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I don't think this is only applicable to Mediterranean cultures. Eastern Europe seems to follow the same medium/large/small pattern as well.

by rytis 13y ago

Someone 13y ago
Hot meals in he afternoon also were common in Western Europe, as is clear from the etymology of the word 'dinner' (via the French 'dejeuner' from the Latin for 'breakfast', which was eaten at noon or thereabouts) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinner http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinner: Originally, dinner referred to the first meal of a two-meal day, a heavy meal occurring about noon. [...] In Europe the fashionable hour for dinner began to be incrementally postponed during the 18th century, to two and three in the afternoon, until at the time of the First French Empire an English traveler to Paris remarked upon the "abominable habit of dining as late as seven in the evening". India also has hot meals during lunchtime (nice story at http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2882-the-incredible-delivery-system-of-indias-dabbawallahs http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2882-the-incredible-delivery-...) I think it made sense to have a hot meal during lunchtime in places where the sun may set early at night because cooking in the relative dark would be more dangerous than cooking during daylight (swaying around a burning stick inside a wooden house to search for ingredients, spare wood, etc, is not a good idea)
philwelch 13y ago
As do much of England outside of London and much of the American Midwest. English-speaking cultures use the word "dinner" for the main meal of the day whenever it happens. Cultures that eat breakfast, dinner, and supper have a large midday meal and a small evening meal. Cultures that eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner are the other way around. It just so happens that the English-speaking cultures that make more movies and TV shows (namely London and the coasts) are breakfast-lunch-dinner cultures, so people assume this is normal everywhere.
mercer 13y ago
Here in Berlin that's what it's like as well. We have a big lunch, at least those of us who work in an office.

I don't think this is only applicable to Mediterranean cultures. Eastern Europe seems to follow the same medium/large/small pattern as well.

by rytis 13y ago

I don't think this is only applicable to Mediterranean cultures. Eastern Europe seems to follow the same medium/large/small pattern as well.

Someone 13y ago

Hot meals in he afternoon also were common in Western Europe, as is clear from the etymology of the word 'dinner' (via the French 'dejeuner' from the Latin for 'breakfast', which was eaten at noon or thereabouts) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinner http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinner: Originally, dinner referred to the first meal of a two-meal day, a heavy meal occurring about noon. [...] In Europe the fashionable hour for dinner began to be incrementally postponed during the 18th century, to two and three in the afternoon, until at the time of the First French Empire an English traveler to Paris remarked upon the "abominable habit of dining as late as seven in the evening". India also has hot meals during lunchtime (nice story at http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2882-the-incredible-delivery-system-of-indias-dabbawallahs http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2882-the-incredible-delivery-...) I think it made sense to have a hot meal during lunchtime in places where the sun may set early at night because cooking in the relative dark would be more dangerous than cooking during daylight (swaying around a burning stick inside a wooden house to search for ingredients, spare wood, etc, is not a good idea)

philwelch 13y ago

As do much of England outside of London and much of the American Midwest. English-speaking cultures use the word "dinner" for the main meal of the day whenever it happens. Cultures that eat breakfast, dinner, and supper have a large midday meal and a small evening meal. Cultures that eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner are the other way around. It just so happens that the English-speaking cultures that make more movies and TV shows (namely London and the coasts) are breakfast-lunch-dinner cultures, so people assume this is normal everywhere.

mercer 13y ago

Here in Berlin that's what it's like as well. We have a big lunch, at least those of us who work in an office.