Meal

A meal is an

eating

occasion that takes place at a certain time and includes prepared

food

. The names used for specific meals in English vary, depending on the speaker's culture, the time of day, or the size of the meal.

Meals occur primarily at

home

s,

restaurant

s, and

cafeteria

s, but may occur anywhere. Regular meals occur on a daily basis, typically several times a day. Special meals are usually held in conjunction with such occasions as

birthday

s,

wedding

s, anniversaries, and holidays. A meal is different from a

snack

in that meals are generally larger, more varied, and more filling than snacks.

The type of meal served or eaten at any given time varies by custom and location. In most modern cultures, three main meals are eaten: in the morning, early afternoon, and evening. Further, the names of meals are often interchangeable by custom as well. Some serve

dinner

as the main meal at midday, with

supper

as the late afternoon/early evening meal; while others may call their midday meal

lunch

and their early evening meal supper or dinner. Except for "breakfast", these names can vary from region to region or even from family to family.

Breakfast

Breakfast

is the first meal of a day, most often eaten in the early morning before undertaking the day's work. Some believe it to be the most important meal of the day. The word ''breakfast'' literally refers to breaking the

fasting

period of the prior night.Anderson, Heather Arndt (2013)
''Breakfast: A History''
AltaMira Press.

Breakfast foods vary widely from place to place, but often include carbohydrates such as grains or cereals, fruit, vegetables, protein foods like eggs, meat or fish, and beverages such as

tea

,

coffee

,

milk

, or fruit juice, juices often taken first of all. Coffee, milk, tea, juice,

breakfast cereal

s,

pancake

s,

waffle

s,

sausage

s, French toast,

bacon

, sweetened breads, fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs,

baked beans

,

muffin

s, crumpets and toast with

butter

,

margarine

,

jam

or

marmalade

are common examples of Western breakfast foods, though a large range of preparations and ingredients are associated with breakfast globally.

Variations of breakfast

Full breakfast

A full breakfast is a

breakfast

meal, usually including

bacon

,

sausages

, eggs, and a variety of other cooked foods, with hot beverages such as coffee or tea. It is especially popular in the UK and Ireland, to the extent that many

café

s and

pub

s offer the meal at any time of day as an "all-day breakfast". It is also popular in other English-speaking countries.

In England it is usually referred to as a 'full English breakfast' (often shortened to 'full English') or 'fry-up'. Other regional names and variants include the 'full Scottish', 'full Welsh', 'full Irish' and the 'Ulster fry'.

The full breakfast is among the most internationally recognised British dishes, along with such staples as bangers & mash, shepherd's pie,

fish and chips

and the Christmas dinner. The full breakfast became popular in the British Isles during the Victorian era, and appeared as one among many suggested breakfasts in the home economist

Isabella Beeton

's ''The Book of Household Management'' (1861). A full breakfast is often contrasted (e.g. on hotel menus) with the lighter alternative of a Continental breakfast, traditionally consisting of tea, milk or coffee and fruit juices with bread,

croissant

s, or pastries.

Instant breakfast

"Instant breakfast" typically refers to breakfast food products that are manufactured in a powdered form, which are generally prepared with the addition of

milk

and then consumed as a

beverage

.Brand Positioning: Strategies for Competitive Advantage - Subroto Sengupta
pp. 5-6. Some instant breakfasts are produced and marketed in liquid form, being pre-mixed. The target market for instant breakfast products includes consumers who tend to be busy, such as working adults.Consumer Behavior in Action: Real-Life Applications for Marketing Managers - Geoffrey P. Lantos
p. 45.

Champagne breakfast

A champagne breakfast is a

breakfast

served with champagne or sparkling wine. It is a new concept in some countries and is not typical of the role of a breakfast.

It may be part of any day or outing considered particularly

luxurious

or indulgent. The accompanying breakfast is sometimes of a similarly high standard and include rich foods such as

salmon

,

caviar

,

chocolate

or

pastries

, which would not ordinarily be eaten at

breakfast

or more courses.
Instead of as a formal meal the breakfast can be given to the recipient in a basket or hamper.

Variations of breakfasts across countries and cuisines

Refer to this Wikipedia

Breakfast

page for a list of countries in alphabetical order and their variations of breakfast.

Lunch

Lunch

, the abbreviation for ''luncheon'', is a light meal typically eaten at midday. The origin of the words ''lunch'' and ''luncheon'' relate to a small snack originally eaten at any time of the day or night. During the 20th century the meaning gradually narrowed to a small or mid-sized meal eaten at midday. Lunch is commonly the second meal of the day after

breakfast

. The meal varies in size depending on the culture, and significant variations exist in different areas of the world.
In some parts of the UK it can be called dinner or lunch, with the last meal called tea.

Variations of lunch

A packed lunch (also called pack lunch, sack lunch or bag lunch in

North America

, or packed lunch in the

United Kingdom

, as well as the regional variations: bagging in

Lancashire

,

Merseyside

and

Yorkshire

,) is a

lunch

prepared at

home

and carried to be eaten somewhere else, such as

school

, a workplace, or at an

outing

. The food is usually wrapped in

plastic

, aluminum foil, or

paper

and can be carried ("packed") in a

lunch box

, paper bag (a "

sack

"), or plastic bag. While packed lunches are usually taken from home by the people who are going to eat them, in

Mumbai, India

,

tiffin

boxes are most often picked up from the home and brought to workplaces later in the day by so-called dabbawallas. It is also possible to buy packed lunches from stores in several countries.

Lunch box

es made out of

metal

,

plastic

or vinyl are now popular with today's youth. Lunch boxes provide a way to take heavier lunches in a sturdier box or bag. It is also environmentally friendly.

Meal deal

Another variation of lunch is the meal deal, this is a meal often bought from a store and contains the following: a

sandwich

or pastry,

bag of chips,

salad

or

fruit

and a bottled drink. Meal deals are a staple of many Western high-street supermarkets and convenience stores; they are generally offered at a deal price and are highly convenient for the busy working person. Some stores are now adding premium meal deal items and

salad

s to their meal deal inventory. Critics, however, criticise the meal deal for increasing the levels of single-use plastic waste in circulation and persuading people to buy more food than they originally intended or wanted - contributing to the growing obesity crisis.

Dinner

Dinner usually refers to a significant and important meal of the day, which can be the

noon

or the

evening

meal. However, the term ''dinner'' can have many different meanings depending on the culture; it may mean a meal of any size eaten at any time of the day. Historically, it referred to the first large meal of the day, eaten around noon, and is still sometimes used for a noon-time meal, particularly if it is a large or main meal. For example, Sunday dinner is the name used for a large meal served after the family returned home from the morning's church services, and often based on meat that roasted while the family was out.

The evening meal can be called tea when dinner, which is generally the largest of the day, is eaten in the middle of the day.

Variations of dinner

Full course dinner

A full-course dinner is a dinner consisting of multiple dishes, or courses. In its simplest, English-based form, it can consist of three to five courses, such as appetizers, fish course, entrée, main course and dessert. The traditional courses and their order vary by culture. In the Italian meal structure, there are traditionally four formal courses:

antipasto

(appetizers), ''primo'' (the "first" course, e.g., a pasta dish), ''secondo'' (the "second" course, e.g., fish or meat), usually accompanied by a ''contorno'' (a side dish), and ''dolce'' ("sweets", or dessert).

Many traditions conclude a formal meal with coffee, often accompanied with spirits, either separate or mixed in the coffee.

Meals at other times of the day

Meal preparation

Meal preparation, sometimes called "meal prep," is the process of planning and preparing meals. It generally involves food preparation, including cooking.

Food preparation

Preparing food

for eating generally requires selection, measurement and combination of ingredients in an ordered procedure so as to achieve desired results. Food preparation includes but is not limited to cooking.

Cooking

Cooking

or ''cookery'' is the

art

,

technology

and craft of preparing

food

for consumption with the use of heat. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely across the

world

, from grilling food over an open fire to using electric stoves, to baking in various types of ovens, reflecting unique environmental, economic, and cultural traditions and trends. The ways or types of cooking also depend on the skill and type of training an individual cook has. Cooking is done both by people in their own dwellings and by professional cooks and chefs in restaurants and other food establishments. Cooking can also occur through chemical reactions without the presence of heat, most notably with

ceviche

, a traditional

South American

dish where

fish

is cooked with the acids in

lemon

or lime juice.

History

Breakfast before the 1800s was usually just toast or some variation of gruel or porridge and the main meal was dinner. Peasants (which were the majority in every country) had dinner around noon, after six or seven hours of work.

Then, in the late 1700s and the 1800s, people began to work further from home, and the midday meal had to become something light, just whatever they could carry to work (lunch). They began to eat dinner (the main meal) in the evening.

Eating the meal

Throughout history, meals were normally communal affairs. People got together, shared the food, and perhaps talked over the day.

In the 21st century, an increasing number of adults in developed countries eat most or all of their meals alone. Although more people are eating alone, research suggests that many people do not consider a "meal" a solo act, but rather commensal dining. It is unclear whether people eating alone eat more, less, or the same amount of food compared to people eating in groups, partly because of differences in whether they are eating alone at home or eating alone in restaurants.

Restaurants have responded to the increasing number of people eating alone by accepting reservations for solo diners and installing

bar seating

and large tables that solo diners can share with others.

See also

* Outline of meals
*

Food

* Human digestive system
* Substantial meal (UK and Ireland)

References

Further reading

* Flandrin, Jean Louis (2007)
''Arranging the Meal: A History of Table Service in France''
University of California Press.
* Latham, Jean (1972

London: A. and C. Black.
*

Pollan, Michael

(2006)
''The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals''
Penguin.
*

This, Hervé

(2009)
''Building a Meal: From Molecular Gastronomy to Culinary Constructivism''
Columbia University Press.

External links

– a historian looks at the evolution of mealtimes.

“Small meals or big ones?”
– a comparison of the number of meals taken per day.

{{Authority control