What Do You Drink with Dinner?

[Chris Amirault]

My wife and I had a discussion about the disappearance of milk from US dinner tables yesterday: when did it happen? why did it happen? And is our little sample of the world accurate?

It prompts me to ask: what do you think with dinner? Water? Milk? Coffee? Soda? Wine? Why that? For how long?

We're typically drinking water at our place with dinner, save for special occasions when we'll crack a beer or open a bottle of wine.

You?

[Jaymes]

Same as you. Water, except for "nice" dinners, when it's wine; or spicy dinners, like Chinese or Thai or Mexican or barbecue or bold-flavored Italian, when it's beer.

Never ever ever sodas. Would no more drink a sweet soda with an average dinner than I would a sweet wine. Yuck. Unless it's a hamburger, when the very occasional root beer might show up.

Summer lunch is iced tea.

But at dinnertime with the grandkids, we're definitely a milk family. And absolutely NOT with some sort of sweet sugary goop added to it.

.

Edited September 1, 2013 by Jaymes (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Chris, I think you have a typo.

For me, at home, almost always wine. Very rarely beer. Essentially never the other choices. Going back years and years. Why? I have no idea.

For lunch I drink Coke. During the day, water. With dessert often milk. I drink a lot of milk, just not at dinner.

[heidih]

I grew up with the kids drinking milk at meals. I think my immigrant parents bought into the constant ads about how necessary it was for children to grow. They grew up dirt poor during war and it was never an option. At grandma's we were not supposed to drink at meals. Something about it filling us up and we would not eat properly. My own kid disliked milk and I never pushed it - National Dairy Council did not sway me. I saw it as along the lines of the Wonderbread ads about building strong bodies 12 I think ways - via the vitamins and minerals added to the dough. Right.

ETA: personally water or iced tea

[SylviaLovegren]

My parents drank milk with dinner, except for fancy meals, to the end of their days. My Greek husband's family would think that insane. We have water, always, and usually wine, but sometimes beer if that suits better. Very occasionally lemonade or limeade if it's really hot and it works with the food. Iced tea sometimes for lunch in the summer. Never soda (pop!), although very very occasionally a soda with a bought hamburger or, if we're really indulging, a chocolate shake.

[Lisa Shock]

Water, usually with a lemon or lime wedge squeezed into it. Occasionally a beer or glass of wine, depending on the food.

[Katie Meadow]

I grew up having mandatory milk at meals. My daughter drank milk with meals and she liked it. With a meal I usually have water or iced tea w/ a little added cherry or pomegranate juice but I might have whiskey for cocktail hour or a nightcap. My husband has either wine or beer with dinner. For some unknown reason when we make tacos or burritos I often crave a root beer. Maybe during my years living in New Mexico (a 20 something) I drank soda routinely with my enchiladas or bowl of green; I remember the food really well, but not the soda. Most of our New Mexican meals out were eaten from a little window or a family restaurant that didn't have a beer license, although that's mostly just a guess.

[Jaymes]

My parents drank milk with dinner, except for fancy meals, to the end of their days. My Greek husband's family would think that insane. We have water, always, and usually wine, but sometimes beer if that suits better. Very occasionally lemonade or limeade if it's really hot and it works with the food. Iced tea sometimes for lunch in the summer. Never soda (pop!), although very very occasionally a soda with a bought hamburger or, if we're really indulging, a chocolate shake.

Speaking of the occasional indulgence - a chocolate shake. Anyone else here remember a chocolate malt? That was sure my favorite occasional indulgence. Pretty rare these days. Even got into a brief snit with a young counter worker at a fast-food joint a short time back. Was thinking about having that occasional indulgence with my burger. Asked, "Do you have malts?" She said, "Yes, we do," so I ordered a small chocolate malt. Really looked forward to that first malty sip. But to my surprise, no malted flavor. So I went back up to her and said, "This isn't a malt."

She said, "Yes it is."

Me: "No, it isn't; there's no malted flavor whatsoever."

She: "Well it's a milkshake and that's the exact same thing."

A far cry from the days when there were "malt shops" on every other corner.

Edited September 1, 2013 by Jaymes (log)

[Darienne]

DH drinks cold water with every meal. I usually drink nothing.

But what I absolutely love is hot Jasmine tea with our Chinese dishes. And wonder why I don't make it for non-Chinese food...

[Tri2Cook]

Water. Very rarely anything else regardless of where or what I'm eating.

[FrogPrincesse]

Always plenty of water, and also usually wine or beer depending on what we eat. White wine with fish, red wine with beef, beer with spicy foods, etc. The occasional margarita with Mexican food but we prefer our cocktails pre-dinner. I practically never drink sodas - coke with pizza very rarely and that's about it; I just don't like them because they are too sweet.

[ChrisTaylor]

Usually water. Occasionally wine, beer or whisk(e)y. Rarely: a cocktail of some description.

[Mjx]

Water. Wine, occasionally, particularly if we're dining out.

The milk with dinner (or any meal) really blew my mind when we family movd back to the US; when I was a kid in Italy, this was just not a thing (don't think it is now, either).

[Ashen]

eating at home, water with a slice of lemon . In fact it is my go to drink at home at any time of day. At dinner beer occasionally and at extended family gatherings there is always wine. When eating out it is usually a toss up between water and coffee with the occasional beer if the resto is licensed to serve

Edited September 2, 2013 by Ashen (log)

[nickrey]

Typically water or wine. One lets the food shine without interference, the other enhances the eating experience if it is well chosen. I typically reserve beer for use as an aperitif unless I'm having pizza or spicy foods such as curries.

For specific types of food, I'll have a related beverage (e.g. green tea with Chinese food/Yum Cha; or lassi with curries).

Drinking milk or various overly sweetened beverages would to my mind only serve to detract from the eating experience.

[Bill Klapp]

Wine or Aperol spritzes and sparkling mineral water, the latter ice cold and never with ice, and in 50-50 proportion with whichever of the first two I am drinking. By the way, I am a huge fan of German Riesling with most Chinese and virtually all Thai dishes, but the sweet, bitter and residual orange flavors of Aperol, as diluted by prosecco and water, are actually terrific with those dishes.

[Chris Amirault]

Thanks, everyone. If you didn't already, can you say why you drink what you do, and what your parents drank growing up?

eating at home, water with a slice of lemon . In fact it is my go to drink at home at any time of day. At dinner beer occasionally and at extended family gatherings there is always wine. When eating out it is usually a toss up between water and coffee with the occasional beer if the resto is licensed to serve

I've been waiting for this one! Ashen, why coffee? I've got a friend in her 70s who always has coffee at lunch and I'm mystified by it.

[Plantes Vertes]

My older relatives have always drunk either strong tea or buttermilk with meals. I think this is customary for Irish people of their generation. They never drink water by choice; no alcohol.

My parents grew up when wine was becoming popular (or at least heard of) in their part of the world and they take it most days with the evening meal.

I prefer water. It would be expensive for me to drink decent wine casually and for me the main purpose of meal-time liquids is to be hydrated and avoid choking. Water works for that and doesn't interfere with the flavours of the food.

[SylviaLovegren]

I've been waiting for this one! Ashen, why coffee? I've got a friend in her 70s who always has coffee at lunch and I'm mystified by it.

If you look at old American cookbooks, pre 60s, coffee was served with almost all meals, especially if men were involved, unless milk was being served. It's just so odd to see it now but some of my elderly relatives will still order coffee with lunch or dinner -- and definitely WITH not AFTER.

Edited September 2, 2013 by SylviaLovegren (log)

[huiray]

Soup, frequently. I come from a soup-drinking culture.

Otherwise, water or tea or the remains of my J&B on the rocks - when I drink anything when not having soup. Rarely wine.**

Note that "soup", to me, is almost always the broth-type soups with chunks of stuff in it common in E/SE Asian cuisines, not so much the blended/creamy homogenized soups common in Western cuisine. I would drink/sip my soup throughout the meal, replenishing the bowl as needed from the pot. Oh, they would also generally be hot/warm, whatever the temperature is outside.

** Even when I drink wine I tend to drink it by itself. I usually will have a glass or two of wine when I dine out (at Western cuisine restaurants only; NEVER at Chinese or Indian or any other non-Western-European-based cuisine restaurants - I just don't like wine with non-European-type food) but rarely at home with Western-style/European-based style meals I cook.

[Dave Hatfield]

My parents would drink water or beer with dinner. Since they were rarely home though I used to eat at my friends houses pretty often.

Since most of them were of Italian extraction they drank wine. Dago red in the vernacular.

We kids started with a splash of wine with lots of water. ! we grew older the wine content vs the water content changed. By the time we were teenagers we'd get one small glass of wine. No more. It helped that we were in California wine country & everybody know some body who made wine, Uncles, Dad, friends, somebody. It came in 2 gallon jugs.

I've kept to wine with dinner ever since. Living where we do it would be hard not to.

I'm drinking a glass of local white wine as I type this.

a votre sante.

[FrogPrincesse]

Santé!

Thanks, everyone. If you didn't already, can you say why you drink what you do, and what your parents drank growing up?

When I grew up my parents drank wine (and water) with every meal. It's the norm in France. Nothing fancy, just an every day wine - usually red wine bought directly from the producer. Always white wine with seafood. Beer very rarely, mostly outside of meals or with lunch maybe.

As for me, I do it because it feels right and makes me enjoy the food more. It's part of the pleasure of eating and a meal does not feel complete without it, even if it's only a glass or a half glass.

[Jaymes]

My parents drank water or milk with dinner, depending upon what they were eating, and coffee (cream, no sugar - my parents were never big fans of sweet beverages) at the end of the meal, always, whether dessert was served or not. A nice Midwestern-style meatloaf, mashed potatoes, mac&cheese, green peas or beans, and a tossed salad, for example was always served with ice-cold milk. When my dad cooked one of his "gourmet" (as it was called back in those days) dinners, he would drink wine. My mother never cared for wine, so she'd opt for water. Us kids would get the sort of watered-down wine others have mentioned. My family lived for a number of years in Germany, so I guess that's where they picked that up. In the summers, especially if dinner was served early, like on a Sunday afternoon, my parents would often drink unsweetened iced tea. My father really liked some sort of after-dinner wine with cheese or fruit or something. He really loved port and he still does. He's 92 now and in a retirement home in Atlanta. He still usually has cold milk with dinner. Coffee (but now it's decaf) as he's finishing up dinner, and then he moves over to his comfy daddy-lounger chair in front of the TV where he polishes off the meal with some cheese and a glass of port.

My former husband really loved milk, and he even put ice into it. I once asked him why and he said, "I want to be absolutely, positively sure that nobody else is getting their milk any colder than I am." Milk is what I served my own children as I raised them. They are all adults now, with children of their own and, with the exception of one daughter-in-law, they usually drink milk with their evening meals, unless the menu calls obviously for beer or wine. As for me, I still really love a glass of cold milk and undoubtedly would drink a whole lot more of it than I do, including with dinner, except for the obvious reason that it's got way more calories than water. So I'm making the water choice for reasons other than taste and preference. I do like wine, but just don't usually have it, unless I'm eating out.

Edited September 2, 2013 by Jaymes (log)

[Jaymes]

Just as an aside - in your original post, you queried: "My wife and I had a discussion about the disappearance of milk from US dinner tables yesterday: when did it happen? why did it happen? And is our little sample of the world accurate?"

Assuming that you don't really mean that the "disappearance of milk from US dinner tables" happened yesterday (in which case there may be something more ominous going on), I think the answer is pretty simple: Americans have learned to overdose on sugar. I remember eating out with my family many years ago. You'd look around the restaurant at the tables, and you'd never see sweet sodas at dinnertime. Although at lunchtime, you might see some adults drinking sodas, they were very definitely the minority. And very very rarely were children drinking sodas.

Now? Look around the next time you're eating at a casual diner or "family restaurant." At nearly every table you'll see a gaggle of (often overweight) children and adults sucking down sweet sugary sodas. Usually with endless refills.

I stay out of my children's family business, but my one daughter-in-law is a big fan of sugar. I have to bite my tongue every time I see her stirring some sort of chocolate or strawberry sugary goop into my grandchildren's milk. She says that "they won't drink it without it." Well hell no they won't. Not when you're standing right there holding that can of crap. Show me a six-year-old that would. When they come to visit me, I won't buy that stuff so, guess what, they drink the milk without it. And, this same daughter-in-law was putting honey on her children's ham sandwiches. I had never heard of such a thing. Adding honey to a ham and cheese sandwich? She said, again, well, they won't eat them without it. Except that at my house, my little granddaughter downed an entire package of deli-sliced ham. Without honey.

So that's what's happened to the traditional American family dinner with glasses of milk sitting around. Not sweet enough for today's average soda-sucking American.

And not as much profit in selling milk as there is for the big-advertising soda companies to get Americans hooked on their worse-than-worthless concoctions of artificial flavorings, sugary syrup and water.

Edited September 2, 2013 by Jaymes (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

As I recall my parents drank whiskey or cocktails with dinner every night. My father made bathtub gin during prohibition.

Last week at an Indian restaurant my grandson had a strawberry milkshake, naan, and a cup of coffee -- that was dinner.