“Breakfast” and Other Dining Tidbits

A statue of the Dutch theologian, Erasmus. Erasmus was born in the 15th century (1460s), and died in the 16th century (1530s). – Spoons were communally used—making the etiquette of eating soups a delicate matter. "If what is given is rather fluid," Dutch theologian Erasmus of Rotterdam wrote, “take it on a spoon for tasting and return the spoon after wiping it on a napkin.”

                    

BEFORE BREAKFAST

That the hours of dining vary in different countries is well known, but few persons realize that the meal “breakfast” did not become recognized until late in the seventeenth century. The earliest period to which the word can be traced is 1463. 

In the days of the Tudors, the higher masses dined at 7 and supped at 5, and the merchants seldom took their meals before 12 and 6 o'clock. The chief meals, dinner and supper, were taken in the hall, both by the old English and the Normans, for the parlor did not come into use until the reign of Elizabeth.

Dinner was really the great meal of the day, and from the accession of Henry IV to the death of Queen Elizabeth I, the dinners were as sumptuous and extravagant as any of those in history. Carving was then a fine art, and each person brought his own spoon and knife. 

As the fork was unknown, the diner thoroughly washed his hands before and after each meal, and it was considered a bad breach of table etiquette for one not to use the left hand only in the common dish. – Chico Record, September 1913

 

 🍽️Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia