threecourse

Christianity has its holy trinity. The theater has its classic structure in three acts, just like the traditional novel. Even life itself can be divided into three blocks: youth, adulthood and old age. For a while (centuries, actually) food also participated in this obsession with triads. When you sat down to eat, whether in your own home, that of a family member or in a bar, you expected to be served three courses: something light to start, like a soup or a salad, a heartier second and dessert to finish the job. Now that model has gone into a spin. Goodbye to three dishes? That is the reflection that left bouncing a few days ago The Country in its section on food: after generations and generations settled in homes and hospitality, meals structured in three courses (first, second and dessert) are in decline. He is not the first to point it out. More than a decade ago it already launched a similar warning Adam Liaw, a chef, presenter and author of gastronomic books who in 2015 warned in Guardian about the gradual “disappearance” of three-course menus. Even Dr. Nicolás Romero issued a warning in 2019, in an interview with The Basque Journal: “We should start by recovering a custom that we are abandoning in Spain, that of three dishes on the menu.” He was so convinced of this that he even encouraged transferring the same formula to dinner, “as the Mediterranean diet dictates”, opening the menu with vegetables and closing it with fruit. Is it really in crisis? It is difficult to find studies that confirm this, but, as Liaw signalif we do not look at our surroundings we will realize that the meal in ‘three acts’ seems to have “fallen from favor”. And that is something that can be transferred both to our homes and to restaurants. In fact there are those who now slide that menus with starters, main courses and desserts risk becoming something extraordinary, a luxury reserved for weddings, New Year’s Eve or other special occasions. Just like silverware or old wine. And why this change? The explanation varies a little depending on whether we are talking about what we do at home or what happens in the hospitality industry, although in both cases a common denominator can be seen: a change in consumer habits. In an increasingly busy society we are less willing to spend hours between the stoves, selecting fresh food…or even sitting in front of a plate, which explains the growing success of snacks. Cooked less? It seems so. In 2003, experts were already warning that, in a matter of a few years, we Spaniards had reduced three hours a week the time we spend cooking. Other surveys most recent show that 48% spend about 90 minutes cooking and 41% barely spend more than 60. There are still the majority of those who prepare their own food, but the Spaniards who barely set foot in the kitchen They are counted in millions. With less (or no) time between pots and pans, it is difficult to prepare meals divided into several dishes. Does everyone lose? “Households are spending less and less time cooking, reducing processes and complexity to optimize the time spent cooking. This implies that people are increasingly opting for single-course occasions, which are 71.3% of the time at dinner and 55.7% at lunchtime,” commented recently Eduardo Vieira, from Worldpanel by Numerator (Kantar), who pointed out that this represents an “opportunity” for the industry. Our tendency to spend fewer hours in the kitchen is giving wings to a business that has been growing for years: that of pre-cooked and ready-to-eat foods. The Spanish Association of Prepared Meal Manufacturers (Asefapre) estimates that in 2025 the consumption of precooked meals in the country’s homes grew by 3.8% and that sales exceeded 4.3 billion, with a growth of 5%. What happens in restaurants? There another extra factor comes into play: the economy. Although the menu of the day has been implemented for decades in Spain, where it is quite an ‘institution’, the formula is in crisis. And not only because of cultural changes or the snackficationa trend that leads us to spend less and less time on food. In recent years it has come under cost pressure. The rising cost of raw materials, energy, labor… has forced hoteliers to review their rates, increasing them by 19.5% between 2016 and 2024. The problem is that the sector assures that this increase is lower than the CPI, which makes it difficult for them to make their menus profitable. “It is in danger, fortunately because it is not a sustainable model,” recognize to The Country Paco Cruz, The Food Manager. Given this situation, it is necessary ‘reinvent’ the menucutting costs. As? Exactly: putting the scissors in and leaving it on a single plate. Do more factors influence? Yes. As if the above were not enough, the hoteliers have to deal with a new rival: the merchantssupermarkets that, like Mercadona, have a wide range of ready-to-eat dishes and spaces in which to consume them. Customers can often choose dishes and devour them in just a few minutes, putting pressure on traditional menus where a waiter serves starters, mains and dessert. Images Michael Clarke Stuff (Flickr), Diogo Brandao (Unsplash)F.arhad Ibrahimzade (Unsplash) In Xataka More and more Spanish bars refuse to let you pay at the table. Its objective is very simple: greater rotation