The anthropologist Mary Douglas has pointed out that, for the English, the kind of meal and the kind of food that is served relate to the kinds of social links between people who are eating together.

人类学家玛丽·道格拉斯指出，对于英国人来说，餐饮的种类和提供的食物关系到一起吃饭的人之间的社会关系。