Why do people in France eat supper so late?

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ChocoBN

Spaniards would ask " why do people in France eat supper so early?"
In Northern Europe people eat supper at 6 pm, in Spain at 10 pm, so France is right in the middle with dinner time around 8:00 pm.

Actually France is further north than most of the US so the sun rises later but also sets later than in America. In June it's still bright in Paris at 10:00pm (and it doesn't get completely dark till 40 minutes later) and even later in Western France but in winter the sun won't rise till 8:30 am. So everything takes place a little later than in America.

Have you heard of the circadian rhythm? It's the 24-hour body clock determined by daylight. Well, some scientists have figured out that tastebuds were most sensitive around 8:00 pm (at least in France's time zone and latitudes). So the French got it all right instinctively!

The person above being from Mexico is evidence that Mexico took after Spanish eating habits and the US after British habits.

xakilegnasp

I live in France and we eat late because most of us don't get home until around 8 o'clock in the evening and that is partly because we have long breaks for lunch, sometimes up to 3 hours which in the US would be considered a split shift. We usually go home for lunch and then return to work and finish. Sitting together at the table is very important and it is family and social time well spent.

Graham I

You can't look at evening meals in isolation. In northern Europe, people generally have a short lunch and finish work between 5pm and 6pm. The evening meal is usually eaten as soon as possible, so between 6pm and 7pm.
In France it is much more common for people to take a longer (and slightly later) lunch break - shops are often closed between 1pm and 3pm for example. Shops typically close at 7pm or 7.30pm, and therefore people don't usually eat until 8pm-9pm.
In Spain, the mid-day break is even longer and finishes later, and people don't eat until 10pm.

The reasons I think are to do with the weather - in Spain it is simply too hot to work in the middle of the day, so you end up with this gap, which causes the evening meal to be eaten later. In northern Europe it gets dark early in the winter and very cold, so people want to be home as early as possible. France is in between - there's no justification for a siesta, but you can enjoy a real break in the middle of the day to savour your lunch because there's no rush to get home.

Play nice, children

Just their culture. A lot of countries eat really late. I live in Mexico and we usually don't get to eat dinner until 9:30 or so.

qriste

personally, it's just because I'm too lazy to cook, it's my starving stomach which decides me to prepare something to eat.

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