Brunch

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Part of the Meals series
Common meals
Breakfast • Brunch • Lunch
Tea • Dinner • Supper
Components & courses
Appetizer • Entrée • Main course
Side dish • Drink • Dessert
Related concepts
Food • Eating • Cuisine
Etiquette • Buffet • Banquet

Brunch or bruncheon is a combination of breakfast and lunch. [1] The term is a portmanteau of breakfast and lunch(eon). Brunch is often served after a morning event or prior to an afternoon one, such as a wedding or sporting event. A common misconception is that after midday, the meal is a luncheon. This however is not true so long as a breakfast has not been eaten. While common in the United States, according to Punch magazine, the term was introduced in Britain around 1896 by Hunter's Weekly, then becoming student slang.[2] Other sources claim that the term was invented by New York Morning Sun reporter Frank Ward O'Malley based on the typical mid-day eating habits of a newspaper reporter.[3][4] A possible origin of having Sunday brunch in Victorian England came from giving the servants Sunday as their day off. The servants then early Sunday morning would set out a buffet of cold items that would be self serve for the rest of the house.

Some restaurants and hotels serve brunch, especially on Sundays and holidays. Such brunches are often serve-yourself buffets, but menu-ordered meals may be available instead of, or with, the buffet. The meal usually involves standard breakfast foods such as eggs, sausages, bacon, ham, fruits, pastries, pancakes, and the like. However, it can include almost any other type of food served throughout the day. Buffets may have quiche, large roasts of meat or poultry, cold seafood like shrimp and smoked fish, salads, soups, vegetable dishes, many types of breadstuffs, and desserts of all sorts.

The dim sum brunch is a popular meal in Chinese restaurants worldwide.[5] It consists of a wide variety of stuffed bao (buns), dumplings, and other savory or sweet food items which have been steamed, deep-fried, or baked. Customers select small portions from passing carts, as the kitchen continuously produces and sends out more freshly-prepared dishes. Dim sum is usually eaten as a mid-morning, midday, or mid-afternoon teatime.

Contents

Special occasions

Brunch meals are prepared by restaurants and hotels for special occasions, such as weddings, Valentine's or Mother’s Day, with recipes available [6] or meals offered.

French language

The Académie française prefers that French speakers do not incorporate English words like brunch into their language, and suggests using the phrase le grand petit déjeuner,[7] literally "big breakfast," and more literally, word-for-word this means "big little lunch." Despite the wishes of the Académie, the typical French person readily says "brunch." In fact, most French-French dictionaries have an entry for "brunch" but not "grand petit déjeuner," defining brunch as a "late meal taken in the morning, in place of both breakfast and lunch."[8].

German language

German-speaking countries readily adopt Anglicisms, and "brunch" is no exception, defining it as "a combination of breakfast and lunch."[9] However, the German language has its own word for "brunch": Gabelfrühstück (literally, "fork breakfast").[10] [11] While German versions of the word might exist, they are not used.

Variations

This meal always falls halfway between breakfast and lunch. Eggs, French toast, pancakes, hash browns, and other standard breakfast foods may be accompanied by coffee, and often by a Mimosa, champagne, Bellini, or a Bloody Mary.

The grease-heavy meal is often used as a hangover remedy for those who stay out late drinking on Friday or Saturday night. Alcohol-fueled nightlife can often push brunch well into the afternoon, after party-goers have slept off the previous night's excesses.

Another variation, originating with New Yorkers, consists of bagels and their traditional accompaniments, including:cream cheeses of various flavors, tomatoes, red onions, butter, capers, and lox. This is often called a "bagel brunch," and has spread throughout the United States.

A newer tradition made popular in trendy areas of many cities across the U.S. are more upscale brunch options. Foods served in this variation often have a regional cuisine influence, such as Italian cuisine or Southern cuisine. The menus also typically have both breakfast- and lunch-related options (such as sandwiches and salads), as well as items that work to fuse both meals, including classics such as a Monte Cristo sandwich, and newer ideas such as "breakfast pizzas" (basically, a baked omelette with tomatoes, cheese, and pizza meats, cooked on top of a pizza crust). These meals are usually ordered menu-style (though some places have a buffet of salad and/or breakfast pasteries), and pricing is often Prix Fixe (usually costing between $10 and $20).

Culture

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://web.foodnetwork.com/food/web/encyclopedia/termdetail/0,7770,667,00.html foodnetwork
  2. ↑ Online Etymology Dictionary
  3. ↑ "As to who coined the word brunch, that, too, is unclear. According to an American Dialect Society site, Frank Ward O'Malley, an old style reporter with the New York Morning Sun (1906-1919), was the first to use "brunch" to describe the morning newspaper man's breakfast-luncheon combination." Mother's Day and the history of "Brunch" - Thousands of Ontarians take their mothers to brunch on Mother's Day Travel TV
  4. ↑ Pietrusza, David Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Google Books link 2007
  5. ↑ Dim Sum - History, Pictures, Recipes of Chinese Dim Sum
  6. ↑ valentine recipes | valentine's day recipes | brunch recipes index
  7. ↑ Anglicismes et les mots préférés
  8. ↑ Dictionaire Général pour la maîtrise de la langue française la culture classique et contemporaine, p. 219, Larousse (1993)
  9. ↑ [1] Deutsch Wiki entry on "brunch"
  10. ↑ [2] Deutsch Wiki entry and redirects, Zwischenmahlzeit, Frühmi (a portmanteau of Frühstück and Mittagessen, breakfast and lunch) and Gabelfrühstück
  11. ↑ Cassell's German-English English-German Dictionary, MacMillan Publishing Company
  12. ↑ ""Brunch" (Brit. TV series) at IMDB".