Today, breakfast is considered an important meal in many cultures and is often touted as the most important meal of the day. Eggs appear on diner menus explicitly, as sunny side up, scrambled, or poached, or implicitly, in pancakes, French toast, and muffins.
But breakfast used to be much simpler. In ancient Egypt, it was common for people to eat a breakfast of bread and beer, while in ancient Greece, breakfast was a light meal consisting of bread dipped in wine or water. In ancient Rome, breakfast was typically a simple meal of bread and cheese, or occasionally leftovers from the previous night’s dinner.
During the Middle Ages in Europe, breakfast was not a formal meal and was often skipped altogether. Instead, people typically ate two main meals a day – a midday meal and a late afternoon or evening meal. In fact, Thomas Aquinas, in the 13th century, classified “eating too soon” as one of the types of gluttony. Those who indulged in breakfast, he thought, could be assumed to have other sinful appetites.
Thomas’ hold on the faithful slowly loosened, and by the 16th century Queen Elizabeth was known to eat ale and oat cakes for breakfast. Lower classes survived on porridge or gruel. By the 17th century, when coffee and tea became popular, breakfast emerged as an important meal in Europe. Egg recipes proliferated, and the Church removed eggs from the proscribed foods during Lent.
During this time the popular medical advice author Dr. Tobias Venner recommended two poached eggs sprinkled with vinegar for a healthy breakfast, although not necessarily for everyone (he excluded students or anyone between the ages of 25 and 60). By the time of the Industrial Revolution, had become a standard meal.
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