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February 26 - 27, 2010 Noel Kerns Light Painting and Photography Workshop
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We promise it will be fun and informative.
A History of Steak Diane, Ovid, How To Flambé and Why One should Hang a Lamb Chop In The Window
This illustration of Ovid's story about Diana and Actaeon is by Giuseppe Cesari (1606); notice that Actaeon's metamorphosis has already begun.
According to Ovid, while Actaeon was out hunting, he inadvertently came upon the virgin goddess as she bathed in her secret grotto. To punish him for seeing her naked, the goddess sprinkled Actaeon with water, magically transforming him into a stag. The unfortunate youth was torn to pieces by his own hounds.
Goddess of wild animals and the hunt, the sister of Apollo, Diana was praised for her strength, beauty, athletic prowess, and hunting skills. She was also deemed a protectorate of woman and became associated with chastity, marriage, and fertility.
The myth of Diana (the Greek goddess of the moon and hunt, originally named Artemis) and Actaeon (a Theban prince) is recounted in Ovid's first - century "Metamorphoses". Metamorphoses is a narrative poem that describes the creation and history of the world through the metamorphoses of it's protagonists. Completed in 8 AD, The recurring theme, as with nearly all of Ovid's work, is that of love — personal love or love personified in the figure of Amor (Cupid). The other Roman gods are repeatedly perplexed, humiliated, and made ridiculous by Amor, an otherwise relatively minor god of the pantheon who is the closest thing this epic has to a hero. Apollo comes in for particular ridicule as Ovid shows how irrational love can confound the god of pure reason. The poem inverts the accepted order, elevating humans and human passions while making the gods and their desires and conquests objects of base humor. The Metamorphosis retells 250 Roman myths. Ovid's influence on Western art and literature is a writer's dream legacy.
Ovid was a major inspiration for Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton and other of the world's great authors.
Shakespeare alludes to the story, as Orsino speaks of his love:
O, when mine eyes did see Olivia first,
Methought she purged the air of pestilence!
That instant was I turn'd into a hart;
And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds,
E'er since pursue me.
Twelfth Night 1.1.18-22
Had I the power that some say Dian had,
Thy temples should be planted presently
With horns, as was Actaeon's; and the hounds
Should drive upon thy new-transformed limbs,
Unmannerly intruder as thou art!
Titus Andronicus 2.3.61
And that my fellow gastronomes and lovers, brings us to Steak Diane on Valentine's day.In the 19th century sauces made “a la Diane” were dedicated to Diana as an accompaniment to venison. Sauce a la Diane was composed of cream, truffles, and ample amounts of black pepper. The first mention of Sauce Diane, (as opposed to a la Diane), comes from Auguste Escoffier in 1907. He added hard cooked egg white to the a la Diane formula.
As with Eggs Benedict , New York City appears to be the best candidate for the location of the creation of Steak Diane. Jane Nickerson’s article “Steak Worthy of the Name” (New York Times, January 25, 1953) suggests three possible sources in New York City as originators: The Drake Hotel, the Sherry- Netherland Hotel and the Colony Restaurant. The best suggestion is that it originated with Beniamino Schiavon (aka "Nino"), from Padua, Italy. He worked at the Drake Hotel in New York City. The earliest print references found to date not only point to Nino, but talk about the recipe being wheedled out of him by Perle Mesta who was appointed by President Truman as ambassador to Luxembourg from 1949 to 1953, known as Madam and The Hostess with the Mostes. Perle is such an interesting character that I will digress from Steak Diane for a moment.
In the 1930s, Perle Mesta became involved in the National Woman's Party. She lobbied for the Equal Rights Amendment, first as a Republican and then, after changing party affiliation in 1940, as a Democrat."Hang a lamb chop in the window," was the advice Perle Mesta gave those who wanted to make a place for themselves in Washington D.C.
She moved back to Washington, D.C., about 1940 and quickly became one of the capital's premier party hostesses. The guest list for her extravagant soirees included senators and congressmen of both parties, world leaders, Supreme Court justices, movie stars, foreign ambassadors, military leaders and White House personnel.
A Christian Scientist, Mesta didn't drink alcohol though she did serve alcohol at her parties. She claimed though that her parties gave her the same elation liquor gave other people.
She was an early supporter of Truman, serving on the Democrats' finance committee during his 1948 campaign and then acting as co-chairman of his inaugural ball. In 1949, Truman named her minister to Luxembourg. She was the first to hold the post -- and the third woman appointed to a foreign diplomatic post. She served until 1953, becoming the first woman to receive Luxembourg's highest honor, the Grand Cross of the Crown of Oak. As minister, she became famed again for her hostess skills. She threw "GI parties" for servicemen and women stationed in Europe.
She also became well known for her title. When asked how she wanted to be addressed, she replied, "Call me Madam Minister." The line was shortened to "Call Me Madam," which became the name of Irving Berlin's musical inspired by her life. The musical featured the song "The Hostess with the Mostes". Mesta was amused when the nickname stuck to her. Starring Ethel Merman, the show was a 1950-52 Broadway hit and was adapted into a 1954 Academy Award-winning film Call Me Madam.
After leaving Luxembourg, Mesta spent much of the next decade traveling the world. She met with the heads of 19 different governments, even touring Soviet Russia. She narrowly escaped death in 1955 after getting caught up in a riot between Communist and anti-Communist factions in Saigon, Vietnam.
In 1960, she published her biography, "Perle: My Story." She continued to give lavish parties into the early 1970s.
Fortunately, flambéing is not just for show or there would be no reason to continue performing the technique. Igniting the brandy in the recipe intensifies the flavor of the finished sauce by caramelizing the sugars or carbohydrates. During caramelization, the intense heat causes the sugars to undergo a series of chemical changes. The most important of these is to develop mouth watering flavor. Caramelization requires temperatures in excess of 300 degrees.
Here are the secrets:
- Start with a dry piece of meat. Use a paper towel to dry off the meat. Water is the enemy of caramelization
- Use high heat. Preheat your pan or grill and make sure it’s hot before putting the meat on. If the heat is too low, moisture will collect in the pan and you’ll steam the meat which is what the British are famous for and not yummy.
- Use a heavy skillet. The heavier the better. This helps the pan retain heat when adding room temperature meat. Cast iron or heavy stainless steel.
- Bring the meat to room temperature. This will keep the pan from cooling too much when you first put in the meat. Always remember that 41-140º F is known as the danger zone. Foods that are exposed to this range for more than four hours may not be safe to eat. Don’t let meat sit out all day- just let it warm up a bit before you intend to cook it.
- Balance the heat and time. Balance the heat and time so that the meat has the perfect amount of caramelization when it’s just done inside. Tip: For thick pieces of meat - start by caramelizing in a pan or on the grill on high heat and then finish it in the oven (350F).
- More surface area. The larger the surface area, the more room there is for caramelization. Butterfly cuts like chicken breasts or pork loin to create a larger area to brown, this creates a flatter surface so the meat caramelizes evenly.
- Flambé. The food is topped with a liquor, usually brandy, cognac, or rum and lit afire. The volatile alcohol vapor burns with a blue flame, leaving behind the faint flavor of the liquor or liqueur.
Only liquors and liqueurs with a high alcohol content can be used to flame foods. A higher proof will ignite more readily. Beer, champagne, and most table wines will not work.
Liquors and liqueurs that are 80-proof are considered the best choices for flambé. Those above 120-proof are highly flammable and considered dangerous. NEVER light the pan before you are finished pouring or the flame could follow the stream of alcohol up into the bottle causing an explosion severely burning the cook and bystanders.
The liquor must be warmed to about 130F, yet still remain well under the boiling point, before adding to the pan. (Boiling will burn off the alcohol, and it will not ignite.)
Always remove the pan from the heat source before adding the liquor to avoid burning yourself. Vigorously shaking the pan usually extinguishes the flame, but keep a pot lid nearby in case you need to smother the flames. The alcohol vapor generally burns off by itself in a matter of seconds.
You can apply these techniques to anything that benefits from caramelization. Now that you know those secrets, I’m going to leave you with a tip. NEVER discard the brown bits left in the pan after caramelizing meat. The French call this “fond.” I will tell you why I am fond of fond in a future post.
Valentine's Day is on a Sunday!
This means you have two opportunities to treat your honey. Sunday Brunch can be very romantic. Sleep late then dally over coffee, creme brulee french toast or a pitcher of Mimosas while playing footsies under the table From 10:30 am- 2:00 pm
OR
Surprise your sweetie with our special Prix Fix Dinner $45.00 per person - four courses 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm. Reservations requested 325-646-8200 or online.
Menu
Creamy Tomato and Sweet Basil Soup
Organic Field Greens
Maytag Bleu cheese, toasted almonds, craisins, balsamic vinaigrette
The Legacy of the Huntress - Steak Diane
Tournadoes of beef tenderloin, garlic, shallots, brandy, demi-glaze, dijon mustard with roasted potatoes, green beans almondine
The Lake Front Sundae For Two
A scoop of mint chocolate, dark chocolate, and flor di latte gelato in a waffle cone bowl topped with fudge and marshmallow sauce, a sprinkle of coconut. A white chocolate ganache sloop rides the confectionery waves.
Blogger Made with Air! gives The Turtle Honorable Mention
as one of the top ten restaurants of 2009. We are quite happy with honorable mention because the other restaurants listed here put us in very good company, indeed. I appreciate Air!'s food photography. All those lovely photographs of gorgeous plates of food made me want to go to my room and do art on a plate.
There are also few honorable mentions:
Modern Pastry (Boston, MA): Forget the long line at Mike's, the cannoli here is far better, and hardly anyone knows about it
Sunburst Grill (Denver, CO): It's a little mindboggling that Denver has super authentic Filipino food.
Four Winds Steakhouse (Wills Point, TX): delicious steak, even better setting
5-8 Club (Minneapolis, MN): Jucy Lucy is a heavenly experience
Enoteca Vespaio (Austin, TX): fun place to kick back and enjoy some cannoli in Austin
The Turtle (Brownwood, TX): an unexpected gem in a very small town, the owner also makes outstanding gelatos
Sunday Brunch Returns To The Turtle Restaurant January 17, 2010
You may have noticed that we had posted an article about the history of Eggs Benedict and Brunch. It was because we have been anticipating the reopening of the restaurant for brunch service. For the past two months we have been training Jerome Vigil to take over lunch service so Chef Thomas may extend our service to include Sunday Brunch. We also thank the good doctors at Brownwood Specialty Group, and Dr. Strefling, for taking good care of Chef Thomas' knee so that he is back on line. Everyone has been waiting for this moment. I know I have missed Eggs Benedict with real hollandaise sauce in the worst possible way and nobody does it better than Chef Thomas Vezina.
So - if you've ever been curious about the word brunch or why we eat at the times we do or the origin of Egg Benedict, I hope I've answered those pressing questions adequately. If you've been dying for a really excellent Bennie - here's your chance to taste one. There are many variations on the classic which we will explore as time marches on. Meanwhile, try all the comfort food on this menu. Other restaurants serve chicken fried steak but The Turtle goes all out with chicken fried beef tenderloin steak and real, and I do mean real, cream gravy. We didn't list all our gelato flavors, or the new Italian Soda flavors, but we take this occasion to remind you that we have fabulous coffee drinks made with fresh roasted Anderson's Coffee beans. Sunday is a time to eat with the family and relax - take it easy at The Turtle.
Brunch is served 10:30am - 2:00 pm Sunday at The Turtle Restaurant, 514 Center Avenue, Brownwood, Texas 76801 reservations are nice 325-646-8200
So - if you've ever been curious about the word brunch or why we eat at the times we do or the origin of Egg Benedict, I hope I've answered those pressing questions adequately. If you've been dying for a really excellent Bennie - here's your chance to taste one. There are many variations on the classic which we will explore as time marches on. Meanwhile, try all the comfort food on this menu. Other restaurants serve chicken fried steak but The Turtle goes all out with chicken fried beef tenderloin steak and real, and I do mean real, cream gravy. We didn't list all our gelato flavors, or the new Italian Soda flavors, but we take this occasion to remind you that we have fabulous coffee drinks made with fresh roasted Anderson's Coffee beans. Sunday is a time to eat with the family and relax - take it easy at The Turtle.
Brunch is served 10:30am - 2:00 pm Sunday at The Turtle Restaurant, 514 Center Avenue, Brownwood, Texas 76801 reservations are nice 325-646-8200
Soup & Salads
Soup of the Day
Windy Hill Mixed Greens
white balsamic herb vinaigrette, candied pecans, gorgonzola cheese crumbles
Add grilled chicken, salmon or asian grilled tuna salad for $5
Center Avenue Caesar
hearts of romaine with handmade dressing, grated parmesan cheese, croutons
Add grilled chicken, salmon or asian grilled tuna salad for $5
Insalata Caprese
sliced roma tomatoes, basil, fresh mozzarella, balsamic vinegar
Brunch
Mary’s Quiche
egg custard with ham, cheddar cheese, a touch of roasted peppers in a
light flaky crust, side of steamed broccolli
Eggs Benedict
Two poached eggs, canadian bacon, 1910 English muffin smothered in
hollandaise with country style home fries
Creme Brulee French Toast
Our challah bread baked in creme brullee custard, maple syrup, bacon,
with country home fries
Monte Cristo
ham, turkey, swiss cheese on challah sandwich dipped in french toast
batter - grilled, maple syrup with country home fries
Grilled Chicken Sandwich
grilled chicken topped with dill havarti cheese on a toasted cranberry
orange English muffin, mixed greens with white balsamic vinaigrette,
home made chips
Asian Grilled Tuna Salad Sandwich
chopped grilled ahi tuna, crunchy oriental vegetables, chow mein
noodles, pineapple, wasabi mayonnaise, secret spices, on a challah roll,
home made chips
Chicken Fried Beef Tenderloin
buttermilk battered fork tender beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes,
real cream gravy and french green beans
Pecan Crusted Chicken
pecan crusted chicken breast with carrots and potatoes in a honey
butter sauce
Slow Roasted Prime Rib
Thomas’s amazing 10 oz prime rib, mashed potatoes, au jus, french green beans
Chalkboard Specials
The History of Eggs Benedict
In 1827, at the beginning of New York City's evolution as the financial center of the world, the genesis of what would become a world renowned culinary institution, Delmonico’s Restaurant, was set. A small shop selling classically prepared pastries, fine coffee and chocolate, bonbons, wines, and liquors as well as Havana cigars was operated by the Delmonico brothers. Its success led them to purchase a triangular plot of land at the intersection of Beaver, William, and South William Streets where, in 1837, they opened the first fine dining restaurant in the country.
Delmonico's offered the unheard of luxury of the availability of private dining rooms (located on the third floor) where discriminate entertaining was the order of the day. The basement held the restaurateur's treasure, the largest private wine cellar in the city, holding an impressive 16,000 bottles of the world's finest wines. It was during these early years that Chef Alessandro Felippini began to develop the restaurant's culinary identity with the house special, Delmonico Steak.
In 1862, Charles Ranhofer was named Chef de Cuisine inventing many original dishes during his time at Delmonico's. He is most noted for his innovative creations, Eggs Benedict, Baked Alaska, and Lobster Newburg. These dishes remain on the Delmonico's menu today.
A regular patron of the restaurant, Mrs. LeGrand Benedict, finding nothing to her liking and wanting something new to eat for lunch, discussed this with Delmonico’s Chef Charles Ranhofer (1836-1899), Ranhofer indulged her with Eggs Benedict. He has a recipe called Eggs a' la Benedick (Eufa a' la Benedick) in his cookbook called The Epicurean published in 1894.:
Before Delmonico's , diners ate at cafes or boarding houses, where food was offered prix fixe. Diners had no choice of dishes but ate the food that was served. Delmonico's changed all that and claims the following firsts:
* The first dining establishment called by the French name restaurant
* The first restaurant where guests sat at their own tables instead of communal tables
* The first printed menu
* The first tablecloths
* The first debutante ball outside a private home
* The first restaurant to offer a leisurely lunch and dinner
* Oysters Rockefeller
* Lobster Newberg, first called Lobster Wenberg
* Baked Alaska in honor of the acquisition of the Alaskan territories
* Eggs Benedict
* Delmonico potatoes
* Delmonico steak
* Hamburger (known then as the Hamburg Steak)
*First use of the expression that something is "86'd"
(since the Delmonico Steak was item 86 on the menu and, when sold out, it was "86'd")
A good idea can be had in more than one place and more than one time. The following story appeared in the December 19,1942 issue of the weekly New Yorker Magazine "Talk of the Town" column and is based on an interview with Lemuel Benedict the year before he died:
I wondered what, exactly, is a "hooker" of hollandaise? It's not what one might think... it's a boat, a boat of hollandaise. The boats are often noted for their strong sharp bow and sides that curve outward like 'the breast-bone of a water fowl'
Compare!
In another account, Craig Claiborne, a writer for The New York Times Magazine and famous cook book author, wrote in a September 1967 column about a letter received from Edward P. Montgomery, an American living in France at the time. In the letter, Montgomery detailed a dish that was created by Commodore E.C. Benedict. Commodore Benedict was a banker and yachtsman who died in 1920 at the age of 86. The dish created by Commodore Benedict was Eggs Benedict. The commodore claims that the recipe had been given to him by his mother who had received it from the commodore’s uncle.
In November of the same year, Mabel C. Butler of Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts responded to Mr. Montgomery’s letter to The Times requesting a correction to the story. Her story was the “true story” of how Eggs Benedict came to be, a retelling of the Delmonico's stpry above. In Ms. Butler’s story, the creation of Eggs Benedict was well known to the relatives of Mrs. Le Grand Benedict, of whom she was one. Her version included a truffle on top.
A fourth origin of the dish is in food historian, Elizabeth David's French Provincial Cooking, where she writes about a traditional French dish named œufs bénédictine, consisting of brandade (a puree of refreshed salt cod and potatoes), spread on triangles of fried bread. A poached egg is then set on top and napped with hollandaise. This story would also explain the continental syntax, where the adjective follows, rather than precedes, the noun.
Mrs. Isabella Beeton's Household Management had recipes in the first edition (1861) for "Dutch sauce, for benedict" and its variant on the following page, "Green sauce, or Hollandaise verte", so Eggs Benedict undoubtedly precedes the New World stories above. In 1859–1861, she wrote a monthly supplement to The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine In October 1861, the supplements were published as a single volume, The Book of Household Management Comprising information for the Mistress, Housekeeper,Cook, Kitchen-maid, Butler, Footman,Coachman,Valet,Upper and Under House-Maids,Lady's Maid, Maid-of-all-Work,Laundry, Nurse and Nursery maid, Monthly, Wet Nurse, and Sick Nurses, etc. etc.—also Sanitary, Medical,; Legal Memoranda: with a History of the Origin, Properties, and Uses of all Things Connected with Home Life and Comfort.
While all of these stories are entertaining, it is most likely that the dish is a Lenten or meatless dish evolved from Renaissance times.
Now presenting How To Make Truffled Eggs Benedict...
Delmonico's offered the unheard of luxury of the availability of private dining rooms (located on the third floor) where discriminate entertaining was the order of the day. The basement held the restaurateur's treasure, the largest private wine cellar in the city, holding an impressive 16,000 bottles of the world's finest wines. It was during these early years that Chef Alessandro Felippini began to develop the restaurant's culinary identity with the house special, Delmonico Steak.
In 1862, Charles Ranhofer was named Chef de Cuisine inventing many original dishes during his time at Delmonico's. He is most noted for his innovative creations, Eggs Benedict, Baked Alaska, and Lobster Newburg. These dishes remain on the Delmonico's menu today.
A regular patron of the restaurant, Mrs. LeGrand Benedict, finding nothing to her liking and wanting something new to eat for lunch, discussed this with Delmonico’s Chef Charles Ranhofer (1836-1899), Ranhofer indulged her with Eggs Benedict. He has a recipe called Eggs a' la Benedick (Eufa a' la Benedick) in his cookbook called The Epicurean published in 1894.:
Eggs à la Benedick - Cut some muffins in halves crosswise, toast them without allowing to brown, then place a round of cooked ham an eighth of an inch thick and of the same diameter as the muffins one each half. Heat in a moderate oven and put a poached egg on each toast. Cover the whole with Hollandaise sauce.
Before Delmonico's , diners ate at cafes or boarding houses, where food was offered prix fixe. Diners had no choice of dishes but ate the food that was served. Delmonico's changed all that and claims the following firsts:
* The first dining establishment called by the French name restaurant
* The first restaurant where guests sat at their own tables instead of communal tables
* The first printed menu
* The first tablecloths
* The first debutante ball outside a private home
* The first restaurant to offer a leisurely lunch and dinner
* Oysters Rockefeller
* Lobster Newberg, first called Lobster Wenberg
* Baked Alaska in honor of the acquisition of the Alaskan territories
* Eggs Benedict
* Delmonico potatoes
* Delmonico steak
* Hamburger (known then as the Hamburg Steak)
*First use of the expression that something is "86'd"
(since the Delmonico Steak was item 86 on the menu and, when sold out, it was "86'd")
A good idea can be had in more than one place and more than one time. The following story appeared in the December 19,1942 issue of the weekly New Yorker Magazine "Talk of the Town" column and is based on an interview with Lemuel Benedict the year before he died:
In 1894, Lemuel Benedict, a Wall Street broker, who was suffering from a hangover, ordered “some buttered toast, crisp bacon, two poached eggs, and a hooker of hollandaise sauce” at the Waldorf Hotel in New York. The Waldorf’s legendary chef, Oscar Tschirky, was so impressed that he put the dish on his breakfast and luncheon menus after substituting Canadian bacon for crisp bacon and a toasted English muffin for toasted bread.
I wondered what, exactly, is a "hooker" of hollandaise? It's not what one might think... it's a boat, a boat of hollandaise. The boats are often noted for their strong sharp bow and sides that curve outward like 'the breast-bone of a water fowl'
Compare!
In another account, Craig Claiborne, a writer for The New York Times Magazine and famous cook book author, wrote in a September 1967 column about a letter received from Edward P. Montgomery, an American living in France at the time. In the letter, Montgomery detailed a dish that was created by Commodore E.C. Benedict. Commodore Benedict was a banker and yachtsman who died in 1920 at the age of 86. The dish created by Commodore Benedict was Eggs Benedict. The commodore claims that the recipe had been given to him by his mother who had received it from the commodore’s uncle.
In November of the same year, Mabel C. Butler of Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts responded to Mr. Montgomery’s letter to The Times requesting a correction to the story. Her story was the “true story” of how Eggs Benedict came to be, a retelling of the Delmonico's stpry above. In Ms. Butler’s story, the creation of Eggs Benedict was well known to the relatives of Mrs. Le Grand Benedict, of whom she was one. Her version included a truffle on top.
A fourth origin of the dish is in food historian, Elizabeth David's French Provincial Cooking, where she writes about a traditional French dish named œufs bénédictine, consisting of brandade (a puree of refreshed salt cod and potatoes), spread on triangles of fried bread. A poached egg is then set on top and napped with hollandaise. This story would also explain the continental syntax, where the adjective follows, rather than precedes, the noun.
Mrs. Isabella Beeton's Household Management had recipes in the first edition (1861) for "Dutch sauce, for benedict" and its variant on the following page, "Green sauce, or Hollandaise verte", so Eggs Benedict undoubtedly precedes the New World stories above. In 1859–1861, she wrote a monthly supplement to The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine In October 1861, the supplements were published as a single volume, The Book of Household Management Comprising information for the Mistress, Housekeeper,Cook, Kitchen-maid, Butler, Footman,Coachman,Valet,Upper and Under House-Maids,Lady's Maid, Maid-of-all-Work,Laundry, Nurse and Nursery maid, Monthly, Wet Nurse, and Sick Nurses, etc. etc.—also Sanitary, Medical,; Legal Memoranda: with a History of the Origin, Properties, and Uses of all Things Connected with Home Life and Comfort.
While all of these stories are entertaining, it is most likely that the dish is a Lenten or meatless dish evolved from Renaissance times.
Now presenting How To Make Truffled Eggs Benedict...
A History of Brunch or What Time IS Dinner?
The 1972 supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary says the word "brunch" first appeared in the British magazine, Hunter's Weekly in 1895. This is confirmed by the Aug. 1, 1896, issue of the magazine Punch: ''To be fashionable nowadays we must 'brunch'. Truly an excellent portmanteau word, introduced, by the way, last year, by Mr. Guy Beringer, in Hunter's Weekly, and indicating a combined breakfast and lunch.''
Although the meal itself became a star in the United States during the 1930s, the word is a British invention, coined in 1895 by Mr. Beringer, an early visionary foodie. He wrote "Brunch: A Plea." Instead of England's early Sunday dinner, a post church ordeal of heavy meats and savory pies, Beringer wrote, why not a new meal, served around noon, that starts with tea or coffee, marmalade and other breakfast fixtures before moving along to the heavier fare? By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday-night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well. "Brunch is cheerful, sociable and inciting," Beringer wrote. "It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.""
More than a century later, Beringer's advocacy for brunch remains as compelling as the day he made it, perhaps because, in drafting his brunch manifesto, he was not too specific about what dishes should be served. He demanded ''everything good, plenty of it, variety and selection.'' In a postscript, he suggested that beer and whiskey could be served instead of coffee and tea, laying down a precedent for the mimosa, the Bloody Mary and the screwdriver.
Perhaps the best way to approach the history of brunch is a reflection on "What time is Dinner?" I grew up in central Illinois, my relatives were farmers. When we spoke of dinner we meant the meal at noon. Supper was eaten in the evening. During my university years, I cooked a Thanksgiving Dinner for co-workers in the laboratory for which I washed dishes. I was quite shocked when no one showed up until the evening. I had not been specific about the time. I just knew they would show up around noon. Most of my friends were from Chicago. Dinner meant 7:00 pm. What caused this miss-communication?
Class distinction, local customs and from where or when our respective ancestors immigrated to America were to blame (my not stating plainly the TIME withstanding). I didn't think it was strange to have a large meal in the middle of the day because our family came from a long line of farmers who immigrated from England, Ireland, and Wales generations before. They got up early, ate a fortifying breakfast at sunrise, worked the fields, came home to a large and hearty dinner that my aunts spent the entire morning preparing then returned to work until sundown when they might enjoy a light meal of leftovers from dinner or a bowl of soup or stew made from the aforementioned remains. The women folk, as my aunts referred to themselves, spent the afternoons working the gardens or canning or sewing. They didn't have time to prepare a large meal again in the evening and it was wasteful to throw away leftovers. Leftovers were best eaten the day they were created. This was an old English way of eating based on sunrise and set, and the requirements placed upon my aunts by their station in life. In my young life, dinner was ALWAYS at NOON. I didn't know people ate a different way until my guests failed to arrive when I expected them.
We, in the United States, rarely eat a large meal at high noon. We have become a fast food nation impoverished by lack of time. Today we take the light switch for granted. Back in the day, artificial lighting, oil lamps and candles were an extravagance. Everyone went to sleep at sundown except the extremely wealthy who could afford candle wax. So supper, the third and last meal of the day, was usually eaten before the sun went down, or very shortly afterward. People generally went to sleep soon after eating it, plus it was considered unhealthy to sleep on a full stomach. That was the standard schedule for centuries.
There were some exceptions, of course. People at the wealthiest courts might stay up after dark. They controlled most of the world's capital and used it for things like indulgent parties, clothing, castles, armies, and candles. They were used to the world revolving around them, rather than the other way around. They didn't use the self important names such as "Sun King" or "Swan King" without reason.
The Mirrored gallery at Herrin Chiemsee built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria 1878
Fifty two candelabras of gold and fifty two chandeliers provide support for 2500 wax candles.
From the Middle Ages to the age of Shakespeare, there are scattered references to occasional extra meals, called luncheon and nuntion or nuncheon.
Capitalism, colonialism, and the industrial revolution were changing the British economy, many people had a lot more money to spend on things like light and food. The nobility and gentry became a class of leisure and began to spend more time in the cities where they had parties and entertainment night after night. They had, or at least most of them had, no more real work to do so they partied or socialized...they became socialites.
The middle class evolved at the same time, due to growth in mercantilism, trade, crafts and manufacturing. Rising wages led to more purchasing of goods, and the cycle revolved. I sometimes wonder if that cycle is turning in reverse today as real wages drop while manufacturing in both England and the United States has virtually ceased, and agriculture is industrialized. Our middle class is disappearing. Our agrarian class is gone.
Anyway, people then began to have more money, and in the cities at least, more goods were available, including candles and lamps. People began staying up later using better lighting, naturally there were things to do at night. The 1700s were a time of entertainment as well as enlightenment. Theaters and operas were suddenly available on a wider scale in cities like London and Paris, with most performances at night. In Shakespeare's time they had usually been in the day, in sunlight. Now they were in enclosed halls, illuminated by hundreds or thousands of candles and lamps.
The Municipal Theater in Bologana, Italy 1756
These were not just affairs for the upper class, either; middle and lower class people went in large numbers.
Today the middle class and lower classes stay at home, isolated in front of the TV eating industrially prepared, instantly reconstituted foods. Communal entertainment and eating is on the wane. Our Theaters are closed or closing.
On occasion Americans go out to sporting events where they eat fast food, or to fast food restaurants where they watch more TV. As the middle class disappears, the concern for quality is replaced by cost.
As I pointed out earlier, with more artificial lighting, people in the cities began going to bed later and rising later in the morning. The clock and habits shifted forward. When you ate was relative to when you got up. In London, by the 1730s and 40s, the upper class nobles and gentry were dining at three or four in the afternoon, and by 1770 their dinner hour in London was four or five. In the 1790s the upper class was rising from bed around ten a.m. or noon, and then eating breakfast at an hour when their grandparents had eaten dinner. They then went for "morning walks" in the afternoon and greeted each other with "Good morning" until they ate their dinner at perhaps five or six p.m. Then it was "afternoon" until evening came with supper, sometime between nine p.m. and two a.m.! The rich, famous and fashionable did not go to bed until dawn. With their wealth and social standing, they were able to change the day to suit themselves.
Some upper-class individuals did get up earlier, children for instance and sometimes their mothers. By 1800 the dinner hour had been moved to six or seven. For early risers this meant a very long wait until dinner. Even those who arose at ten a.m. or noon had a wait of anywhere from six to nine hours. Ladies, tired of the wait, had established luncheon as a regular meal, not an occasional one, by about 1810. It was a light meal, of dainty sandwiches and cakes, held at noon or one or even later, but always between breakfast and dinner. Women, being domestic goddesses and inventors, lead the way with tea, biscuits and pastries as a refreshment to serve visitors during the long afternoons. Then ladies began taking tea and snacks of light sandwiches and cakes around four or five in the afternoon, regardless of whether or not they had visitors. At first they had this snack in relative seclusion but by the 1840s they had established afternoon tea as a regular meal in drawing rooms and parlors all over Britain.
All these changes occurred first in London and took years to affect even the upper classes in the country. The further away from London one went, the greater difference there was in meal times. The rural populace, however, long persisted in eating dinner at midday and supper in early evening. The middle and lower classes in Britain were quick to adopt this new meal when they could. Tea came to fill the same role that had once been met by lunch, filling in long hours before a late dinner. But tea never caught on in the US. The industrial revolution started later in the United States than Britain. In the United States there were vast fields which called out to new immigrants to be farmed. Most Americans lived on those farms until World War II. This is why many of the older customs of eating persisted in the US, to the confusion of many, including myself.
The Industrial revolution in Britain during the 1700s and 1800s had completely changed life. People began to work further from home, and the midday meal had to become something light, just whatever they could carry to work.
A 19th Century lunch pail.
The main meal was still dinner, pushed to the evening hours after work, when they could get home for a full meal under the gas lights. People in the middle and lower class began to eat dinner in the evening like the kings and queens. But they did so due to the demands of their lifestyle which was much different from royalty. However, many of them retained the traditional dinner hour of noon or one on Sundays or Holidays, when they were home from work and had time to prepare the large meal of the day and because tradition persists when there is no pressing reason to change.
Luncheon as a regular daily meal developed later in the United States, by the 1900s. 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." She also referred to supper as "the most intimate meal there is...none but family or nearest friends are ever included." Only hash or cold meat were to be served at supper (left overs from dinner, no doubt); anything hot or complicated was served at dinner. In her first edition of Etiquette, in 1922, Post had seen no need to explain that. But by the 1945 edition, she had to explain that luncheon was an informal midday meal and supper an informal evening meal, while dinner was always formal, but could occur at midday or evening.
Later editions, such as the 1960 edition edited by Elizabeth Post, standardized the times and dropped all the old traditions of formality. Lunch was formal or informal, but always at midday, and everyone ate it whether male or female. Dinner was formal or informal, but always in the evening. Supper was an optional meal, thrown in during late night balls. Timing had become more important than ritual; ritual became an optional and personal choice. So much for the Etiquette mistresses. Most people rely upon a hodgepodge of ancestral traditions mitigated by newer customs which evolved in response to modern life to decide how and when to eat.
In our current century, we eat dinner any time from noon to midnight, and most people never have a supper. Like so many old rituals, once followed with iron-clad discipline, our meal times are now as fluid and changeable as the rest of our lives. Customs that persisted for centuries have disappeared in a few decades while new ones such as brunch take their place.
http://www.mysundaybrunch.com/
http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodfaq7.html
http://www.history-magazine.com/dinner2.html
Although the meal itself became a star in the United States during the 1930s, the word is a British invention, coined in 1895 by Mr. Beringer, an early visionary foodie. He wrote "Brunch: A Plea." Instead of England's early Sunday dinner, a post church ordeal of heavy meats and savory pies, Beringer wrote, why not a new meal, served around noon, that starts with tea or coffee, marmalade and other breakfast fixtures before moving along to the heavier fare? By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday-night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well. "Brunch is cheerful, sociable and inciting," Beringer wrote. "It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.""
More than a century later, Beringer's advocacy for brunch remains as compelling as the day he made it, perhaps because, in drafting his brunch manifesto, he was not too specific about what dishes should be served. He demanded ''everything good, plenty of it, variety and selection.'' In a postscript, he suggested that beer and whiskey could be served instead of coffee and tea, laying down a precedent for the mimosa, the Bloody Mary and the screwdriver.
Perhaps the best way to approach the history of brunch is a reflection on "What time is Dinner?" I grew up in central Illinois, my relatives were farmers. When we spoke of dinner we meant the meal at noon. Supper was eaten in the evening. During my university years, I cooked a Thanksgiving Dinner for co-workers in the laboratory for which I washed dishes. I was quite shocked when no one showed up until the evening. I had not been specific about the time. I just knew they would show up around noon. Most of my friends were from Chicago. Dinner meant 7:00 pm. What caused this miss-communication?
Class distinction, local customs and from where or when our respective ancestors immigrated to America were to blame (my not stating plainly the TIME withstanding). I didn't think it was strange to have a large meal in the middle of the day because our family came from a long line of farmers who immigrated from England, Ireland, and Wales generations before. They got up early, ate a fortifying breakfast at sunrise, worked the fields, came home to a large and hearty dinner that my aunts spent the entire morning preparing then returned to work until sundown when they might enjoy a light meal of leftovers from dinner or a bowl of soup or stew made from the aforementioned remains. The women folk, as my aunts referred to themselves, spent the afternoons working the gardens or canning or sewing. They didn't have time to prepare a large meal again in the evening and it was wasteful to throw away leftovers. Leftovers were best eaten the day they were created. This was an old English way of eating based on sunrise and set, and the requirements placed upon my aunts by their station in life. In my young life, dinner was ALWAYS at NOON. I didn't know people ate a different way until my guests failed to arrive when I expected them.
We, in the United States, rarely eat a large meal at high noon. We have become a fast food nation impoverished by lack of time. Today we take the light switch for granted. Back in the day, artificial lighting, oil lamps and candles were an extravagance. Everyone went to sleep at sundown except the extremely wealthy who could afford candle wax. So supper, the third and last meal of the day, was usually eaten before the sun went down, or very shortly afterward. People generally went to sleep soon after eating it, plus it was considered unhealthy to sleep on a full stomach. That was the standard schedule for centuries.
There were some exceptions, of course. People at the wealthiest courts might stay up after dark. They controlled most of the world's capital and used it for things like indulgent parties, clothing, castles, armies, and candles. They were used to the world revolving around them, rather than the other way around. They didn't use the self important names such as "Sun King" or "Swan King" without reason.
The Mirrored gallery at Herrin Chiemsee built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria 1878
Fifty two candelabras of gold and fifty two chandeliers provide support for 2500 wax candles.
From the Middle Ages to the age of Shakespeare, there are scattered references to occasional extra meals, called luncheon and nuntion or nuncheon.
Oh rats, rejoice! The world is grown to one vast drysaltery! So munch on, crunch on, take your nuncheon, Breakfast, supper, dinner, luncheon! Browning, Pied Piper of Hamelin.Nuntion was eaten between dinner and supper, and peasants were sometimes guaranteed nuntions of ale and bread on those days they worked harvesting the fields in the lengthy days of late summer and autumn, when sunset and supper came many hours after noon and dinner. Luncheon seems to have been eaten between breakfast and dinner, when dinner was delayed. Luncheon was taken mainly by ladies and was not a large meal. It was more of a snack on those days when they had to wait for a late dinner due to the political or sporting affairs of their husbands. These late dinners became more and more common in the 1700s, due to new developments in culture and technology.
Capitalism, colonialism, and the industrial revolution were changing the British economy, many people had a lot more money to spend on things like light and food. The nobility and gentry became a class of leisure and began to spend more time in the cities where they had parties and entertainment night after night. They had, or at least most of them had, no more real work to do so they partied or socialized...they became socialites.
The middle class evolved at the same time, due to growth in mercantilism, trade, crafts and manufacturing. Rising wages led to more purchasing of goods, and the cycle revolved. I sometimes wonder if that cycle is turning in reverse today as real wages drop while manufacturing in both England and the United States has virtually ceased, and agriculture is industrialized. Our middle class is disappearing. Our agrarian class is gone.
Anyway, people then began to have more money, and in the cities at least, more goods were available, including candles and lamps. People began staying up later using better lighting, naturally there were things to do at night. The 1700s were a time of entertainment as well as enlightenment. Theaters and operas were suddenly available on a wider scale in cities like London and Paris, with most performances at night. In Shakespeare's time they had usually been in the day, in sunlight. Now they were in enclosed halls, illuminated by hundreds or thousands of candles and lamps.
The Municipal Theater in Bologana, Italy 1756
These were not just affairs for the upper class, either; middle and lower class people went in large numbers.
Today the middle class and lower classes stay at home, isolated in front of the TV eating industrially prepared, instantly reconstituted foods. Communal entertainment and eating is on the wane. Our Theaters are closed or closing.
On occasion Americans go out to sporting events where they eat fast food, or to fast food restaurants where they watch more TV. As the middle class disappears, the concern for quality is replaced by cost.As I pointed out earlier, with more artificial lighting, people in the cities began going to bed later and rising later in the morning. The clock and habits shifted forward. When you ate was relative to when you got up. In London, by the 1730s and 40s, the upper class nobles and gentry were dining at three or four in the afternoon, and by 1770 their dinner hour in London was four or five. In the 1790s the upper class was rising from bed around ten a.m. or noon, and then eating breakfast at an hour when their grandparents had eaten dinner. They then went for "morning walks" in the afternoon and greeted each other with "Good morning" until they ate their dinner at perhaps five or six p.m. Then it was "afternoon" until evening came with supper, sometime between nine p.m. and two a.m.! The rich, famous and fashionable did not go to bed until dawn. With their wealth and social standing, they were able to change the day to suit themselves.
Some upper-class individuals did get up earlier, children for instance and sometimes their mothers. By 1800 the dinner hour had been moved to six or seven. For early risers this meant a very long wait until dinner. Even those who arose at ten a.m. or noon had a wait of anywhere from six to nine hours. Ladies, tired of the wait, had established luncheon as a regular meal, not an occasional one, by about 1810. It was a light meal, of dainty sandwiches and cakes, held at noon or one or even later, but always between breakfast and dinner. Women, being domestic goddesses and inventors, lead the way with tea, biscuits and pastries as a refreshment to serve visitors during the long afternoons. Then ladies began taking tea and snacks of light sandwiches and cakes around four or five in the afternoon, regardless of whether or not they had visitors. At first they had this snack in relative seclusion but by the 1840s they had established afternoon tea as a regular meal in drawing rooms and parlors all over Britain.
All these changes occurred first in London and took years to affect even the upper classes in the country. The further away from London one went, the greater difference there was in meal times. The rural populace, however, long persisted in eating dinner at midday and supper in early evening. The middle and lower classes in Britain were quick to adopt this new meal when they could. Tea came to fill the same role that had once been met by lunch, filling in long hours before a late dinner. But tea never caught on in the US. The industrial revolution started later in the United States than Britain. In the United States there were vast fields which called out to new immigrants to be farmed. Most Americans lived on those farms until World War II. This is why many of the older customs of eating persisted in the US, to the confusion of many, including myself.
The Industrial revolution in Britain during the 1700s and 1800s had completely changed life. People began to work further from home, and the midday meal had to become something light, just whatever they could carry to work.
A 19th Century lunch pail.
The main meal was still dinner, pushed to the evening hours after work, when they could get home for a full meal under the gas lights. People in the middle and lower class began to eat dinner in the evening like the kings and queens. But they did so due to the demands of their lifestyle which was much different from royalty. However, many of them retained the traditional dinner hour of noon or one on Sundays or Holidays, when they were home from work and had time to prepare the large meal of the day and because tradition persists when there is no pressing reason to change.
Luncheon as a regular daily meal developed later in the United States, by the 1900s. 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." She also referred to supper as "the most intimate meal there is...none but family or nearest friends are ever included." Only hash or cold meat were to be served at supper (left overs from dinner, no doubt); anything hot or complicated was served at dinner. In her first edition of Etiquette, in 1922, Post had seen no need to explain that. But by the 1945 edition, she had to explain that luncheon was an informal midday meal and supper an informal evening meal, while dinner was always formal, but could occur at midday or evening.
Later editions, such as the 1960 edition edited by Elizabeth Post, standardized the times and dropped all the old traditions of formality. Lunch was formal or informal, but always at midday, and everyone ate it whether male or female. Dinner was formal or informal, but always in the evening. Supper was an optional meal, thrown in during late night balls. Timing had become more important than ritual; ritual became an optional and personal choice. So much for the Etiquette mistresses. Most people rely upon a hodgepodge of ancestral traditions mitigated by newer customs which evolved in response to modern life to decide how and when to eat.
In our current century, we eat dinner any time from noon to midnight, and most people never have a supper. Like so many old rituals, once followed with iron-clad discipline, our meal times are now as fluid and changeable as the rest of our lives. Customs that persisted for centuries have disappeared in a few decades while new ones such as brunch take their place.
http://www.mysundaybrunch.com/
http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodfaq7.html
http://www.history-magazine.com/dinner2.html
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