Abigail Carroll: The Remains of the Day
[Abigail Carroll is writing a book on the history of the American meal.]
...During the hearth-cooking era, preparing food was time-consuming and labor-intensive, and early Americans cooked with leftovers in mind. In most households, at least one meal a day was based on the remains of a previous meal. If “hasty” cornmeal pudding was on the menu for supper, breakfast might feature the same pudding sliced, fried and served with milk or molasses. If the midday dinner was stew, supper was likely stew or cold meat and potatoes derived from it, with the possibility of more for breakfast.
In some households, this recycling of meals lasted at least through the late 19th century. The morning of the grisly 1892 Lizzie Borden murders in Fall River, Mass., the family breakfasted on mutton soup and cold mutton from the day before.
Leftovers for breakfast began yielding to bread and pastry in the early- to mid-19th century, thanks to the cookstove, which made baking a more predictable affair. Health fanatics like the Rev. Sylvester Graham, who praised the virtues of fiber and questioned Americans’ addiction to meat, also helped usher in the lighter, grain-based breakfast, setting the stage for the breakfast cereal revolution. By the turn of the 20th century, there was no longer much room for leftovers at the morning meal....
Read entire article at NYT
...During the hearth-cooking era, preparing food was time-consuming and labor-intensive, and early Americans cooked with leftovers in mind. In most households, at least one meal a day was based on the remains of a previous meal. If “hasty” cornmeal pudding was on the menu for supper, breakfast might feature the same pudding sliced, fried and served with milk or molasses. If the midday dinner was stew, supper was likely stew or cold meat and potatoes derived from it, with the possibility of more for breakfast.
In some households, this recycling of meals lasted at least through the late 19th century. The morning of the grisly 1892 Lizzie Borden murders in Fall River, Mass., the family breakfasted on mutton soup and cold mutton from the day before.
Leftovers for breakfast began yielding to bread and pastry in the early- to mid-19th century, thanks to the cookstove, which made baking a more predictable affair. Health fanatics like the Rev. Sylvester Graham, who praised the virtues of fiber and questioned Americans’ addiction to meat, also helped usher in the lighter, grain-based breakfast, setting the stage for the breakfast cereal revolution. By the turn of the 20th century, there was no longer much room for leftovers at the morning meal....