# Dinner Time



## Valica

Hello everybody!
When I was growing up, meal times where followed with iron-clad discipline. Now our meal times are as fluid and changeable as the rest of our lives. In USA we still eat dinner/supper (the largest meal of the day) between 6pm and 9pm, although doctors suggest to eat dinner no later than 6pm. 
When is the dinner time in your country? Is dinner just a meal or a family affair for you? Do you watch TV while eating dinner?


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## cuchuflete

Hi Valica,
I'm interested in your comment about doctors and their suggestion about mealtimes.  What doctors?  What's the purported reason?   Does this suggestion take into consideration other mealtimes? When one goes to sleep and wakes up?

Your collective "we" suggests that most residents of the USA are as ignorant of this medical advice as I am, or consciously ignore it.


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## Valica

Hi Cuchuflete,
Perhaps my comment was based on the fact that my mother always told me that eating after sundown would result in obesity because the body doesn't have the opportunity to "burn up" the calories, and they turn directly into fat. I never really investigated the matter, and I apologize for the confussion if this is not a scientific fact.
However, the intention of this post was to discuss cultural differences not the dietary or medical recommendations.


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## Etcetera

Hi Valica.
In my family, mealtimes are pretty changeable. I, for example, may come home at 3 p.m., may come at 9 p.m. So do other members of my family. So do many other people I know. 
And for us, nowever sad it may be, dinner is only a meal. Nothing more. As for watching TV - I never watch TV while eating my dinner or even breakfast, but I can fill my plate with something to eat and go to my beloved computer. But my Mum, sister and father usually watch TV.


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## la reine victoria

When my sons were still living at home, we always had dinner at 6.00 p.m., seated together in the dining room.  Television watching wasn't allowed, conversation was encouraged.

Customs have changed nowadays.  I would estimate that the majority of British families eat their dinner while watching television.

Personally, I eat when I feel hungry.  The point made about not eating after 6.00 pm holds true in the UK (except that it is "not after 7.00 pm").  This advice is given to those who are trying to lose weight.

When I go out to dinner, the usual time is around 8.00 pm.  In convivial company the meal can last for anything up to three hours -  including post-prandial wine drinking and interersting conversation.  




LRV


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## Heba

In my family, we usually have dinner at 6 pm.
However, this can change, especially during the winter. Sometimes, any of us could be out because of work or college, and we wait until everybody's home.

What la riene victoria said about tv is very interesting. Up till now, many people consider it inappropriate to watch tv while having dinner, but the rule can be broken sometimes in some families, especially if family members have to have dinner at separate times.


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## venenum

In Croatia, the central (cooked) meal of the day is lunch, which was customary (in the past) eaten at noon (today most of the families practice this only on Sundays), and today at any time between noon and 4 PM; dinner is also a cooked meal in some families (usually in those whose mother is full time houswife), but most of them eat sandwiches or similar "easy" food. In my family, we eat when we get a chance. If we were supposed to wait for each other, to sit down and eat a family lunch together, we would starve to death (or, in the best case, eat lunch every third day).


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## natasha2000

But if you eat dinner at 6... Don't you get hungry at 10 or 11? Or you go to sleep very early? 

When I was a child, I remember that my borther and I were having dinner at 7pm, at 7.15 we were watching cartoons until 7.30, and at 8pm we were in bed. On wotrking days, our parents sometimes ate dinner with us, sometimes not. We had family meals on weekends, and it was usually lunch at about 1-2pm. In Serbia, the most important meal is lunch, and supper or dinner... Well.. When I think better, we don't have this called dinner except when we go to a restaurant for dinner. The evening meal is taken between 7-9pm, and it is usually sometihng light - in any case, lighter than what we had for lunch...

Spanish people eat dinner very late - between 9-11pm ... Durning the week, they usually geather at dinner, because most of htem work until late. Many of them finish their work betwwn 6pm and 8pm, so they can be at home at about 7-9pm... They also have a good lunch - usually many of them have lunch break, so they can eat a good lunch, and not sanwiches. the lunch is between 2-4pm. Those who have been to Spain, know for sure that everything stops at 2pm .. It is impossible to find open shop (except if you are in an extremely touristic area), and the life stops to be continued between 4.30 and 5pm... I admire Spanish people for this, because it is obvious that good alimentation is very important for them. Now I see that in Serbia the things are changing and people are now having lunch time, too, but when I was a child, normally people entered at 7am and finished at 3pm, so they could have lunch at home...

EDIT: I didn't see the Venenum's post. I can add that everything she said goes for Serbia, too...


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## Heba

natasha2000 said:


> But if you eat dinner at 6... Don't you get hungry at 10 or 11? Or you go to sleep very early?


 
Hi natasha When I posted here, I thought that it was mainly about the main meal -which is lunch, but I heard that some people nowadays use the word dinner for lunch, and the posts I read made me think so

If the thread is about the third and final meal of the day then ignore what I posted above, I am talking about lunch. 

If we are talking about the final one, then let me tell you that I have supper abit late, around 10 pm in the winter, or perhaps later (since I am a nocturnal person)


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## natasha2000

Heba said:


> Hi natasha When I posted here, I thought that it was mainly about the main meal -which is lunch, but I heard that some people nowadays use the word dinner for lunch, and the posts I saw made me think so
> 
> If the post is about the third and final meal of the day then ignore what I posted above, I am talking about lunch.
> 
> If we are talking about the final one, hen let me tell you that I have dinner abit late, around 10 pm in the winter, or perhaps later (since I am a nocturnal person)


 
Hi Heba... 

The question was for all who eat dinner at 6pm... Well, I have to admit, when I started to write my answer, the last post was the LRV's post...

Besides, I think that term dinner-supper is rather cultural thing, since I was taught that English people have two evening meals, dinner and supper, one at 6 which is called dinner, and the other later, and it is usually something light, and it can be eaten but not necesarilly... I am not sure about Americans, but I would say the same goes for them, too... Anyway, there are both Americans and Englishmen here so they can confirm...
Other countries have only one evening meal so maybe this is why sometimes a confusion arises when deciding how to call your afternoon/evening meal when speaking in English....


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## pickypuck

Valica said:


> Do you watch TV while eating dinner?


 
Prime time is at around 10 pm, so yes.

¡Olé!


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## luis masci

In my country we have dinner more or less at the same time that Natasha tells about it’s in Spain. 
I know would be recommendable (for health reasons) to have it earlier; but at 6 P.M. we have still having our tea.  
BTW Valica, the pizza was great despite it was too late.


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## LaurentK

In France for many people dinner time is usally around 8p.m. (prime time TV news), and some still tend to seat together around a table and eat together. Some of them may even wait for each other to start eating. I have always heard in my childhood that it was _mauvais de manger entre les repas_, and we didn't watch TV while having meal... Now I sometimes have a _plateau-télé_ or, as LRV, a _plateau-PC... _(don't tell mum  ).


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## DrWatson

Hi,

In Finland, or at least in my family, we usually eat dinner sometime between 3pm and 6pm. And then at 9pm we eat something smaller, some bread and tea for example.

And I do watch TV while eating, if there's something on that's worth watching. I hardly ever watch TV just because there's nothing better to do.


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## Lady Mayfair

Here in Argentina dinner's a time to spend with family and, in general, it's the time when every member's at home, since for lunch sometimes parents are at work and children have lunch at school (or at least in double-shifts schools).
It's usually after 9 pm but before 11.
Surprisingly, that snack which the Finns have after dinner, we have it before .


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## tvdxer

Valica said:


> Hello everybody!
> When I was growing up, meal times where followed with iron-clad discipline. Now our meal times are as fluid and changeable as the rest of our lives. In USA we still eat dinner/supper (the largest meal of the day) between 6pm and 9pm, although doctors suggest to eat dinner no later than 6pm.
> When is the dinner time in your country? Is dinner just a meal or a family affair for you? Do you watch TV while eating dinner?



Me too (5 p.m.), until my mother went to work at our family store.  

In my house, dinner is typically served around 5-6 p.m.

Around here 5 - 7 p.m. seems to be a more common time frame for eating dinner...eating supper at 9 p.m. seems odd.  However, I tend to eat late when travelling.  

Dinner was very much a communal affair (sit around table together) in my family until my brother and sister starting getting older and were gone from the house more often.  Then it kind of broke down.  I'm pretty sure a great percentage of families, if not the majority, do not usually eat together.  

I often sit in front of my computer when eating dinner.  Sad to say, that's the usual situation for me now


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## federicoft

Dinner time in Italy tends to vary depending on location and season. It would be perfectly normal to dine at 7 pm in January in Turin, or at 10 pm in Palermo in July.

As a general trend, Northern Italians usually eat earlier than Southerners, and in the winter is common to anticipate dinner times.


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## beakman

Hi, everybody!
As Natasha just said, Spanish people eat very late in the evening. Personally, I don't think about it as an advantage. Here, in Andalusia most people finish their work even later than in Barcelona or Madrid, at 8 or 9 o'clock, so they physically can't have dinner (call it supper) early. Many of them have a "break" for lunch from 14.00 till 17.30. It is too much time for meal if you have it near the place of your job and it's sufficient if you have to drive home to have dinner. But it is so unsuitable for those who have children. Children normally finish their meal at school at 15.00 - 15.30 and go home after it...At 18.00 or so, Spanish people who don't work (generally women/ retired people and children) have "merienda" = they have coffee and some cake, some "sandwich a la española " or something like that. (when I was young girl I used to go to Russian summer (pioneer) camps and there we also were given "merienda" = "полдник" at 17.00 it was some roll or some fruit, then at 19.00 we had dinner/ supper).
I do think that good alimentation is very important for Spanish people as for people all around the world, but unfortunatelly, I don't think their habits are so good, at least sometimes I'm really starving when we're waiting for my husband to come home and have dinner/ supper with me at 21.00 o'clock or even later.
Best regards,
Beakman.


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## melelao

Hi I am Italian. In Italy dining habits vary with the latitude...in the North they generally eat earlier than in the Center and in the the South of the country. I am from Central Italy, my region is Umbria (150 km North of Rome and 200 Km south of Florence).
I usually have lunch at 13:30/14:00 (it is mandatory to wait untill eveybody has come back home...one of the rudest things you can do in Italy is to start to eat without waiting for those who are late...it means you do not care about them) while dinner time varies greatly with the season and the place...In winter, when I am at home, I usually have dinner at 20:30/21:00 but never before 21:00 when I go out...I would risk to eat alone or with the tourists...
In summer lunch time is unchanged (followed by a good nap) but dinner is eaten later. At home around 21:00 and 21:30/22:00 at restaurant or pizzeria...
I know that in Northen Italy they usually have lunch at 12:30 and dinner at 19:30. A few days ago I was in a medium-sized town near Milan (Cremona) and the rush hour for restaurants was 20:00 (in my place only tourists go out for dinner so early).
Both in winter and in summer it is common to go with your friends for an "aperitivo" before dinner.
When we go out for some movies, theater, football games...we usually have dinner AFTER the event, say around 23:00/24:00...it is the famous "spaghetto di mezzanotte" (Midnight spaghetti), extremely popular especially in summer.
I am living in Holland now and the locals have lunch at 12:00 and dinner at 17:30/18:00 it is very strange for me!!!


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## San

Valica said:


> Hello everybody!
> When I was growing up, meal times where followed with iron-clad discipline. Now our meal times are as fluid and changeable as the rest of our lives. In USA we still eat dinner/supper (the largest meal of the day) between 6pm and 9pm, although doctors suggest to eat dinner no later than 6pm.
> When is the dinner time in your country? Is dinner just a meal or a family affair for you? Do you watch TV while eating dinner?



In Spain dinner time is quite fixed, between 2:30pm and 3:30pm, I would say. That's "la hora de comer", which in summer time is followed by "la hora de la siesta" .  It may seem strange, too early for a dinner/supper and too late for a dinner/lunch, although you must consider that in Spain solar midday can be at about 2pm or even later. So, here la comida (the meal) is more o less a dinner/lunch.

It has been traditionally a family meal and although it is so for most people nowadays, it can be difficult to arrange sometimes, especially in big cities. Many people think this dinner so early in the evening is not rational and  not proper for a twenty-first century lifestyle.


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## joanamcbarata

In Portugal dinner time is around 8pm, never earlier than that, for most people. And families tend to have dinner together, and as in Italy, it is kind of rude to start eating without everybody at the table (although if there's just close family, and you're hungry, no one will be offended ).

As I grew up, me and my family had dinner watching tv, but we talked about how the day went and other stuff, and the tv was there just to check the news (which in Portugal extends for about 1 hour long).

Nowadays, since I'm living with my boyfriend, we tend to eat dinner later, because in our parents' house the dinner was magically cooked at 8pm, and now WE have to cook it, and sometimes we're sooooo lazy...  So, we have dinner around 9pm. And it's real dinner, with steaks, or stews, or whatever, and not just a sandwich.

We go to bed never earlier than midnight, and we get up around 8/8h30/9h in the morning. I guess in the UK and in the US people go to bed and get up in the morning much earlier than us. Otherwise, I don't get it how you manage it


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## mjscott

joanamcbarata said:


> In Portugal dinner time is around 8pm, never earlier than that, for most people. And families tend to have dinner together, and as in Italy, it is kind of rude to start eating without everybody at the table (although if there's just close family, and you're hungry, no one will be offended ).
> 
> As I grew up, me and my family had dinner watching tv, but we talked about how the day went and other stuff, and the tv was there just to check the news (which in Portugal extends for about 1 hour long).
> 
> Nowadays, since I'm living with my boyfriend, we tend to eat dinner later, because in our parents' house the dinner was magically cooked at 8pm, and now WE have to cook it, and sometimes we're sooooo lazy...  So, we have dinner around 9pm. And it's real dinner, with steaks, or stews, or whatever, and not just a sandwich.
> 
> We go to bed never earlier than midnight, and we get up around 8/8h30/9h in the morning. I guess in the UK and in the US people go to bed and get up in the morning much earlier than us. Otherwise, I don't get it how you manage it


 
When I was in Argentina, I thought the same of Argentines, "How do they manage that?" In Buenos Aires, school started at 7:30 a.m. There was 1 1/2 hours at lunch time, but then we had to study again until 4:30. Sometimes study groups wouldn't start until 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. Most often dinner was around 10 p.m. To go to a movie at 11:00 in the U.S. is a little strange where I come from, but it was normal fare in Argentina. My son said the same thing when he was in Spain in the early 2000's. He also said that this "siesta" thing after the mid-day meal was right up his alley--he wishes that all Americans would practice it.

At the time I knew of research that showed that a rest after your mid-day meal would increase your productivity in the evening hourse where American cultures are starting to burn out over a stressful day. I'm too tired to contribute any links, however, to this thread at the time.
Cheers!


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## mirx

Probably we should start by defining what "dinner" is.

Is dinner the main meal of the day or is dinner considered to be the latest meal of the day?

In México this is the way is supposed to be:

Breakfast: Very genorous amounts of food, eggs, oatmeal, bread and cereal, and beans are usually in the menu. Taken any time between 7 and 10 am.

Lunch: Most important meal of the day, usually three courses are served and family members are gathered together. No TV is usually allowed. Is taken usually from 1 to 4 pm.

Dinner (or whatever you call it in your country): Usually consists of bread and milk, or other light refreshment. Taken at around 8 to 10 pm.

Now, the descriptions I made are what is traditionally expected but not necessarily what actually happens. People are always on the run and may only get home in the evening. Formerly the situation was similar to that described by Natasha about Spanish eating habits, but this is no longer the case in urban complexes, although it may be applicable in rural communities.

As for my family, we all have very different and varied schedules. Mom cooks food everyday and will serve each one as we get home. Usually all of us eat alone but mom keeps us company and makes conversation. We never developed the habit of watching TV while eating, as all TVs were in the bedrooms. Now, if there was a specific program we wanted to watch it was perfectly fine to do it, although never encouranged.

Cheers.


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## melelao

mirx said:


> Probably we should start by defining what "dinner" is.
> 
> Is dinner the main meal of the day or is dinner considered to be the latest meal of the day?
> 
> In México this is the way is supposed to be:
> 
> Breakfast: Very genorous amounts of food, eggs, oatmeal, bread and cereal, and beans are usually in the menu. Taken any time between 7 and 10 am.
> 
> Lunch: Most important meal of the day, usually three courses are served and family members are gathered together. No TV is usually allowed. Is taken usually from 1 to 4 pm.
> 
> Dinner (or whatever you call it in your country): Usually consists of bread and milk, or other light refreshment. Taken at around 8 to 10 pm.
> 
> Now, the descriptions I made are what is traditionally expected but not necessarily what actually happens. People are always on the run and may only get home in the evening. Formerly the situation was similar to that described by Natasha about Spanish eating habits, but this is no longer the case in urban complexes, although it may be applicable in rural communities.
> 
> As for my family, we all have very different and varied schedules. Mom cooks food everyday and will serve each one as we get home. Usually all of us eat alone but mom keeps us company and makes conversation. We never developed the habit of watching TV while eating, as all TVs were in the bedrooms. Now, if there was a specific program we wanted to watch it was perfectly fine to do it, although never encouranged.
> 
> Cheers.



In Italy, for most of the people, lunch and dinner are two "twin" meals: they have the same importance.

Breakfast: In Italy more than 50% of the population do not have a breakfast. The other 50% just have a coffee/cappuccino and a cornetto (croissant) at the bar. Cappuccino is a breakfast thing in Italy...to order it after 10:00 AM (like they do in the rest of the world) is considered immoral and, maybe it is also illegal...;-)
Lunch: it is usually a good dish of pasta (yes, we eat pasta everyday and we don't get bored...is there any problem? ;-)) that might be (rarely, at least in Central and Southern Italy) substituted by risotto or some soup (a gresy one though...don't think about the light soups they have in Northern Europe). Of course pasta kind and the souce vary everyday. Pasta is usually followed by some fruit, coffee, and some cookies. Bread is forbidden at lunch (since you have pasta you don't need other carbohydrates)
Dinner: it consists in what we call a "secondo" (a second dish). Usually meat or fish with, as side dish, salad or roasted potatoes, etc. Then fruits and, in summer,  it is common to go out for a gelato (here you don't need translations...).
On sundays the lunch is usually bigger and lasts for more time: both pasta (often fresh or home made) and some kind of roasted meat (lamb, chicken...) are eaten. It is very common to end the sunday's meal with some fresh pastries.
Children usually have a "merenda" (usually a slice of pizza or a sandwich) in the middle of the afternoon (16:00/17:00).
When you go out in some restaurant we usually eat a complete meal: antipasto (appetizer), a first dish (pasta or similar), a second (meat or fish), a side dish (salad or similar) and dessert.
Pizza is considered a "dinner" food but many pizzerias are now making pizza also at lunch. We have 2 kinds of pizza though: the classic, big, round pizza (al piatto, pizza on the dish) you eat as a meal and the pizzas you can buy in slices in small shops on the streets (pizza al taglio, cut pizza) usually  thicker and cooked on a pan.


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## joanamcbarata

Let's see then. In Portugal, as in Italy, lunch and dinner have also the same importance, as Melelao said.

Breakfast: A coffe (espresso), coffee with milk,  or just milk, and a sandwich, croissant or other kind of small cake (?). (Personally, I rarely eat breakfast, but most people do).

Lunch (13h/13h30): soup, fish or meat (with pasta/potates/rice) and fruit. (this is how it's supposed to be, but many people - me included -, skip the soup and fruit part). And of course, an espresso (for those who drink coffee - almost everybody).

"Lanche" (around 17h)- it is the equivalent of "merenda", I don't know if it can be translated as "afternoon tea". Anyway, it's similar to breakfast. Some people just eat a piece of fruit, a yogurt or some cookies.

Diner (20h/20h30) - It's exactly the same thing as lunch.

And then people go to bed around 23h/midnight or later, depending on their habits and on how early they have to get up the next morning 

The main difference between lunch and dinner in Portugal is that, as many people 
work far from home, they have to eat in a restaurant, and sometimes they have less time to eat or less money to spend, so they just eat a soup and a sandwich.


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