Supper
From Free net encyclopedia
| These articles are all part of the Meals series |
| Common meals... |
| Breakfast |
| Second breakfast |
| Elevenses |
| Brunch |
| Tiffin |
| Lunch |
| Tea |
| Dinner |
| Supper |
| Dessert |
| Snack |
| See also... |
Supper is the evening meal - ordinarily the last meal of the day. What it entails varies greatly from region to region.
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, supper is a small meal just before bedtime. In these lands, the understanding of "supper" is typically a meal taken in the evening (between 6 p.m. and midnight) when one's main meal or "dinner" has been eaten during the day; in place of dinner, when the main meal of the day is usually taken in the evening, or distinct from dinner in that it is another light meal taken several hours later on the same evening, often preceded by high tea. Supper is typically a lighter meal, often served cold and unlikely to involve either elaborate preparation or more than one or two courses.
By contrast, in most of Canada and the United States, where the prevailing tradition is to take dinner in late afternoon or evening, the word "supper" is normally a synonym for "dinner."
In some agricultural regions of Canada and the United States, however, farmers traditionally referred to "dinner" as a main meal taken at midday (when most North Americans take lunch) with "supper" being a lighter meal taken in the early evening, usually between 5 and 8 p.m. With increasing urbanization of North America, this custom is generally no longer observed except among rural agricultural families.
In Spain, Portugal and Latin America, a dinner is normally taken in midday, often before siesta, and supper can be as late as ten or eleven p.m.
The term "supper" is derived from the French souper, which is still used for this meal in Canadian French and sometimes in Belgian French. It is related to soup, a food often served at supper.
Continental French for "supper" is dîner; in Catalan it is sopar; in Spanish and Italian it is cena, and in Esperanto it is vespermanĝo.
In Scots and Scottish English, a fish supper is a portion of fish and chips.
In Australian English, supper may refer to a late light dessert had some time after dinner.
In South African English, the terms 'supper' and 'dinner' are interchangeable, similar to urban North American usage. Both are used to mean the evening meal, with neither term specifying which is the main meal of the day.