Brunch: The Missing Link

In the ‘70s, the decadence of ancient times could be found at big-city discotheques, college fraternity toga parties and all-you-could-eat brunches (champagne included) in Marina del Rey. King Tut was front-page news, Cher looked like Cleopatra and Plato’s Retreat was hot. Now discos are turning into supper clubs, and Cher’s Cleo look, like Tut and togas and Plato’s, is a distant memory.

All that remains is brunch.

Brunch is the culinary missing link to hearty eaters of the past. Look back in history and you’ll find that while brunch wasn’t institutionalized until the ‘60s and ‘70s, the concept of voluptuous eating goes back to ancient times. A comparison between Barbara Norman’s “Tales of the Table,” an authoritative work on the history of Western cuisine, and more contemporary sources from the ‘80s reveals that the spirit of excess survives in the weekend brunch:

Then: “The scale of feasts of the past is almost unbelievable . . . literally hundreds of cattle were slaughtered.”

--”Tales of the Table”

Now: “The (hotel) goes through 60 gallons of eggs, 12 gallons of salads, 75 pounds of bacon and up to 16 cases of champagne, plus other offerings and desserts.”

--The L.A. Times on an Orange County brunch

Then: “. . . As many as 30,000 individual dishes (were) presented on the menu.”

--”Tales of the Table”

Now: “Feed from the restaurant’s eight stations, which include an eggs Benedict station, a Belgian waffles stop, a build-your-own-omelet bar, a fajitas bar, a fresh fruit and salad bar, shrimp and ceviche bar, an oyster and clam bar . . . and a hot fudge sundae bar.”

--The L.A. Times on a Mother’s Day brunch

Then: “Food (was) ground to a pulp and mixed with sugar.”

--”Tales of the Table”

Now: “Strawberry soup is refreshing, though creamy enough to clog the arteries of a marathon runner.”

--The L.A. Times on a resort brunch item

Then: “ ‘So the whole day long till sundown we sat and feasted on our rich supply of meat washed down by mellow wine,’ (Homer writes) as Odysseus and his companion consume a large ram offered to Zeus.”

--”Tales of the Table”

Now: Chuck--”You say you’re kind of wild?” TV game show contestant--”That’s right, Chuck. For instance, my girlfriends and I will get together during the weekend and go to brunch.” Chuck--”Brunch? Brunch is wild?” Contestant--”Well, yeah. I mean brunch can last all day--sometimes 14 or 15 hours.” Chuck--”O- kaay .”

--”The Love Connection”

Then: “The endless eating alternated with jousts or hunts.”

--”Tales of the Table”

Now: “Not only will the Easter bunny hop about the premises and pose with youngsters who want complimentary picture-souvenirs, there’s a petting zoo too, with real live rabbits, chickens and goats. Work up a healthy appetite at the Easter egg hunt. “

--The L.A. Times on Easter brunches

Then: “Feasts were also politically useful, both in cementing ties and in impressing . . . dignitaries.”

--”Tales of the Table”

Now: “The women meet once a month in the Glendale YWCA on East Lexington Avenue for political briefings, legislative ‘action alerts’ on bills in Sacramento and the study of global issues, along with brunch.”

--The L.A. Times on a Republican women’s study group

Then: “Courses of food were interspersed with wild practical jokes, outlandish pageants, and pantomimes with ingenious mechanical devices and animated figures.”

--”Tales of the Table”

Now: “At the brunch, the entertainment will begin with a marching band and will continue with a jazz group, a mariachi band and a troupe of mimes and jugglers.”

--The L.A. Times on a Super Bowl day brunch

Then: “Feasting was not all fun. Starting with the early Greek religious rites, public feasts were an instrument for satisfying the public and keeping the poor under control.”

--”Tales of the Table”

Now: “Amid the graffiti-covered warehouses south of downtown, brunch and Easter services (were provided) to more than 2,000 homeless men, women and children. . . . A block of 5th Street was cordoned off and metal folding chairs and tables were covered festively with pink cellophane. Volunteers served up a meal of hard-boiled eggs, corned beef hash, peaches, doughnuts and fruit punch.”

--The L.A. Times on Easter activities

Then: “When there is too much wealth and leisure, cooking, like all arts, lapses into a decadance in which cost and elaborate form take precedence over taste and content.”

--”Tales of the Table”

Now: “(Brunch) assumes, as do so many of our urban appurtenances, a measure of social significance, and so the selection of where one . . . makes a brunch appearance, becomes in many cases far more important than the quality of the food to be consumed because in a real sense, when you choose your brunch you choose your caste, you opt for a certain set.”

--The New York Times on the chic identity of brunch