Enhancements in agriculture and the expansion of trade in the 18th century led to a period of substantial culinary change. However, the diets of the population varied enormously and the food an individual consumed, even the time at which they ate, were dependent upon their social class.

The middle and upper classes would typically breakfast between nine and ten o’clock in the morning. Having worked for several hours, the labouring classes would break their fast an hour or two earlier.