Each social class organized dinner in its own way, but everybody ate at midday. The aristocracy had a formal dinner with a lot of dishes to show their importance. Once their customers had left, the merchants and tradesmen of the middle classes could have their dinner. They usually ate bread, soups and pies, and maybe some meat or fish. The lower class peasants stopped work at noon to eat. Their families brought them bread or soup with peas and beans with perhaps some cabbage, turnip, or onions mixed in.