Merienda is a light meal in southern Europe, particularly Spain (merenda in Galician, berenar in Catalan), Portugal (lanche or merenda) and Italy (merenda), as well as Hispanic America, Philippines (meryenda/merienda), North Africa (Morocco), and Brazil (lanche or merenda). Usually taken in the afternoon or for brunch, it fills in the meal gap between the noontime meal and the evening meal, being the equivalent of afternoon tea in the English-speaking world; or between breakfast and lunch. It is a simple meal that often consists of a piece of fruit, bread, cookies, yogurt, and other

snack A snack is a small portion of food generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home. Traditionally, snacks are p ...

s paired with juice, milk, hot chocolate, coffee, spirits, or other beverages. It is typical for Argentines, Paraguayans, and Uruguayans to have merienda around 5pm, between the midday meal and supper. It generally consists of an infusion ( tea,

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, coffee, mate cocido, etc.) and a baked snack ( scones,

bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

, toasts,

cake Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, ...

facturas A Danish pastry ( da, wienerbrød ) sometimes shortened to just Danish, especially in American English) is a multilayered, laminated sweet pastry in the ''viennoiserie'' tradition. The concept was brought to Denmark by Austrian bakers, where the r ...

, etc.), usually accompanied with dulce de leche, honey, butter or jam. In the Philippines, ''Philippine cuisine#Merienda, merienda'' (Filipino language, Filipino: ''meryenda'') is a generic term encompassing two light meals: the first is a morning snack that may correspond to either brunch, elevenses, or second breakfast; the second one is the equivalent of afternoon tea. ''Merienda'' taken in the early evening around sunset just before or in place of dinner is meanwhile distinctly referred to as ''merienda cena''. Broadly, ''merienda'' is any sort of dish or snack in a portion smaller than the traditional "full meal" consisting of rice and a complementary viand (unless the ''merienda'' is taken as brunch or ''merienda cena''), coupled with either a cool or hot drink (usually coffee). Common fare may be sweet or savoury, ranging from breads and pastries (notably ''pandesal''), desserts and sweets, street food, to noodle dishes. In coastal parts of Croatia, Slovenia, and on the Greek island of Corfu, it is referred to ''marenda'', a meal eaten between breakfast and lunch. Usually it is a light snack, like sandwiches or toast, eaten during a work break.

Goûter

In France, the merienda is called ''goûter'' or ''quatre-heures''; the latter name refers to its timing at around 4PM. The modern ''goûter'' is lighter than a full meal, and is more often observed by children than by adults. It was a full cold meal until the 18th century, before which the ''goûter'' was taken at around 5PM, but began to fade in popularity thereafter, since the evening meal was pushed up to around 6PM.

References

{{Meals navbox Argentine cuisine Brazilian cuisine Latin American cuisine Philippine cuisine Moroccan cuisine French cuisine Spanish cuisine Portuguese cuisine Andorran cuisine Italian cuisine Greek cuisine Croatian cuisine Serbian cuisine Slovenian cuisine Polish cuisine Meals

Goûter

See also

References