Lunch

Part of the Meals series

Common meals

Breakfast · Brunch · Lunch · Tea · Dinner · Supper

Components & courses

Amuse-bouche · Appetizer · Cheese · Dessert · Drink · Entrée · Entremet · Fruit · Main course · Nuts · Salad · Side dish

Related concepts

Banquet · Buffet · Cuisine · Eating · Etiquette · Food

Luncheon, commonly abbreviated to lunch, is a mid-day meal.^[1]

In English-speaking countries during the eighteenth century, lunch was originally called "dinner"— a word still sometimes used to mean a noontime meal in the UK, and in parts of Canada and the United States.

The mid-day meal on Sunday and the festival meals on Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving (in the U.S. and Canada) are still often eaten at the old hours, usually either at noon or between two and four in the afternoon, and called dinner. Traditional farming communities also may still commonly have the largest meal of the day at mid-day and refer to this meal as "dinner."

Origin of the term

The abbreviation lunch, in use from 1823,^[1] is taken from the more formal "lunchentach,"^[2] which the OED reports from 1580, as a word for a meal that was inserted between more substantial meals.

In medieval Germany, there are references to nuncheontach, a non lunchentach according to OED, a noon draught— of ale, with bread— an extra meal between mid-day dinner and supper, especially during the long hours of hard labour during haying or early harvesting. In Munich, by the 1730s and 40s, the upper class were rising later, and dining at three or four in the afternoon, and by 1770, their dinner hour in Pomberano was four or five.^[3] A formal evening meal, artificially lit by candles, sometimes with entertainment, was a "supper party" as late as Regency times.

In the 19th century, male artisans went home for a brief dinner, where their wives fed them, but as the workplace was removed farther from the home, working men took to providing themselves with something portable to eat at a break in the schedule during the middle of the day. In parts of India a light, portable lunch is known as tiffin.

Ladies whose husbands would eat at the club would be free to leave the house and have lunch with one another, though not in restaurants until the twentieth century. In the 1945 edition of Etiquette, Emily Post still referred to luncheon as "generally given by and for women, but it is not unusual, especially in summer places or in town on Saturday or Sunday, to include an equal number of men"— hence the mildly disparaging phrase, "the ladies who lunch." Lunch was a ladies' light meal; when the Prince of Wales stopped to eat a dainty luncheon with lady friends, he was laughed at for this effeminacy.^[3] Afternoon tea supplemented this luncheon at four o'clock, from the 1840s.^[3] Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management had much less to explain about luncheon than about dinners or ball suppers:

The remains of cold joints, nicely garnished, a few sweets, or a little hashed meat, poultry or game, are the usual articles placed on the table for luncheon, with bread and cheese, biscuits, butter, etc. If a substantial meal is desired, rump-steaks or mutton chops may be served, as also veal cutlets, kidneys, or any dish of that kind. In families where there is a nursery, the mistress of the house often partakes of the meal with the children, and makes it her luncheon. In the summer, a few dishes of fresh fruit should be added to the luncheon, or, instead of this, a compote of fruit or fruit tart, or pudding. —Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management

Typical Swedish school lunch

In other languages

A traditional Bengali luncheon is a seven course meal. First course being 'shukto', which is a mix of vegetables cooked with less amount of spices and topped with coconut icing. Second course consists of rice, dal and a vegetable curry. The third course consists of rice and fish curry. The fourth course is that of rice and meat curry (generally chevon, mutton, chicken or lamb). The fifth course contains sweet preparations like rasgulla, pantua, rajbhog, sandesh, etc. The sixth course consists of payesh or mishti doi. The seventh course is that of paan, which acts as a mouth freshener.

Two street vendors taking time out for lunch at a makeshift table of wooden crates covered with newspaper. New York, August 1946.

In French the mid-day meal is called déjeuner, taken between noon and 2 p.m. It is the main meal in the South of France. The evening meal is the main meal of the day in northern France, but lighter in southern France, taken around 6 - 7 p.m. (north) or 8 (south), is called dîner or souper (which is also used for a night-time meal, usually after 11 p.m.).

In German, lunch is called Mittagessen, literally meaning mid-day food. A common greeting during lunch-time in Germany is Mahlzeit, meaning meal-time.

In Swiss-German, lunch is called "Zmittag", which literally means "to mid-day". It is common courtesy to say "En Guete" to each other before starting lunch.

In Canadian French lunch is known as dîner. The Anglicism lunch means an invitational light meal usually eaten while standing and not necessarily around noon. It is offered for example in vernissages.

In Arabic it is ghathaa', a modified derivative of the word ghithaa', a general descriptive word of 'food'. Normally it is eaten between 2 and 4 p.m.

In Lithuanian it is pietūs and is the main meal of the day. The word lunch is translated as priešpiečiai (meaning pre-dinner) and would be brunch.

In Welsh it is tocyn but this also means snack. "Cinio" can also be used to describe lunch, however "cinio" can also be used to describe the evening meal alongside with supper.

In Esperanto it is "tagmanĝo".

In Hebrew lunch is called Aruchat Tzaharaeem, which literally means "meal of noon". it is eaten between 2 an 4 p.m. and the main meal in Israel.

In Portuguese it is almoço. The word lanche refers to afternoon tea. It usually consists of a full hot meal, similar to dinner, normally with soup, a meat or fish course, and dessert.

See also

• Mahlzeit

References

External links

• Bento Business A British site about the quintessential Japanese lunch, the bento box, with pictures of authentic Japanese lunches.
• Nutrition Australia Australian guide to healthy lunches.