For the norwegian chicken recipe following a Jewish fast, see Break fast. Still life with fruits, nuts, and large wheels of cheese.

Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night. 13th century it was the name given to the first meal of the day. In Ancient Egypt, peasants ate a daily meal, most likely in the morning, consisting of soup, beer, bread, and onions before they left for work in the fields or work commanded by the pharaohs.

The Iliad notes this meal with regard to a labor-weary woodsman eager for a light repast to start his day, preparing it even as he is aching with exhaustion. 5th century BC poets Cratinus and Magnes. It was usually composed of everyday staples like bread, cheese, olives, salad, nuts, raisins, and cold meat left over from the night before. 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, while 16th century scholar Claudius Saumaise wrote that it was typically eaten at 9:00 or 10:00 a. It seems unlikely that any fixed time was truly assigned for this meal. Italian polenta, made from roasted spelt wheat or barley that was then pounded and cooked in a cauldron of water. This section’s factual accuracy is disputed.

Relevant discussion may be found on Talk:Breakfast. Please help to ensure that disputed statements are reliably sourced. A medieval baker with his apprentice. As seen in the illustration, round loaves were among the most common. In the European Middle Ages, breakfast was not usually considered a necessary and important meal, and was practically nonexistent during the earlier medieval period. Monarchs and their entourages would spend a lot of time around a table for meals. Only two formal meals were eaten per day—one at mid-day and one in the evening.

The exact times varied by period and region, but this two-meal system remained consistent throughout the Middle Ages. Breakfast in some times and places was solely granted to children, the elderly, the sick, and to working men. Anyone else did not speak of or partake in eating in the morning. Eating breakfast meant that one was poor, was a low-status farmer or laborer who truly needed the energy to sustain his morning’s labor, or was too weak to make it to the large, midday dinner.