Brunch is a combination of breakfast and lunch eaten usually during the late morning to early afternoon, generally served from 10am up to 2pm, and regularly has some form of alcoholic drink (most usually champagne or a cocktail) served with it. The word is a portmanteau of breakfast and lunch. Brunch originated in England in the late 19th century and became popular in the United States in the 1930s.
Video Brunch
Origin of the word
The 1896 supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary cites Punch magazine which wrote that the term was coined in Britain in 1895 to describe a Sunday meal for "Saturday-night carousers" in the writer Guy Beringer's article "Brunch: A Plea" in Hunter's Weekly'
Instead of England's early Sunday dinner, a postchurch ordeal of heavy meats and savory pies, 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."
It is sometimes credited to reporter Frank Ward O'Malley who wrote for the New York newspaper The Sun from 1906 until 1919, allegedly based on the typical mid-day eating habits of a newspaper reporter.
Maps Brunch
At colleges and hotels
Some colleges and hotels serve brunch. 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, waffles, scones, and the like.
Military
The United States, Canada and United Kingdom militaries often serves weekend brunch in the dining facilities. They offer both breakfast and lunch options and are open from about 09:00-13:00 (though times vary).
Dim sum brunch
The dim sum brunch is popular in Chinese restaurants worldwide. It consists of a variety of stuffed buns, dumplings, and other savory or sweet food items that have been steamed, deep-fried, or baked. Customers pick small portions from passing carts, as the kitchen continuously produces and sends out more freshly prepared dishes. Dim sum is usually eaten at a mid-morning, midday, and/or mid-afternoon teatime.
Special occasions
Brunch is prepared by restaurants and hotels for special occasions, such as weddings, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, or Easter Sunday.
In other languages
French
The Office québécois de la langue française accepts "brunch" as a valid word but also provides a synonym déjeuner-buffet. Note that, however, in Quebec, déjeuner alone (even without the qualifying adjective petit) means "breakfast". In Quebec, the word--when Francized--is pronounced [b????].
Chinese
Chinese word "???" is defined as brunch, "??" (?: morning, ?: meal) means breakfast and "??" (?: noon, ?: meal) means lunch in Chinese. The combination of "??" and "??" is "???", as known as brunch.
Other places
Canada
In many regions of Canada, in particular in Southern Ontario, brunch is popular on Sundays when families will often host relatives or friends in their dining room. The typical brunch can last a few hours and go late into the afternoon. Montreal-style bagels may be served alongside egg dishes, waffles or crepes, smoked meat or fish, fruit, salads, cheese, and dessert.
Many restaurants offer brunch service as well, and is where the idea of Buffets took on mass appeal. In the mid 1980s, with the price of food going down, some restaurants within Toronto started serving all you can eat buffet-style Brunch. Original restaurants in the south west area of Scarborough within Toronto alone included Town and Country Restaurant, Boy on a Dolphin, and Mother Tuckers, which much later on became a small franchise, and later on with the opening of Hot House Cafe, whose Sunday Buffet branch, became well known . Going out for Brunch became even more popular with the gentrification of the inner areas of Toronto by the mid 2000s, when smaller trendy restaurants started offering Brunch, such as restaurants in the area now known as Leslieville neighbourhood which is sometimes called the brunch capital of Toronto as many renowned establishments serve brunch in that neighbourhood.
In Canada, brunch is served in private homes using homemade foods and in restaurants. In both cases, brunch typically consists of the same dishes as would be standard in an American brunch, namely coffee, tea, fruit juices, breakfast foods including pancakes, waffles, and french toast; meats such as ham, bacon and sausages; egg dishes such as scrambled eggs, omelettes and Eggs Benedict; bread products such as toast, bagels or croissants; pastries or cakes such as cinnamon rolls or coffee cake; and fresh, cut fruit pieces or fruit salad. Brunches may also include foods not typically associated with breakfast, such as roasted meats, quiche, soup, smoked salmon and salads such as Cobb salad.
When served in a private home or a restaurant, a brunch may be served buffet style, in which trays of foods and beverages are available and guests can serve themselves and select the items they want, often in an "all-you-can-eat" fashion. Restaurant brunches may also be served from a menu, in which guests select specific items which are served to them by waitstaff. Restaurant brunch meals range from relatively inexpensive brunches available at diners and family restaurants to expensive brunches served at high-end restaurants and bistros.
South Africa
In South Africa, brunch is a favourite activity of many families. It is globally-distinctive in that only pancakes and fruit are consumed.
See also
References
External links
- "The Birth of Brunch: Where Did This Meal Come From Anyway?" Smithsonian.com
- Wikibooks Cookbook
Source of the article : Wikipedia