Breakfast
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Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning.[1] The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night.[2] Various "typical" or "traditional" breakfast menus exist, with food choices varying by regions and traditions worldwide.
History
In
Ancient breakfast
Ancient Egypt
In Ancient Egypt, peasants ate a daily meal, most likely in the morning, consisting of soup, beer, bread, and onions before they left for work in the fields or work commanded by the pharaohs.[6]
The traditional breakfast believed to have been cooked in ancient Egypt was fūl (made from
Ancient Greece
In Greek literature, there are numerous mentions of ariston, a meal taken not long after sunrise. The Iliad notes this meal with regard to a labor-weary woodsman eager for a light repast to start his day, preparing it even as he is aching with exhaustion.[8] The opening prose of the 16th book of the Odyssey mentions breakfast as the meal being prepared in the morning before attending to one's chores.[9] Eventually ariston was moved to around noon, and a new morning meal was introduced.
In the post-Homeric classical period of Greece, a meal called akratisma was typically consumed immediately after rising in the morning.
Ancient Rome
Romans called breakfast ientaculum. It was usually composed of everyday staples like bread, cheese,
Roman soldiers woke up to a breakfast of pulmentus, porridge similar to the Italian polenta, made from roasted spelt wheat or barley that was then pounded and cooked in a cauldron of water.[26]
Middle Ages (500–1500)
Europe
This section's factual accuracy is disputed. (June 2021) |
In the European Middle Ages, breakfast was not usually considered a necessary and important meal, and was practically nonexistent during the earlier medieval period. Monarchs and their entourages would spend a lot of time around a table for meals. Only two formal meals were eaten per day—one at mid-day and one in the evening. The exact times varied by period and region, but this two-meal system remained consistent throughout the Middle Ages.
Breakfast in some times and places was solely granted to children, the elderly, the sick, and to working men. Anyone else did not speak of or partake in eating in the morning. Eating breakfast meant that one was poor, was a low-status farmer or laborer who truly needed the energy to sustain his morning's labor, or was too weak to make it to the large, midday dinner.[27]
In the 13th century, breakfast when eaten sometimes consisted of a piece of rye bread and a bit of cheese. Morning meals would not include any meat, and would likely include 0.4 imperial gallons (1.8 L) of low alcohol-content beers. Uncertain quantities of bread and ale could have been consumed in between meals.[28]
By the 15th century, breakfast in western Europe often included meat.[29] By this time, noble men were seen to indulge in breakfast, making it more of a common practice, and by the early 16th century, recorded expenses for breakfast became customary. Breakfast in eastern Europe remained mostly the same as the modern day: a "continental breakfast". The 16th century introduction of caffeinated beverages into the European diet was also an addition to breakfast; it was believed that coffee and tea aid the body in "evacuation of superfluities".[30]
Modern breakfast (1500–present)
Africa
Traditionally, the various cuisines of
Egypt
In the book The Bible cyclopædia (et al.) published in 1843, it was documented that Egyptians were early risers that sometimes had a first meal consisting of coffee along with the smoking of a
Asia
Middle East
In the
Israel
Japan
In Japan, it is common to eat miso soup and rice porridge for breakfast.[35]
Lebanon
In the book The Bible cyclopædia (et al.) it was documented that c. 1843, poor Lebanese people would consume raw leeks with bread for breakfast.[36]
Europe
Austria
The croissant appears to have originated in Vienna, Austria, in 1683.[37][38]
France
French breakfasts are often similar to the continental breakfast.[39] French breakfast pastries include apple turnovers, brioche, croissant[40] and pain au chocolat.[41] Croissants have been described as becoming a standard fare in French breakfast cuisine by 1875.[40]
Netherlands
Breakfast usually consists of bread with a wide variety of
The word waffle derives from the Dutch word wafel, which itself derives from the Middle Dutch wafele,[42] and is likely the origin of the food as it is known today.[43]
United Kingdom
In the early 16th century, some physicians warned against eating breakfast, because they said it was not healthy to eat before a prior meal was digested.[44] By the 1550s, however, there were multiple sources that claimed breakfast was an important meal. For example, in 1551, Thomas Wingfield stated that breakfast was essential. In 1589, Thomas Cogan stated that it was unhealthy to miss breakfast in the morning. He was one of the first to claim that it was healthy for those who were not young, ill or elders to eat breakfast.[45]
The
North America
The first groups known to have produced maple syrup and maple sugar were indigenous peoples living in the northeastern part of North America. According to aboriginal oral traditions, as well as archaeological evidence, maple tree sap was being processed into syrup long before Europeans arrived in the region.[47][48]
Canada
While it has been a source of controversy where the lumberjack breakfast came from, the most cited source is that the lumberjack breakfast was first served in a Vancouver hotel, in 1870. The breakfast consisted of eggs, assorted fried pork strips, and flapjacks. It is said by Anita Stewart that the tradition of hearty cooking developed because of men needing the energy for manual labor.[49]
Mexico
A typical Aztec breakfast often included corn
Breakfast cereals are also common in Mexico, mainly due to American influence. Health concerns have arisen regarding the nutritional quality of processed breakfast cereal; it is estimated that Mexican preschoolers consume 7% of their total energy intake from processed breakfast cereals and that 6% of Mexican children exclusively have ready-to-eat cereals with milk for breakfast.[52]
United States
In 1620,
Canned fruit juice became prominent as a breakfast beverage after the discovery of vitamins.[61] C. 1900, orange juice as a breakfast beverage was a new concept.[60] The development of frozen orange juice concentrate began in 1915, and in the 1930s it was produced by several companies.[62] Additionally, mass-produced tomato juice began to be marketed in the mid-1920s, and became a popular breakfast drink a few years thereafter.[58]
Effect on health
While breakfast is commonly referred to as "the most important meal of the day",[63][64] some contest the positive implications of its "most important" status.[65]
Scientific findings
Some
A review of 47 studies associating breakfast to (i) nutrition, (ii) body weight and (iii) academic performance found amongst those who had eaten breakfast: (i) better nutrition profiles, many studies found less weight (ii) irrespective of greater calorific consumption per day, although a number did not find this correlation, (iii) studies suggested a possible link to better academic performance in the breakfast eating groups (q.v. Benton and Parker 1998, under this heading).[69]
The influence of breakfast on managing body weight is unclear.[70][71]
Healthy choice
Present professional opinion is largely in favor of eating breakfast,[63] but skipping breakfast might be better than eating unhealthy foods.[72]
See also
References
- ^ "Breakfast – definition of breakfast". Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia. 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
- ^ a b Anderson, p. 5
- ^ "Breakfast". Etymonline.com. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ^ Albala, p. 21
- PMID 30925707.
- ISBN 0-313-33003-4.
- ^ Elnasharty, Tasnim (11 March 2020). "The Most Famous Traditional Egyptian Breakfast—Foul and Falafel". www.arabamerica.com. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
- ^ a b Anderson, p. 9
- ISBN 1909621455
- ISBN 1-84212-507-9
- ^ ταγηνίτης, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
- ^ ταγηνίας, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
- ^ τάγηνον, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
- ^ Cratinus, 125, Comicorum Atticorum Fragmenta
- ISBN 0892368764
- ISBN 9780415156578
- ISBN 0442004494
- ^ σταίτινος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
- ^ σταῖς, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
- ^ Atheneaus, The Deipnosophists, 646b, on Perseus
- ISBN 0415232597
- ISBN 0674996739
- ^ Albala, p. 20
- ^ Riley, H.T. (1852). The Comedies of Plautus. London: Henry G. Bohn.
- ^ Becker, B. A. (1844). Roman Scenes of the Time of Augustus; With Notes and Excursus Illustrative of the Manners and Customs of the Romans. London: John w. Parker. p. 357.
- ISBN 0684805685
- ^ Hammond, P.W. (1993). Food & Feast in Medieval England. Phoenix Mill: Alan Sutton.
- ^ Hicks, M.A. (2001). Revolution and consumption in late medieval England. Woodbridge: Boydell Press.
- ^ Anderson, p. 11
- ^ Anderson, p. 12
- ^ Goodhugh, p. 779
- ^ a b Goodhugh, p. 843
- ISBN 0060586141
- ^ "BBC — Schools — Religion — Islam". Retrieved 11 April 2010.
- ^ Kenney-Herbert, Arthur (1885). "Culinary Jottings For Madras". Culinary Jottings, A Treatise for Anglo-Indian Exiles (1).
- ^ Goodhugh, p. 755
- ISBN 0834216469
- ISBN 1610581741
- ISBN 049511541X
- ^ ISBN 1453243585
- ISBN 0763759651
- ^ "Definition of waffle". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
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- ISBN 0871691825.
- ^ Albala, p. 25
- ^ ISBN 031332798X
- ISBN 978-92-5-104855-9.
- ^ "History". Michigan Maple Syrup Association. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
- ^ "Big Breakfasts, Dinner Dates, Fish & the Dishes Read more: Lumberjack Breakfast – Origin of the Term Lumberjack Breakfast". Esquire. 16 May 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
- ^ "What Did the Aztecs Eat and Drink? Mexican Food of the Middle Ages". Historyhit. 3 May 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- ^ "Chilaquiles: History & Tradition". 9 December 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- PMID 28813010.
- ISBN 143985565X
- ^ a b c "History Of Breakfast In America". The Early Show. CBS. 6 November 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
- ^ Hundley, Daniel R (1860). Henry B. Price (ed.). Social Relations in Our Southern States. New York: H. B. Price. p. 87.
- ^ Cook, Maud C. (1897). Breakfast, Dinner, and Supper, or What to Eat and How to Prepare it. Philadelphia: J. H. Moore. p. 328.
- ISBN 1570033005
- ^ ISBN 0313320136.
- ^ Lincoln, Mary Johnson (1884). Mrs. Lincoln's Boston Cook Book: What To Do and What Not To Do in Cooking. Boston: Roberts Bros. p. 110.
- ^ ISBN 113331113X
- ISBN 0195307968.
- ISBN 0231530994
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- ^ "Breakfast is 'most important meal'". BBC. 7 March 2003. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
- ^ Carroll AE (23 May 2016). "Sorry, There's Nothing Magical About Breakfast". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
- PMID 27184288.
- PMID 9537627.
- S2CID 19638958.
- PMID 15883552.
- PMID 27184285.
- PMID 30700403.
- S2CID 197404162.
Cited sources
- Albala, Ken (2002). Hunting for Breakfast in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Devon, UK.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Anderson, Heather Arndt (2013). Breakfast: A History. AltaMira Press. ISBN 978-0759121652.
- Goodhugh, William; Cooke Taylor, William, eds. (1843). The Bible cyclopædia: or, Illustrations of the civil and natural history of the sacred writings. Oxford University.
Further reading
- OCLC 994867927.
- History of breakfast
- Breakfast: A History. ISBN 9780759121638
- The English Breakfast: The Biography of a National Meal, with Recipes. ISBN 0857854542
- Eating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine. ISBN 0231140932
- Food and Cooking in Victorian England: A History. ISBN 0275987086
- Cuisine and Culture: A History of Food and People. ISBN 1118098757
- Ency Kitchen History ISBN 0203319176(scroll down in preview)
- A History of Food. ISBN 144430514X
- Southern Food: At Home, on the Road, in History. ISBN 0807844179
- Internal Cleansing, Revised 2nd Edition. ISBN 0307874419
- Corn Meal for Breakfast, Dinner, Supper. ISBN 1149900814
- Albala, Ken (2008). Pancake: A Global History. Reaktion Books.
- Breakfast: A History.
- History of breakfast cereal
- Handbook of Cereal Science and Technology. ISBN 0824782941
- Chemistry and Technology of Cereals as Food and Feed. ISBN 0442308302
- An Uncommon History of Common Things. ISBN 1426204205
- An Irresistible History of Southern Food: Four Centuries of Black Eyed Peas, Collard Greens, and Whole Hog Barbecue[ISBN 1609491939
- Foods and Nutrition Encyclopedia, Volume 1. ISBN 0849389801
- Handbook of Cereal Science and Technology.
- Other sources