gin Fizz, Mint Julep, Cuba Librae, Rum Punch, & Zombie.
"By 1968 the power of the Martini was at its zenith."
"On the first day, students [at the American Bartending School]...learn the gibson, dry martini, dry manhattan, manhattan, rob roy, daiquiri, bacardi, side car and
champagne cocktail."
"...the Daiquiri is America's second most popular cocktail."
Cocktail menu, Caesar's Italian Restaurant/San Francisco, 1960s:
NEW DRINKS & DEVELOPMENTS:
"...newly popular drinks, such as the integrated Russian ("to go with the times"), which consists of 1/2 ounce of Kahlua, 1 1/2 ounces of vodka and a dash of
cream. The [American Bartending School] teaches students to make all martinis and manahttans "straight up," despite the fact that "85% of all drinks are served on
the rocks," because there are more steps to making the "straight" drink, and you have to fill a four-ounce glass with 1 3/4 ounces of booze...drinks "on the rocks"
are popular because they are a little stronger thatn "straight up" varieties and stay cool longer. "Once was,"..."that martinis were half gin and half vermouth. Now it's
six parts gin to one of vermouth, and pretty soon, it will be straight gin."
---op cit "You Have to Pour it On"
"To lovers of romance...we offer a cocktail new to the USA. The Tequilla Sour...Our Gin Sour isn't only a new cocktail, it's a new idea--the two purpose cocktail.
You make it a Tom Collins by adding club soda, sugar, and ice...For those who think the proof of a cocktail is in the proof, we present our 11 to 1 Vodka
Martini."
COCKTAIL PARTY NOTES: EQUIPMENT & SERVICE
"Now and then we look into the work of our fellow cookbook authors and are usually surprised to discover how little attention they pay to liquor. In past editions we, too, have approached this subject rather apologetically--after all, there was a time when selling or serving alcoholic refreshment was considered disreputable in America. But here and now we drop all subterfuge, frankly concede that 'something to drink' is becoming with us an almost invariable concomitant of at least the company dinner, and have boldly enlarged this section of the book. Always in the back of our minds, spurring us on, is the memory of the cartoon which depicted a group of guests sitting around a living room, strickenly regarding their cocktail glasses, while the hostess, one of those inimitable Hokinson types, all enbonpoint, cheer, and fluttering organdy, announces, 'A very dear friend game me some wonderful old Scotch and I just happened to find a bottle of papaya juice in the refrigerator!'
"Cocktails and Other Before-Dinner Drinks. The cocktail is probably an American invention, and most certainly a typically American kind of drink. Whatever mixtures you put together--and part of the fascination of cocktail making is the degree of inventiveness it seems to encourage--hold fast to a few general principles. * The most important of these is to keep the quantity of the basic ingredients--gin, whisky, rum, etc.--up to about 60% of the total drink, never below half. * Remember, as a corollary, that cocktails are before-meal drinks appetizers. For this reason they should be neither oversweet nor overloaded with cream and egg, in order to avoid spoiling the appetite instead of stimulating it. If you mix drinks in your kitchen, your equipment probably includes the essential strainer, squeezer, bottle opener, ice pick, and sharp knife. Basic bar equiment also includes a heavy glass cocktail shaker; a martini pitcher; and ice bucket and tongs; a bar spoon; a strainer; a jigger; a muddler; a bitters bottle with the dropper type top; and--for converting cubes to crushed ice--a heavy canvas bag and wood mallet. We also show a lemon peeler guaranteed to get only the colored unbitter part of the rind, and the only corkscrew that doesn't induce complete frustration.
"A simple syrup is a useful ingredient when making drinks. Boil for 5 minutes 1 part water to 2 parts sugar, or half as much water as sugar. Keep the syrup in a
bottle, refrigerated, and use it as needed. In addition to various liquors, it is advisable for the home bartender to have on hand a stock of: bitters, carbonated water,
lemons, oranges, limes, olives, cherries. For Garnishes see page 40. See also the chapters on Canapes and Hors d'Oeurvre for suitable accompaniments for
cocktails--besides a steady head...Mix only one round at a time. You stock as a bartender will never go up on the strength of your 'dividend' drinks."
SAMPLE MENUS
"A small cocktail party. Camembert amandine, cucumber spread, crackers and toast rounds, cocktail croquettes, mushroom strudels. A large cocktail party
Buttered nuts, chicken-liver pate, toast rounds and crackers, mushroom-stuffed eggs, tuna-stuffed eggs, cheese straws and twists, wild-rice pancakes,
cream-cheese pastry turnovers, meat filling, cherry tomatoes, green and ripe olives."
"Cocktail Party for 20. The drinks should be simple--Scotch, bourbon, martinis, gin and tonic, sherry. Blend some martinis ahead of time and chill them. Salted
Filberts, Potted Shrimp Pate, Melba Toast Fingers, Hot Roast Loin of Smoked Pork, Rye Bread Rounds, German and French Mustard, Spiced Onions, Cherry
Tomatoes, Sweet and Sour Pickles, Thin Onon Sandwiches."
"A Cocktail Party for 30. Here is a party that embodies my approach to the cocktail hour. Instead of tray after tray of tiny morsels of food, we have a good, hearty offering. Serve the usual variety of drinks, but be sure to include some beer, champagne and chilled dry sherry. The steak tartare should be served in a bowl surrounded with a selection of breads and crackers; or molded into a loaf and served on a chopping board. Pass the spareribs with plates and small paper napkins. Along with this, serve either a bowl of freshly shelled peas or fresh, raw asparagus tips--whichever is is season. Steak Tartare, Glazed Spareribs, Raw Peas or Raw Asparagus Tips with Coarse Salt and Pepper, Freshly Roasted Salted Peanuts, Knockwurst with Shallot Mustard."...ibid (p. 238-239).
"A Large Cocktail Crush for 40. This is one of those parties which starts at abou 6 or 7 o'clock and goes on till about 8:30 or 9:00 and provides enough food so that people do not need to go to dinner. I'd set up a full bar and also have some champagne and white wine with cassis. Thus you are apt to satisfy everyone. Coffee is a good idea at about 9 o'clock, with some sweet biscuits, perhaps. Roast Beef with Mustards, raw Vegetables in Ice, Cheese Board, Nuts, Olives."---ibid (p. 240-241)
"A Simple Cocktail Party for 6 or 8. Offer an assortment of cocktails and drinks without attempting to produce everything in the bartender's handbook. You might confine yourself to martinis, daiquiries and Scotch, for example. The feature of the party will be the pate de campagne. Pate de Campagne, Provencale, Fresh Toast, Anchovied Radishes, Garlic-Flavored Olives."---ibid (p.245)
"A Small Elegant Cocktail Party for 10. This is the type of cocktail party you give for a very close friend who loves the elegant things in life or for a visiting mogul who is tremendously important to you or to the community. In other words, its a smash! Fill a large silver punch bowl with ice, and in it chill champagne, vodka, and zubrowka and perhaps aqavit. If guests demand other drinks, have the makings at hand, but the chilled selection in the punch bowl is appropriate for the food to be served. Brink out small plates, knives and forks, and your best linen. Caviar, Smoked Salmon, Foie Gras."---ibid *o, 252)
HORS D'OEUVRES, ANYONE?
"Hors d'oeuvres and canapes are appetizers served with drinks. The canape sits on its own little couch of crouton or pastry tidbit, while the hors d'oeuvere is independently and ready to meet up with whatever bread or cracker is presented separately. Many hors d'oeuvres are themselves rich in fat or are combined with an oil or butter base to buffer the impact of alcohol on the system. If, during preprandial drinking, the appetizer intake is too extensive, any true enjoyment of the meal itself is destroyed. The palate is too heavily coated, too overstimulated by spices and dulled by alcohol. A very hot, light soup is a help in clearing the palate for the more delicate and subtle flavors of the meal. The very name 'hors d'oeuvre,' literally interpreted, means 'outside the main works.' These hold themselves aloof as do the famed Russian Zakuska or the Italian antipasto, in spite of their separatist quality, may even replace the soup course if the portions offered are somewhat more generous in size or amount. Allow about 6 or 8 hors d'oeuvres per person. Serve imaginative combinations, but remember that, unlike in the overture to an opera, it is unwise to forecast in this course any of the joys that are to follow in the meal. Never skip hors d'oeuvres of canapes when you are serving drinks for they play a functional role, but there is not harm in keeping them simple--just olives, salted nuts and one or two interesting spreads or canapes, so the meal that is to follow can be truly relished. Should you serve--either in the living room or at the table--caviar in pickled beets or anchovy eggs on tomatoes, forget the very existence of beet and tomato when planning the flavors of the dinner. This is not a superfluous caution, for one encounters many unnecessarily repetitious meals. Choose for living-room service bite-size canapes or hors d'oeuvres, unless you are furnishing plates. If hors d'oeuvres are meat to be hot, serve them fresh from the oven. If they are the type that will hold, use some form of heated dish. Have cold offerings right out of the refrigerator or on platters set on cracked ice. Cheeses should be presentd at a temperature of around 70 degrees...Here are a a few types of food which are particularly appropriate for the hors d'oeuvre course: Caviar, pate and terrines, vegetables a la grecque, stuffed artichoke hearts, mushrooms, beets, brussel sprouts and cherry tomatoes. You may also use spreads and dips: deviled, pickled, truffled, or chopped eggs; skewered or bacon wrapped tidbits; smoked, sauced or mayonnaised seafood; quenelles, and timbales; choice sausages, both hot and cod; glazed or jellied foods; nuts, olives or cheeses...
"About ways to serve...Food often looks more dramatic if some of it can be presented on several levels...Keep in mind what the platter will look like as it begins to
be demolished. For this reason, it is often wiser to arrange several small plates which are easily replaced or replenished than one big one which may be difficult to
resurrect to its pristine glory. First described are some mechanical aids to give platters a lift. Here are a few of the simplets: cut a grapefruit in half or carve a solid
base on an orange or apple, place cut side down on a plate, stud with hors d'oeuvres, and surround with a garnish or canapes...You may also cut a melon or use a
small, deep bowl or a footed bowl as a receptacle for hors d'oeuvres and surround it with canapes...Stud a pineapple...Just by the placement of food on the platter
you can bring about height variations and attractive color relationships. On an oblong plate, center some dainty triangular sandwiches, peaks up like a long mountain
range. Alternate sandwiches of a fine ham spread or thinly sliced ham with others made of caviar or mushroom spread or with thick buttered bread. Place small,
well-drained marinated shrimp along the base of the range, on either side, and accent the water cress garnished edge of the platter with French endive or celery
filled with Guacamole...Try to choose and edible garnish for hors d'oeuvres trays. You may want to try beautifully cut vegetables...If platters are not passed and you
want a table accent, place hors d'oeuvres directly on crushed ice, on a layered tray..."
About culinary research & about copyright.
Antipasto denotes the dishes served before (anti) the pasta (pasto) course. These are often similar
to those served for gustatio. Antipasto is also more broadly defined as 'before the meal,' referring
to all food served as appetizers. Alan Davidson's Oxford Companion to Food states:
"Typical itmes are olives, pieces of raw or cured ham, marinated mushrooms or other vegetables,
and items of seafood. As the popularity of Italian food increased in the second half of the 20th
century this term acquired wide currency in English" (p.22)
---An A to Z of Food and Drink, John Ayto [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2002 (p. 7)
--Italian Cuisine: A Cultural History, Alberto Capatti & Massimo Montanari [Columbia
University Press:New York] 1999 (p. 147-8)
"Appetizers, called 'maza' in Arabic, constitute one of the glories of this ancient cuisine. They
serve as a foretaste of the delights to come in the meal, and are served on small dishes in what can
amount to an incredible number, depending on the formality and importance of the meal. The
impressive variety of these appetizers range from the simply presented olives or cheese to more
complex preparations such as eggplant puree and hummus....The serving of these tidbits of food is
believed to have been carried by the Arabs to the Iberian Peninsula during the 900 years the Arabs
were in that part of Europe. The Spanish tradition of gathering before a meal for a drink and the
sampling of endless appetizers called 'tapas', batches the Arab custom (but without the drinks for
Muslims), and to a large extent this pleasant precursor to an elaborate meal is found only in the
Middle East and in Spain."
---From the Lands of Figs and Olives, Habeeb Salloum & James Peters [Interlink
Books:New York] 1995 (p. 22)
"Andalucia and its Tapas...Sevilla is also the place to go for 'tapas', whcih may be the most fun
part of Andalusian cuisine...The origin of the word tapa, which literally means cover, seems to
go back to the middle of the last century, from the name given to the slice of ham, cheese or
bread used to cover the wineglass served to the horsemen as they arrived at the roadside inn tired
and thirsty. The tapa protected the wineglass from dust or rain. In fact, the tapa was free--the
patron paid only for the wine...The variety of tapas is almost as extensive as the entire Spanish
gastronomy..."
---Spanish Table: The Cuisines and Wines of Spain, Marimar Torres [Doubleday:Garden
City] 1986 (p. 11)
---Foods and Wines of Spain, Penelope Casas [Alfred A. Knopf:New York] 1982 (p.
3-4)
[NOTE: This book contains recipes for several popular tapas items.]
---An A to Z of Food and Drink, John Ayto [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2002 (p.
336)
"The masterpiece of Russian cuisine is the 'zakuski', or hors d'oeuvre, ceremony. Limited to the
role of an overture in other cuisines, 'zakuski' are the equivalent of a whole first movement in a
formal dinner...By the early nineteenth century, it became fashionable in sophisticated homes to
serve 'zakuski' on a separate table in the dining room or in an adjacent room, where they were
eaten buffet-style. In a less formal arrangement, the diners were seated around the dining table on
which a variety of hors d'oeuvre was displayed. In restaruants, hors d'oeuvre were served one at a
time or in groups at the dining table....Depending upon the occasion and their financial position
of the hosts, the 'zakuski' menu included:
one or more fish hors d'oeuvre
one or meat hors d'oeuvre
one or more salads and vegetable hors d'oeuvre
one or more egg hors d'oeuvre
marinated and/or salt-pickled vegetables and mushrooms and marinated fruits (plums, apples, and
others)
condiments: mustard, horseradish, and freshly ground pepper
fresh whit and dark breads..."
---The Art of Russian Cuisine, Anne Volokh [Collier Books:New York] 1983 (p. 11-13)
[chapter on zakuski is about 60 pages long, includes recipes.]
"First course...The appetizers [early 19th century middle class France]
Four tureens of different soups were placed at the corners of the table, while the entrees--light
'made dishes' indended to serve as an introduction to the most substantial meats that came
later--were ranged tidily along the sides (hence 'side dishes'). When the soups had been disposed
of,
the tureens were removed and replaced with four dishes of fish (hence the name releve, or
'remove',
for this second installment of the first course). This was not all, however. The peaceful
consumption of soup, fish and entrees was constantly interrupted by servants offering platters of
salted or preserved meats, or hot dishes of kidneys, liver and the like. These, which were in effect
hors d'oeuvre ('extras') designed to stimulate the gastric juices..."
---Food in History, Reay Tannahill [Crown:New York] 1988 (p. 297)
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p.
387)
---The Royal Cookery Book, Jules Gouffe, tranlated by Alphonse Gouffe [Sampson Low, Son and Marston:London] 1869 (p. 76)
[NOTE: Gouffe's Hors' d'oeuvre selections are: radishes (raw, with dressing), Butter (shaped like shells), Gherkins (served in a boat with
vinegar), Lyons Bologna or German Sausage (served cold with parsley), Olives (green), Anchovies (trimmed & served with oil), Sardines,
(tinned, garnished with parsley & capers, covered with oil), Pickled herrings (served with oil, parsley & capers), Pickled
oysters (sprinkle parsley on top), Mixed pickles (arranged tastefully), Cucumber (topped with ravigote), Raw artichokes a la
Poivrade (seasoned with vinegar, oil, pepper & salt), Black radish (peeled, sliced & served in a boat).]
The name of these types of preparation clearly defines their place in the menu. They are adjuncts,
and if omitted from the menu should not alter the general harmony of the meal, especially where
dinner menus are concerned. It is therefore indicated that they should be composed of light items
of a delicate nature and they should not constitute a complete dish in themselves. But if these
items are any less in terms of quantity they should be compensated for this by being of an
excellent taste and by giving careful attention to the presentation--both of these should be above
reproach. There are two types--cold Hors-d'oeuvre and hot Hors-d'oeuvre--each being entirely
different from the other, both from the point of view of preparation and service...As a general rule
cold Hors-d'oeuvre are suitable only in a meal which does not include a soup...However, this rule
is not always observed especially in a la Carte restaurants; it is a means more usually of serving
de-luxe Hors-d'oeuvre such as caviare, oysters, plovers' eggs etc. which do not have an undue
influence on the digestion as would be so in the case of fish, salads and marinated vegetables. It is
often noted that at least most of the time when these are offered, their use as Hors-d'oeuvre is
nothing more than an expedient to occupy the customer whilst waiting for the preparation of the
dishes he may have ordered (p. 120)...The hot Hors-d'oeuvre of our modern service are the old
Entrees Volantes or side dishes of the French Service which have survived but with a change of
name; their use, however, remains the same. They sometimes figure on luncheon menus together
with cold Hors-d'oeuvre coming after them, but their real place is on the dinner menu where they
come after the soup and serve as a link between this and the main dishes. Nowadays, there is an
unfortunate tendency to exaggerate the amount and importance of hot Hors-d'oeuvre: it is too
easily forgotten that the essential characteristic of these preparations is their lightness and
delicacy. From the point of view of gastronomic logic they can be deemed superfluous and
nothing except custom justifies their use. (P. 133)
---Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery, Escoffier [1903], first translation into
English by H.L. Cracknell and R.J. Kaufmann of Le Guide Culinare in its entirety [John
Wiley:New York] 1979
What about Victorian appetizers?
According to The Cassells' New Universal Cookery Book, Lizzie Heritage [Cassell and
Company:London] 1894, the British were not completely committed to the idea of hors
d'oeuvres.
Sweden's traditional smorgasbord offers guests a variety of small foods presented on a common
table. It can be complicated (with courses) or simple (small foods meant as appetizers). Guests
are invited to help themselves to whatever pleases them. Smorgasbord relates to the American
"cocktail hour" in that these foods are typically offered with alcoholic drinks, similar to hors
d'oeuvres.
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p.
727)
---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New
York] 1999 (p 298)
---Fashionable Food: Seven Decades of Food Fads, Sylvia Lovegren [MacMillan:New
York] 1995 (p. 203-4)
---Joy of Cooking, Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker [Bobbs-Merrill:Indianapolis IN] 1962 (p. 61)
"General Remarks"
The custom among Continental nations of commencing dinner with some savory plate, which shall
stimulate a jaded appetite or serve as a whet to the palate, is gaining ground, probably more in
deference to fashion than from individual requirement. As to the wisdom of the practice, much
difference of opinion exists. On the one hand, it is asserted that such dishes are injurious, where
appetite and digestion are lacking, and that given a good appetitie, they are quite unnecessary;
while on the other, it is urged that they are in many cases of real benefit. But between the two
extremes--from the Russian habit of indulging in several varieties of highly-flavoured food,
followed by strong liqueur or spirit, to the oyster served au naturel, declared by many to be the
hors d'oeuvre par excellence--there is ample scope for the introduction of little dishes, appetising
and free from injurious properties.
Most people through time "broke their fast" with a warm drink (soup, tea) and a simple grain
product (rice, oatmeal, bread). This combination stimulated the stomache, preparing it for the
day's meals.
While many "traditional" [British, American] breakfasts items consumed today trace back to
ancient times (eggs, sausage, pancakes, doughnuts/fritters), few people through time were
fortunate enough to enjoy them as is customarily promoted today. "Traditional" British
breakfasts marketed to today's holiday celebrants and vacationers are typically
reminiscent of wealthy-class Victorian fare. Brunch is closely
related. Today few people partake of this traditional meal. Why? Time constraints and health
concerns.
---Food in Early Modern Europe, Ken Albala [Greenwood Press:Westport CT] 2003 (p.
232)
---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New York] 1999 (p. 41-2)
[NOTE: This book is an excellent resource for historic profiles of selected foods. Ask your
librarian to help you find a copy]
---excellent historical and regional overview; includes bibliography for further study
---food fads and technological impact
Of course, what people eat in all times depends upon who they are (ethnicity/religion), where they
live (New Orleans? Boston? Des Moines?) and how much money they have (the wealthy usually
have more food choices than the poor). The following menus are not indicative of what all
Americans were eating during specific period. The idea of one homogenous American breakfast
table is a 20th century concept made possible by national-level food production and distribution.
If you are researching the breakfast habits connected with a specific people/place/period please let us know.
Virginia
breakfasts
Breakfast at
Monticello
"Breakfast. We are of the opinion that everybody out to eat as little meat as possible, and drink no wine, beer, or any
other liquor at breakfast, no matter what the sex or age, except when prescribed by the physician in case of sickness,
disability, etc. The food may be selected from the following: Bread and Butter, Eggs, Omelets, Fried Fish, Fried Potatoes, or
other vegetables, Sardines, Fruit, according to the season. As for meat, in case some should be eaten, it ought to be cold,
such as fowl or veal, cooked the day before. Muffins, and other cakes or pastes, served warm, are very bad for the stomach
and teeth. The beverage ought to be either coffee, with milk, chocolate, cocoa, choca, or cold water, but do not by any
means drink tea at breakfast. Although cold meat is not by far so injurious as warm meat for breakfast, it ought,
nevertheless, to be as little partaked of as possible, and especially by the young."
---What to Eat and How to Cook It, Pierre Blot [D. Appleton:New York] 1863 (p. 247-8)
---British Food: An Extraordinary Thousand Years of History, Colin Spencer [Columbia
University Press:New York] 2002 (p. 259-60)
[See also: brunch.]
---Food and Feast in Medieval England, P.W. Hammond [Wren's Park:Phoenix Mill] 1993
(p.104-5)
---Food in Medieval Times, Melitta Weiss Adamson [Greenwood Press:Wesport CT]
2004 (p. 51)
---ibid (p. 155)
---Food and Feast in Tudor England, Alison Sim [Sutton Publishing:Phoenix Mill] 1997
(p. 86)
---Elizabethan England, A.H. Dodd [B.T. Batsford:London] 1973(p. 92)
"Breakfast when eaten, had no coffee or tea until the early seventeenth century. Beer or ale served
as beverage. The meal varied with individuals, depending upon their prosperity, but usually
consisted of a slice of bread, a glass of ale, beer, or dry wine. Pepys speaks mostly of "drinking
my morning draft" at some ale house...The morning draught' at the inn, was, in fact, the ordinary
breakfast of the majoity of Englishmen at this time...Pepys did indulge in breakfast. He mentions
breakfast dishes sucha s these "turkey pie and goose, mackerel, pickeled oysters, beef, cake and
ale, collar of brawn, b read, butter and sweetmeats, cold chine of pork, hashed mutton, dish of
cold creame, creame and cakes," and he sices one breakfast menu consisting of "neat's tongue,
wines of all sorts, ale, anchoves, a baffel of oysters, and gammon of bacon." He also mentions a
pot of chocolate several times, which he bought at the inn. Chocolate was introduced into
England about the year 1652...Pepys also writes of going into an inn where he "did send for a cup
of tee (a China drink) of which I never drank before."...Tea is said to have been sold in England as
early as 1635...and presents of it were considered appropriate for princes and other grandees until
the year 1657..."
---"Dining With Pepys in Seventeenth Century England," Margaret Alberi Flynn, Essays on
the History of Nutrition and Dietetics [American Dietetic Association:Chicago IL] 1967 (p.
129)
"10a.m. A substantial and highly conversational meal, to which visitors are invited, and which can
last hours. Cold roast beer, cheese, ale, fish, eggs, often chops and steaks. Tea, toast, bread,
butter, and-for those who can afford it-coffee, chocolate, and cakes."
"For the leisurely, 10 a.m.; for the less leisurely 9 a.m.; for the busy lawyers, copyists, shop
assistants and so forth 8 a.m. or earlier. Tea and coffee, replacing ale...At Headlong Hall...the
hospitable butler stood sentinel at a side-table near the fire, copiously furnished with all the
appratus of tea, coffee, chocolate, milk, cream, eggs, rolls, toast, muffins, bread, butter, potted
beef, cold fowl, and partridge, ham, tongue, and anchovy."
"Now more commonly held before 9 a.m.. Less formal and punctual than before. Losing some of
its social flavour and prestige to luncheon. Though still including a variety of grilled dishes, hot
toast, fancy breads, butter, and jams are becoming more prominent."
"Already, in 1840, breakfast was becoming more substantial, earlier, and less social, and the
tendency spread and crystallized until, but 1860, the meal had a pronouced menu of its own."
"As early as 1854...the White Lion fortified its guests against a wet Sunday morning with pot of
hare; ditto of trout; pot of prepared shrimps; dish of plain shrimps; tin of sardines; beautiful
beefsteak; eggs, muffin; large loaf, and butter, not forgetting capital tea'."
"In town 8-8.15 a.m., in the country 9-10 a.m. For the middle and upper-middle classes in town, a
brief family meal, including cold meats and hot dishes. No guest unless especially invited. In the
country, a more leisurely meal."
Early morning. 8 a.m. For the fortunate, a tray with tea and bread and butter brought to them,
while still in bed, by a maid.
Breakfast: London businessmen and their families, 8-8.30 a.m. Chops and cold meats are no
longer served; instead, kedgeree or a fried slip with buttered eggs and bacon.
About 8 a.m., earlier for the poor, later for the rich. For the rich, toast, butter, marmalade,
porridge, other cereals, eggs, bacon, fruit. The poorer classes do without fruits, cereals, and
marmalade, eat less bacon and eggs, and often substitute margarine for butter. The well-to-do
drink coffee and tea, others only tea."
[SOURCES: Consuming Culture: Why You Eat What You Eat, Jeremy MacClancy
[Henry Holt:New York] 1992 & Movable Feasts: A Reconnaissance of the Origins and
Consequences of
Fluctuation in Meal-Times with special attention to the introduction of Luncheon and Afternoon
Tea, Arnold Palmer, Oxford University Press:London, 1952.]
---brief descriptions of traditional breakfast of many countries, some with historic notes. Clickable
map makes this site easy to use.
2. Around the world on a breakfast tray/John Tissot
3. The complete international breakfast/brunch cookbook / Kay Shaw Nelson
Food historians generally define "continental breakfast" as a small morning meal consisting of
coffee and bread products. The "continental" designation means continental Europe, excluding
Great Britain, which is well known for its traditional large meat
and
egg-based breakfasts. Most often this meal is connected with France. Why? The original
name for it was "petit dejeuner."
---Food in Early Modern Europe, Ken Albala [Greenwood Press:Westport CT] 2003 (p.
232,234)
---Larousse Gastronomique, Completely Revised and Updated [Clarkson Potter:New
York] 2001 (p. 161-2)
---"Game and Other Delicacies More Expensive...The American Breakfast," New York
Times, October 20, 1907 (p. X5)
---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New
York] 1999 (p. 44)
---DE GUSTIBUS; TO QUASH LUPPER, START WITH BRUNCH, The New York
Times,
December 3, 1983, Section 1; Page 48, Column 5; Style Desk
---British Food: An Extraordinary Thousand Years of History, Colin Spencer [Columbia
University Press:New York] 2002 (p. 260-1)
--- At Brunch, The More Bizarre The Better , The New York Times , July 8, 1998,
Section F;
Page 1; Column 4; Dining In, Dining Out/Style Desk
"We do not understand by breakfast a meal taken under that name in the afternoon; then it should be called dinner, or at
least lunch; at such a meal, the following dishes may be served:
Calve's head, served cold, Cervelas of any kind found at pork butchers, Headcheese, Mutton Chops, Veal Cutlets, Eggs cooked
in any way, Fried Fish, Fruit according to the season, Galantine of Birds, Galantine of Veal, Ham, Cold Meat of any kind,
Oysters, Omelets, Pate de foie gras, Meat and Fruit Pies, served cold, Salad of Chicken, Salad of Partridge and other
birds, Salad of Lobster, Sandwiches, Sardines, Sausages of any kind, fresh or smoked, Smoked Fish or Meat, Fried
Vegetables, Drinks according to taste."
---What to Eat and How to Cook It, Pierre Blot [D. Appleton:New York] 1863 (p. 248)
What was served at the first British brunches? Old cookbooks do not tell us this information. The
first brunches were served in by chefs in fine eating establishments, not prepared by home cooks.
Serving festive brunches at home is a relatively new idea. Ask your librarian to help you track
down the Punch article. In addition to details on the topic it may also provide a cite to the
original Hunter's Weekly piece. We do not currently have these articles on file.
"Guests are usually invited to luncheon, supper, or dinner, but there is a type of company meal
which may be successfully used on holidays-the company breakfast, generally held not earlier than
half-past ten or eleven in the morning; the menu is of the same nature as the French dejeuner--or
what is laughingly called "brunch" in England--the combination in reality of breakfast and
luncheon.
Grapefruit
Broiled Ham (sliced thin) Potatoes au Gratin
Buttered Toast
Waffles (Electric Waffile Iron) Maple Syrup or Strawberry Jam
Coffee Tea
Raspberries or Blackberries Cream
Shirred Eggs, Swiss Style
Popovers or Potato Flour Muffins Butter
Coffee"
---Mrs. Allen on Cooking, Menus, Service, Ida C. Baily Allen [Doubleday:New York]
1924 (p. 872)
---Rituals of Dinner, Margaret Visser [Penguin Books:New York] 1991 (p. 158-9)
---British Housewife: Cookery Books, Cooking and Society in Eighteenth-Century Britain, Gilly Lehmann [Prospect Books:devon]
2003(p. 318-319)
---The Jane Austen Cookbook, Maggie Black & Dierdre Le Faye [Chicago Review Press:Chicago] 1995 (p. 10)
---Cooking with Jane Austen, Kirsten Olsen [Greenwood Press:Westport CT] 2005 (p. 18-19)
Sample menus from this book (p. 391): "The Nicest Cold Luncheon in the World," Raw cucumbers, Salad of asparagus, Porter, mead,
or fruit wines & "A Cold Collation at Pemberley," Butter cake, Cold roast beef, Cold roast ham, Pyramid of grapes, Pyramid
of nectarines, Pyramid of peaches, Selection of gooseberries, raspberries, currants, figs, mulberries, pears, plums, muscadines,
melons, and/or pineapples.]
---The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America/Andrew F. Smith editor [Oxford University Press:New York] 2004, Volume 2 (p. 66):
The "Ploughman's Lunch," as defined by modern British cuisine, presents a modest plate of simple sandwich and pickle or
small salad. When and where did this practice begin?
---An A to Z of Food and Drink, John Ayto [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2002 (p.259-260)
"We do not understand by breakfast a meal taken under that name in the afternoon; then it should be called dinner, or at least lunch; at such a meal, the following dishes may be served:
Calf's head, served cold, Cervelas of any kind, found at the pork butchers, Headcheese, Mutton Chops, Veal Cutlets, Eggs, cooked in any way, Fried Fish, Fruit, according to the season,
Galantine of Birds, Galantine of Veal, Ham, Cold Meat, of any kind, Oysters, Omelets, Pate de foie gras, Meat and Fruit Pies, served cold, Salad of Chicken,
Salad of Partridge, and other birds, Salad of Lobster, Sandwiches, Sardines, Sausages, of any kind, fresh or smoked, Smoked Tongue, Smoked Fish or Meat,
Fried Vegetables, Drinks according to taste.
Lunch.
What we have described above for breakfasts taken in the afternooon, may be served for lunch, no matter at what hour it is taken."
---What to Eat and How to Cook It, Pierre Blot [D. Appelton:New York] 1863 (p. 248)
Orange Sherbet Served in Orange Skins
Fish a la Reine in Paper Cases
Chicken Croquettes, French Peas
Terrapin with Saratoga Potatoes
Boned Chicken
Wafers, Cheese
Montrose Pudding
Black Coffee
Sweetbreads a la Creme Served in Paper Cases
Partridges on Toast
Salmon Croquettes, Sauce Hollandaise
Cheese, Ramemkins
Charlotte Russe
Black Coffee."
---Mrs. Rorer's Philadelphia Cook Book, Mrs. S[arah] T. Rorer [Arnold and Company:Philadelphia] 1886 (p. 251)
---Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition.
---Rituals of Dinner, Margaret Visser [Penguin Books:New York] 1991 (p. 160)
---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New
York] 1999 (p. 112)
The origin of today's Sunday dinner (defined as a formal family meal held in a family member's house with extended family attending) descends from ancient rituals of
families (tribes of related people) coming together for social sustenence. The evolution of this meal is complicated and affected by several factors including:
---The Orgins of Food Habits, H.D. Renner [Faber & Faber:London] 1944 (p. 221)
---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New
York] 1999 (p. 112)
---"Sunday Dinner, Old and New," New York Times, September 22, 1929 (p. SM10)
---Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition.
---Rituals of Dinner, Margaret Visser [Penguin Books:New York] 1991 (p. 213)
---The Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford]
1999 (p. 58)
---Larousse Gastronomique, Jenifer Harvey Lang [Crown:New York] 1988 (p. 66)
---Food in History, Reay Tannahill [Crown:New York] 1988 (p. 222-223)
--- Cooking of the Caribbean Islands, Linda Wolfe [Time Life:New York] 1970 (p.
39-40)
[NOTE: This book has much more information than can be paraphrased here. Ask your librarian
to help you find a copy.]
---The Encyclopedia of American Food, John Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New York] 1999
(p. 19)
---Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew F. Smith editor [Oxford
University Press:New York] 2004, Volume 1 (p. 64-65)
[NOTE: This book contains descriptions of regional American barbecue variations and a
bibliography for further study.]
People have been marinating fire-roasted meats with sauces to tenderize and enhance flavor since
ancient times. The primary difference between ancient marinates [vinegars, fermented fish
extracts, soya sauce] and barbeque sauce as we know it today is the tomato [a new world food].
History of salsa (a distant
relative of BBQ sauce)
History of ketchup (another
cousin)
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p.
112)
---The Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New
York] 1999 (p. 47)
---Larousse Gastronomique, Jenifer Harvey Lang [Crown:New York] 1988 (p. 156)
---The Rituals of Dinner: the Origins, Evolution, Eccentricities, and Meaning of Table
Manners, Margaret Visser [Grove Weidenfeld:New York] 1981 (p. 149)
---Table Service, Lucy Allen [Boston/1927] (p.77+)
"Chinese" food first stalked American appetites around the time of the San Francisco Gold Rush
when, according to the Smithsonian Institution, the first recorded Chinese restaurant on U.S.
territory opened in 1849. It was called Macao and Woosung and was founded by Norman Asing,
who developed what may have been the first all-you-can-eat buffet, charging a buck for the
splurge. His innovation spawned a flurry of "chow chows," and they blessed America with an
enduring legacy: chop suey."
--- "Funny Valentino's it's Chinese food with a wink at this Oak Cliff restaurant," Mark Stuertz,
Dallas Observer, October 16, 2003, Dining/Reviews
"Buffet service is one of the simplest and most delightful ways of entertaining large groups. For
formal occasions, such as wedding breakfasts, formal teas and receptions it is most usual. But it is
equally charming for the informal Sunday breakfast or supper, holiday breakfasts, indoor picnics
and church socials. The general procedure for formal and informal buffet service is the same--the
elaborateness of decoration, the types of foods, the kinds of linen, and the presence or absence of
servants mark the distinction between formality and informality. The buffet table should be as
much of a "picture" as possible. A handsome cloth of damask, lace or embroidery, or runners of
lace or linen are suitable. The floral centerpiece should be truly beautiful and flanked by tall
candles in holders of silver, glass or porcelain. A candelabra may be chosen as the center
decoration, with flowers on either side. Candles are not used, however, before four in the
afternoon. The coffee or tea tray and the punch service are placed at opposite ends of the table.
Plates filled with sandwiches, cakes, little cookies, salted nuts, and if the menu is elaborate, with
salads, or other foods, are arranged down the sides of the table, with the silver and china needed
in their service, laid close by. If the silver is placed in rows, the effect is graceful. Piles of plates
and of small folded napkins should be conveninetly near. Everything should be balanaced to create
an artistic and orderly effect. If guests are numerous, the punch may be served from a separate
table. At a formal affair, waitresses preside at the buffet table and serve the guests. They also
collect the used dishes. If a frozen dessert is provided, it is served from the table, or individually
from the pantry. A frappe or soft ice is usually placed in a bowl. It is served in cups or glasses,
placed on doily-covered plates, and a teaspoon is placed on the plate. Moulds of ice cream are
sliced and served on plates; forks are laid on the side of the plates. The guests stand or sit at a
buffet meal, as convenient--special tables are not provided. The informal buffet table may be gay
with colored linen and simple flowers. The table is set as for formal buffet service with this
exception: decorations and foods are less elaborate, and guests serve themselves informally, or are
served by the hostess or members of the party."
---When You Entertain: What to do, and how, Ida Baily Allen [Coca Cola
Company:Atlanta GA] 1932 (p. 27-8)
Mr. Herb McDonald, Las Vegas NV, 1946.
---"Strip Visionary McDonald Dies," Gambling Magazine, July 10, 2002
[http://www.gamblingmagazine.com/ManageArticle.asp?C=220&A=1319]
---"Veteran publicist who helped promote LV as destination dies at 83," Chris Jones, Las
Vegas Review-Journal, July 10, 2002, D; Pg. 2D
1920's American buffet menus
1940's American buffet menus
1960's American buffet menus.
Related meal? Brunch!
Candies
Cookies
Dessert
pyramids
Ice cream
Pies
Pudding & custard
According to the Larousse de la Langue Francaise, the word "desserte" derives from the
French
verb "desservir," meaning to clear the table. The noun "Dessert," denoting a sweet served after
the main
meal was cleared, seems to have surfaced in 17th century. By the 18th century dessert was
frequently
referenced in both France and England.
---Larousse de la Lang Francaise, direction de Jean Dubois [Librarie Larousse:Paris] 1979
(p. 531)
"Dessert...[a. F. dessert (Etienne 1539) 'removal of the dishes, dessert', f. desservir to remove
what has
been served, to clear (the table)...
1.a. A course of fruits, sweetmeats, etc. served after a dinner or supper; 'the last course at an
entertainment'. The oldest reference to the word dessert in the OED was published in 1600: "W.
Vaughn
Direct. Health (1633) ii.ix. 54 Such eating which the French call desert, is unnaturall.
1666. Pepys
Diary 12 July, The dessert coming, with roses upon it, the Duchesse bid him try."...
1.b. "In the United States often used to include pies, puddings, and other sweet dishes...Now also
in British
usage (oldest reference is provided comes from 1789).
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p.
247)
[NOTE: If you are looking for the history if a specific dessert this book is excellent. Ask your
librarian to help you find a copy.]
---Larousse Gastronomique, Completely revised and updated [Clarkson Potter:New York]
2001(p. 414)
1. Taking one's chances with what is being served (in the cooking pot)
---Travelers and other unexpected guests took their chances (luck!) with whatever was being
served that
night.
2. Community meal composed of food contributions.
---Early societies often pooled food resources for special occasions (weddings, funerals, etc.)
"Potluck. One's luck or chance as to what may be in the pot, i.e. cooked for a meal: used in
reference to a
person accepting another's hospitality at a meal without any special preparation having been
made for
him; chiefly in phr. to take pot-luck. 1592 Nash Four Lett. Confut. Ded., "That that pure sanguine
complexion of yours may never be famisht with pot luck."
---Food: A Dictionary of Literal and Nonliteral Terms, Robert A. Palmatier [Greenwood
Press:Westport] 2000 (p. 357)
---The Rituals of Dinner: The Origins, Evolution, Eccentricities and Meaning of Table
Manners, Margaret Visser [Penguin Books:New York] 1991 (p. 84-5)
---The Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani
[Lebhar-Friedman:New York]
1999 (p. 254)
---Western Words: A Dictionary of the American West, Ramon F. Adams, New edition,
revised and
enlarged [University of Oklahoma Press:Norman] 1968 (p. 234)
---The Dictionary of American Regional English, Joan Houston Hall, ed., Volume IV P-Sk
[Belknap
Press:Cambridge MA] 2000 (p. 311)
---Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, Andrew F. Smith editor [Oxford
University Press:New York] 2004, Volume 1 (p. 27)
[NOTE: This book contains much more information than can be paraphrased here. Ask your
librarian to help you find a copy.]
Although this term applies to traditional foods eaten by African -Americans, especially in the
South, it is of rather recent vintage, first in print in 1960, when it became associated with the
growth of ethnic pride in African-American culture, of which food was a significant part. The
term dates in print to 1964 and comes from the faternal spirit among African-Americans that their
culture, heritage, and cooking gives them an essential "soulfulness" that helps define the
African-American experience. Soul food dishes include chitterlings, blackeyed peas, collard
greens, hominy, grits, ham hocks, and more. As Bog Jeffries, in his Soul Food Cookbook
[1969]
notes "While all soul food is southern food, not all southern food is soul."
---Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman:New York]
1999 (p. 304)
[NOTE: the 1964 reference is this: The Last Word from
Soul City, New York Times Magazine, August 23, 1964 p. 62. This brief article defines
terms
popular with African-Americans in Harlem at that time. The definition provided of "Soul food" is
chitterlings, collard greens, ham hocks, grits, black-eyed peas and rice, and the like."]
---I Hear America Talking, Stuart Berg Flexner [Simon & Schuster:New York] 1982 (p.
51-2)
---"Masco Young: Philly After Dark," Philadelphia Tribune, March 25, 1961 (p. 5)
---"'Soul Food' Inspires Tub, Wrinkles Top 'Scarf' Where Hank Ballard is Concerned," Pittsburgh Courier, May 27, 1961 (p. A23)
---"The Grapevine," Masco Young, Pittsburgh Courier, August 25, 1962 (p. 22)
---"LBJ Feasted on Lucky Soul Food," Chicago Defender, January 4, 1964 (p. 4)
[NOTE: Blackeyed peas & rice is called Hopping John.]
---"Texas School Bars Soul Food on Menu," Philadelphia Tribune, February 13, 1965 (p. 3)
---"Zagging with Ziggy," Ziggy Johnson, Chicago Defender, May 7, 1966 (p. 26A)
---"The Big, Happy, Beauty of the Detroit Sound," Richard H. Lingeman, New York Times, November 11, 1966 (p. SM25)
---"Soul Food to Shout About," Jean Murphy, Los Angeles Times, October 12, 1967 (p. G1)
[NOTE: This article offers three recipes: Davis Roberts' Pasta Con Pesto, Down-Home Succotash, and Collard Greens and Salt Pork.]
---"African Influence Thriving in Harlem," Earl Caldwell, New York Times, March 12, 1968 (p. 45)
---subject heading: African American Cookery
2. Magazine & newspaper articles
---current news (market trends, recipes) & historic articles (from the 1960s!)
---James Beard's Menus for Entertaining, facsimile 1965 reprint [Dell Trade:New York] 1986 (p. 229) [NOTE:
Selected menus from Mr. Beard's book here.]
The Calvert Party Encyclopedia [c. 1960] states these are favorite drinks: Whiskey Highball, Manhattan, Whiskey Sour, Old Fashioned, Gin 'N' Tonic, Dry Martini, Tom Collins, Gin Rickey, Daiquiri (frozen), Rum 'N' Cola (Cuba Libre), Rum Collins, Planter's Punch."
---Classic Cocktails, Salvatore Calabrese [Sterling Publishing:New York] 1997 (p. 64)
---"You Have to Pour it On to Pass the Bar Exams," Los Angeles Times, November 23, 1967 (p. 15)
...rums of Puerto Rico ad, Los Angeles Times, December 14, 1967 (p. H3)
---"Now there are three more cocktails you can't goof up," ...Calvert advertisement, Los Angeles Times, May 11, 1967 (p. 6)
---The Joy of Cooking, Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker [Bobbs-Merrill:Indianapolis IN] 1962 (p. 28-29)
---New York Times Menu Cook Book, Craig Claiborne [Harper & Row:New York] 1966 (p. 44-45).
---James Beard's Menus for Entertaining, 1965 (p. 223)
---Joy of Cooking, [1962] (p. 60)
[NOTE: Recipes in this section include Nuts Toasted in the Shell, Curried Nuts, Toasted Seeds, Puffed Cereals, Seasoned Popcorn, Stuffed Fruit, Cold Skewered Tidbits, Filled Edam Cheese, Edam Nuggets, Vicksburg Cheese, Nut Cheese Balls, Gelatin Cheese Mold, Anchovy Cheese or Kleiner Liptauer, Nut Creams, Cheese Carrots, Cheese Balls Florentine, Fried Cheese Dreams, Fried Cheese Balls, Pastry Cheese Balls, Egg Apples, Artichoke, Garnished Asparagus Spears, Marinated Beans, Stuffed Beets Cockaigne, Stuffed Brussels Sprouts, Spiced Cabbage Mound, Marinated Carrots, Marinated Celeriac or Radishes, Stuffed Celery Ribs or Rings, Celery Curls, Cucumber Lily, Stuffed Leeks, Marinated Mushrooms, Garlic Olives, Marinated Onions, Peppers, Stuffed Pickles, Black Radishes, Stuffed Tomatoes, Ham and Cheese, Ham and Egg Balls, Prosciutto and Fruit, Meat Balls, Tongue Cornucopias, Bologna Triangles, Tiny Broiled Sausages, Rumaki, Sherried Chicken Bits, Serviche, Fish Balls, Caviar, Herring Rolls, Rollmops, Cold Oysters, Pickled Oysters, Aspic-Glazed Shrimp, Pickled Shrimp, Broiled Shrimp, Fried Shrimp Balls, Foods to be dipped (crackers, potato chips, small wheat biscuits, toast sticks, corn chips, fried oysters, cooked shrimp, iced cucumber strips, iced green pepper strips, cauliflower flowerets, carrot sticks, radishes, celery sticks, peeled broccoli stems) and Dips (sour cream, cheese, Oriental, Syrian, avocado, chilled spinach, seafood, anchovy, tomato cream, caviar, clam, crab meat and shrimp). (p. 61-73)
About these notes: Food history can be a complicated topic. These notes are not meant
to be a
comprehensive treatment of the subject, but a summary of salient points supported with culinary
evidence. If you
need more information we suggest you start by asking your librarian to help you find the books
and articles cited in these notes. Article databases are good for locating current recipes, consumer
trends, and new products.
Have questions? Ask!
Research conducted by Lynne
Olver, editor The Food
Timeline. About this site.
