Eating is a critical part of my day. First and foremost I subscribe to that near religious belief that the day mustn’t begin without something “on you stomach” (a prepositional adage which in turn approaches a medical or scientific truth). I grew up with breakfast in prep school because we had it every day in the Great Hall. Precedent to that assembly was a clanging bell in the dormitories at five to seven o’clock each morning (note the 5-minute respite before precisely 7:00 am), then into the showers, followed by donning the flannels, crested blazer and school tie.

What succeeded the Boy Scout purity later in life was a ritual foregathering not unlike cattle to the trough of the same six businessmen (including myself naturally) at the Main Street restaurant each morning during the week at exactly eight-thirty am. The rustic custom lasted uninterrupted for thirty years. While my hackneyed bacon and eggs menu didn’t have me leaving the place feet first, it did precipitate open-heart surgery and sadly as a result the end of my long-standing matutinal congregation with the boys (half of whom are no longer whinnying among us).

The surgical warning didn’t however entirely remove me from protein. Rather at the golf club on a sunny summer’s morn protein became equivalent to sculpted, glistening fat; viz., double bacon (crisp), sausage, three eggs “over-easy” covered in cheese, tomato slices à côté. My repeated indulgence has translated this heart-pounding dish to its own distinct feature on the menu, a unique legacy if I do say so!

Origin and meaning of protein

protein (n.)
1844, from French coined 1838 by Dutch chemist Gerhard Johan Mulder (1802-1880), perhaps on suggestion of Berzelius, from Greek “the first quality,” “first”.

proto- before vowels prot-, word-forming element in compounds of Greek origin meaning “first, source, parent, preceding, earliest form, original, basic,” from Greek prōto-, from prōtos “first” (from PIE *pre-, from root *per- (1) “forward,” hence “before, first”).

Given those credentials it will surprise you to hear that dinner has become of competing allure to breakfast. The protein theme at breakfast took a hit. Now it’s olive oil, vinegar and Maldon salt which constitute the gloss.

Using these simplest but elemental ingredients dinner can be gratifying. The raw vegetables are not only pragmatic; they’re what I like.  I’ve learned to cook salmon filet in the microwave in 2 minutes flat. Then bran, flax seed and prunes for sweet and flow.

The real news here is that there are now only two meals a day. It’s another of those weird truths like breakfast. There is however a simpler accounting of its fortune: age. Or maybe it’s because we dine far into the evening and haven’t an appetite for breakfast until late in the morning. Either way, it’s age.

After almost a lifetime of disappointing lunches I can’t say I miss them (excluding of course those occasional but memorable ones lubricated with martinis). The romantic character of dinner (even limited to its unmerited twilight trait) is a significant bonus. And anything that happens at the end of the day is almost by definition relieving.