Brunch is arguably the most important meal of the day. I love brunch, you love brunch, he loves brunch, she loves brunch, EVERYONE LOVES BRUNCH. But despite my everlasting love, I can’t help but wonder why I feel this strongly about a meal that is not necessary to my diet.
It all comes down to a simple equation; food + the company we keep + a good environment = happiness.
Photo by Paige Marie Rodgers
“Brunch,” the ever playful combination of breakfast and lunch,” consists of what Guy Beringer, author of Brunch: A Plea, defines as, ”cheerful, sociable and inciting.” He also says that, ”it puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week” and I can’t say I disagree with him.
Photo by Maya Weiss
But what makes brunch better than family dinner? Is it the array of food? Maybe the environment? Maybe the booze?
“The same food and drink in different circumstances tastes completely different,” says Dr. Charles Spence of Oxford University. A typical brunch, according to various brunch spot menus, found with a simple google search, consists of simple breakfast foods (sometimes with trendy and flavorful twists), alongside more luncheon-esque items such as meats and salads (which can also be on the trendy side).
Dr. Spence also conducted a study in which 3,000 participants were given a glass of white wine and were asked to describe the taste. Their descriptions were recorded.
Photo courtesy of @haute.coffee on Instagram
Later on, the ambiance of the room that the participants were held was changed, but their choice of wine remained the same. With just a change in atmosphere, the participants answers changed by 20%.
Dr. Spence took note of the atmosphere, going on to talk about how a dining venues setting, company, service and even the physical weight of a menu can have an effect on the overall dining experience, including the taste of the meal. It all comes down to where we go. And who knows the best spots in town to fulfill all of our brunch needs? Bloggers.
With new food bloggers and articles popping up like daisies, it is no doubt that pictures of delicious and artful food are easy to come across. If you do a search of the hashtag “brunch” on Instagram, over 5 million results came up, and that only includes pictures from that day. People don’t just like eating brunch foods, they like to find the trendiest, coolest brunch spots and take loads of pictures.
Photo courtesy of @bitcheswhobrunch on Instagram
In fact, there are so many food bloggers that they have to have their own association. The Association of Food Bloggers offers these bloggers a chance to sit at the top of the blogosphere with the big shots. This membership oriented organization has been around since 2009 and have strict criteria in order to be considered for a feature on their home page.
But it’s not just bloggers and writers who consider brunch a necessary part of the day. News sources such as the Huffington Post, the New York Times and the Washington Post, all have several pages of bloggers to follow, places to go and food to try.
With all of this taste testing and mood adjusting, we can conclude that brunch is not so much about the meal itself, but more so about the company we keep and the places we end up. Oh, and how many likes we get on our photos.