Luncheon

“ Luncheon is usually, in this country, either a forlorn meal of cold meat or hash, or else a sort of early dinner, both of which are a mistake. If it is veritably luncheon, and not early dinner, it should be as unlike that later meal as possible for variety's sake, and, in any but very small families, there are so many dishes more suitable for luncheon than any other meal, that it is easy to have great variety with very little trouble. ”

“ There is no limit to the number of courses a hostess may offer if she really sets out to show what she can do if she tries; every year gastronomic possibilities increase, and an ambitious woman may pile patés on croquettes, and salads on sherbets, and creams on top of everything else ad libitum, if she so wishes. But a luncheon should be a luncheon, not a cooking-school display. ”

“ Only quite lately, long after the idea of luncheon had been stereotyped upon my brain, I found out that the so-called luncheon was, after all, no luncheon at all, but only a retarded breakfast. Our Rector being a late riser, and having a five-mile walk before him, could find no opportunity of taking it in comfort till he had reached the haven of the parish reading desk.
A cigar was the indispensable accompaniment of the second Lesson, during which period its fumes could be seen ascending like “curling incense” to the blackened rafters of the roof. ”

“ Luncheon for ladies is easily provided where there are no ravenous schoolboys and girls to cater for, because, as they will dine late, the luncheon need not be a hot spread meal. A tray with slices of cold meat, bread, butter, cheese, or perhaps some cold potatoes fried, or any easily warmed little dish remaining from yesterday's dinner, will make an ample luncheon, with a glass of beer or some claret. But if there are schoolboys and girls who come home to an early dinner, it is indispensable that it should be a real dinner, and no make-believe. ”

“ I'll make Michael drive me to town early in the morning, and I'll have everything ready in time. A dinner would be all very well, but a luncheon gives so much better chance to the imagination and the intellect. There're some things you have to have at a dinner, but at a lunch there is nothing you are obliged to have, and nothing you may not have if you want it. And if you don't mind, I'd like you to ask old Miss Panney. ”

“ My uncle Lord John Russell (1792-1878) published in 1820 a book of Essays and Sketches, in which he speaks of "women sitting down to a substantial luncheon at three or four," and observes that men would be wise if they followed the example. All contemporary evidence points to luncheon as a female meal, at which men attended, if at all, clandestinely. If a man habitually sat down to luncheon, and ate it through, he was regarded as indifferent to the claims of dinner, and, moreover, was contemned as an idler. ”

“ Serving luncheon at one was an innovation, but an excellent one. When the dishes were cleared away the anxiety was over, and the hostess moved about among her guests without a thought of a meal to be served at the end of the games. We set ten small tables, three in the dining-room, four in the sitting-room, two in the parlor and one in the hall. The tables were snowily linened, there were doilies in blue and white, and the centrepiece on each table was a glass dish filled with small bunches of splendid blue and white grapes. ”

“ A luncheon served for only one or two may be just as dainty as the most formal function, and far more satisfactory. A napkin or a carving cloth, spread on the bare table, is all sufficient when time is of great value. A poached egg on a bit of buttered toast, a tomato, made more savory by a spoonful of mayonnaise, a cup of tea, and some simple dessert, is a wise luncheon, if time be taken to serve and eat it properly. A glass of milk and a piece of cake, taken standing by the refrigerator, is a foolish luncheon, no matter who does it. ”

“ In the hour of need it is never found wanting. To dine well, authorities have proclaimed in ex cathedrâ utterance, you must lunch lightly; but not, therefore, does it follow that the light luncheon should be repellently prosaic. Let it be dainty—a graceful lyric—that it may fill you with hope of the coming dinner. And lyrical indeed is the savoury sandwich, well cut and garnished, served on rare faïence or old silver; a glass, or perhaps two, of Bordeaux of some famous vintage, to strengthen its subtle flavour. ”

“ Gladstone, who thought modern luxury rather disgusting, used to complain that nowadays life in a country house meant three dinners a day, and if you reckoned sandwiches and poached eggs at five o'clock tea, nearly four. Indeed, the only difference that I can perceive between a modern luncheon and a modern dinner is that at the former meal you don't have soup or a printed menu. ”

“ Years ago Sir Henry Thompson observed to a friend of the writer’s:
“Most men who seek my advice are suffering under one of two great evils—eating too much good food, or drinking too much bad liquor; and occasionally they suffer under both evils.”
“This luncheon,” writes Oliver Wendell Holmes, “is a very convenient affair; it does not require any special dress; it is informal; and can be light or heavy as one chooses.”
The American—the male American at all events—takes far more count of luncheon than of breakfast. ”

“ The menu for luncheon consists usually of soup, fruit, lobster in cutlets or croquettes, with mushrooms, or omelet, or fish; broiled chicken, or lamb chops, with green peas and potatoes; a salad, crackers and cheese; ice cream, with coffee, tea, or chocolate. [149]
At a breakfast or luncheon, as at a dinner, every effort should be made to be punctual. The success of such an occasion may be ruined by a tardy guest. ”

“ FUNCTIONS THE rules that apply to a dinner hold good at a luncheon, to which function ladies only are usually invited, although when served at twelve o’clock, and called “breakfast,” men are also bidden.
At a luncheon the women leave their coats in the dressing-room, wearing their hats and gloves to the table. The gloves are drawn off as soon as all are seated. Just why women elect to sit through an entire meal in a private house with their hats on is not readily explained and some independent hostesses request that hats be removed. ”

“ The primary requisite of a successful luncheon is harmonious and agreeable relationship between hostess and guests. This holds true both of the formal and informal luncheons, though particularly of the former. One cannot possibly enjoy a luncheon—no matter how carefully the menu has been prepared, no matter how delightful the environment—if there are awkward lapses in the conversation ”

“ Luncheon (Vol. iii., p. 369.) .
—I cannot help doubting this derivation; and I suspect that the true meaning of the word is, a piece, or slice (or vulgo, a "hunch") of bread. When people who dined early, and breakfasted comparatively late, wanted any intermediate refreshment, "a luncheon" (or, as we should now say, "just a crust of bread") was sufficient. The Query brought to my mind some verses of the younger Beattie, which were published with his father's Minstrel, &c., in which he uses the word "luncheon" for the piece of bread placed beside the plate at dinner. ”

“ If a hot luncheon is served, it is not etiquette to put the vegetables on the table as at dinner; they should be handed by the waiter. The luncheon-table is already full of the articles for dessert, and there is no place for the vegetables. The hot entres or cold entres are placed before the master or mistress, and each guest is asked what he prefers. ”

“ In many of our large cities, where business prevents the head of the family from returning to dinner until a late hour, luncheon is served about midday and serves as an early dinner for children and servants. There is much less formality in the serving of lunch than of dinner. ”

“ In some homes luncheon is a quite elaborate affair, and comprises several courses, including, perhaps, a soup or bouillon, a meat course, a salad, and fruit or sweets. In the majority of establishments owned by people of moderate means, however, the meal is simpler, but need be no less delightful. Many people can eat muffins, griddle-cakes, and [Pg 95] other hot breads at noon with less after-discomfort than at any other season, and dishes of this sort are usually acceptable on the luncheon-table. With their help the meal can hardly fail to be appetizing. ”

“ With March comes a lull in the social world. Lent holds sway, whether one professes to observe it or not. Dinners, receptions, dances, are all postponed for a time, and quiet teas and luncheons are the accepted forms of entertaining. A Lenten luncheon gives opportunity for a meal without meat, one which may be a pleasant change from the usual menu, and still will not suggest a fast. ”

“ Most certainly and decidedly, a heavy luncheon is a mistake if you want to “shoot clean” afterwards. And bear this in mind, all ye “Johnnies” who rail at your host’s champagne and turtle, after luncheon, in a comfortable pavilion in the midst of a pheasant battue, and whose very beaters would turn up [Pg 45] their noses at a pork pie and a glass of old ale, that there is nothing so good to shoot upon as cold tea, unless it be cold coffee. ”

“ The difference between a breakfast and a luncheon is very slight. On the invitation the word breakfast is used instead of luncheon, and the hour is earlier than for a luncheon. Also men and woman may meet together for a breakfast, and therefore a few more solid courses are advisable. Otherwise one may be guided entirely in giving the entertainment by the rules which apply to a luncheon. ”

“ At breakfast and lunch absolute punctuality is not imperative; but a visitor should avoid being always the last to appear at table.
No order of precedence is observed at either breakfast or luncheon. Persons take their seats as they come in, and, having exchanged their morning salutations, begin to eat without waiting for the rest of the party.
If letters are delivered to you at breakfast or luncheon, you may read them by asking permission from the lady who presides at the urn.
Always hold yourself at the disposal of those in whose house you are visiting. ”

“ If a quorum is left, they manage to sit comfortably by the fire, smoking and chatting in spite of lectures and tutors, until by mutual consent they scatter to glance at the "Times" and the "Sportsman" in the common-room, or even to get in a bit of reading.
Luncheon often consists of bread and cheese and jam from the buttery, with perhaps a half pint of bitter beer; but it may, like the breakfast, come from the college kitchen. ”

“ The meal which with us is most cheerful and friendly is lunch, and therefore the idea occurred to me of a special luncheon service, ornamented with figures of babies. If you approve of this, let me know at once; for it will have to be ordered immediately if we are to bring it. Paris artists are gentlemen of far too much importance to be hurried. ”

“ Sometimes one is moved to give a luncheon "Just for fun," on some gala day which suggests that informality will be in keeping with its atmosphere. Of course one invites to such a meal only such of one's friends as will appreciate the spirit in which the luncheon is given; nothing is more discouraging than to have one's little jokes fall flat, as they are sure to, unless all are in sympathy. ”

“ Yet we can not blame children for [Pg 200] disliking the usual school luncheon, which is seldom dainty-looking or inviting to the taste; sandwiches roughly and thickly cut, the bread clumsily buttered, and the meat in chunks instead of slices, cake crumbling and soggy, pickles, and pie that has been wedged into a dinner box for hours, are none of them the proper food for exhausted brains. ”

“ I have ordered a capital dinner at eight this evening, and there is a cold pheasant, and a bottle of Duff Gordon’s gold sherry in the well of the dog-cart, to say nothing of anchovy sandwiches. You must hold on till two o’clock, and then make up for lost time at luncheon. Next time you’ll be punctual.”
“The devil take it, man,” responded I; “I can no more walk thirty miles without my breakfast, than I can leap a thirty foot fen ditch without a pole. Breakfast—by George! I must have some breakfast, or no snipe to-day. ”

“ Prince Albert was notoriously fond of luncheon, and Queen Victoria humoured [Pg 180] him. They dined very late, and the luncheon at the Palace became a very real and fully recognized meal. The example, communicated from the highest quarters, was soon followed in Society; and, when I first knew London, luncheon was as firmly established as dinner. As a rule, it was not an affair of fixed invitation; but a hostess would say, "You will always find us at luncheon, somewhere about two"—and one took her at her word. ”

“ Large Luncheons.—The large luncheon has few friends these days; it is too heterogeneous an affair. Those invited feel it is an easy way of paying off social obligations; few find it entirely enjoyable. There is more or less of a crush; one experiences difficulty in finding a table and being served; it is not appetizing to note evidences that others have eaten at the same table and departed. And one is likely to be seated with the wrong people and thus miss much that belongs with and makes pleasant the smaller affair. ”

“ If one menu is not quite what one wants, she can take another; if something more elaborate still is desired than what is given already, she can take a course from some luncheon farther on in the book; as much variety as possible has been sought on purpose, that there may be opportunity for just this choice of dishes.
The idea of observing holidays with luncheons is only a suggestion; any one of the luncheons may, with slightly altered decorations, be given at any time during the month. Doubtless every hostess can take the fancies [Pg 5] given and work them out to her more complete satisfaction ”