Posted by John Lambert on February 16, 2008 at 00:10:13 from 64.59.144.85 user Benedict.
In Reply to: Re: Dinner Time posted by Peter Ceresole on February 15, 2008 at 21:47:36:
In western Canada there was breakfast, lunch (soup, sandwiches, etc.) then the big meal of the day, supper, at five pm. The word supper is gradually being replaced by dinner, and the time seems to be shifting later. Country folk still provide a "lunch" in the evening for guests, which is actually a snack. When I lived in England, dinner - a hot meal - was served in the middle of the day. Tea, consisting of bread and butter, scones, crumpets, cake, sandwiches, tea, etc. about 5 pm. Supper was a late snack, just before bedtime. Very much like Peter Ceresole remembers. Think of all those carbohydrates. But I didn't get fat on that diet until 40 years later. For some reason, in Hong Kong, if the woman of the house stays at home, she will provide a huge hot cooked meal of several dishes in the heat of the day. I once asked my mother-in-law why we couldn't have a salad or something cold for the midday meal. Her answer was to shove a plate of hot sliced beef and gravy in the fridge for ten minutes of so. "There you are, there's your cold meal. Now eat up." Or words to that effect in Chinese. Cold sliced jellyfish and ham would have been wonderful.