Foreign Correspondence: The evolution of brunch – Australia v the US
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Places which offered bottomless mimosas were especially appealing. The sparkling wine could have been Sprite; it was the feeling of abandon which we were after.
In Chicago, Bloody Marys are the brunch beverage of choice. (They’re healthy because of the tomatoes.) The city has some of the coldest winters in North America and its Marys are often hearty meals in themselves, garnished with rashers of bacon, multiple pickles, even giant heads of romaine.
The American brunch is bacchanalian and the Australian one more wholesome, but both have taken off worldwide. A few years ago while visiting Abu Dhabi, where alcohol is strictly regulated, I noticed the expat population migrated to five-star hotels on the weekend, for liquid lunches in overly airconditioned rooms. They may as well have been in Brooklyn. And a friend recently returned from Paris tells me that the longest lines in the city on a Saturday are not for the flakiest croissants but rather for brunch at Australian-themed cafes. (Don’t tell Bernard Salt.)
Among my friends, brunch has changed into something different again: a highly scheduled affair at which babies crawl underfoot. Although everyone’s still bleary-eyed, the anecdotes about what happened the previous night concern sleep schedules. By necessity, alcohol consumption is more moderate.
Like the word itself, a sneaky portmanteau, brunch is flexible – a meal you can adapt to a whole host of life circumstances. What comes next, I’m told, is the competitive-cooking stage, in which we seek to outdo one another with gateaux and frittatas and tartes tatins. I’m no cook, but I’ll do the dishes after. Does 10am work?
Article source: https://www.watoday.com.au/national/why-i-m-spending-100-million-on-the-pursuit-of-truth-20181202-p50jnv.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed
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