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The Tradition Behind The Toast

© Audra Ligumsky

If you have ever wondered why people toast with their wine glass before a meal, it all stems from the misgivings of the past.

In olden times poison was an easy method of eliminating an enemy. It was usually placed in the intended victim's glass and consumed without notice. To stop this unfortunate crime from continuing, people started to demand that the wine be poured from one jug into the glasses with everyone present. This worked for a while until the discovery of a new poison. This poison was clear and without odor. It was used to coat the inside of the intended victim's glass causing the wine to become contaminated and lethal when it was poured into the glass.

The next logical step was to fill all the wine glasses from one jug and have the people pour a portion of there glass into everyone else's glass at the table. This would insure that death for one was death for all, and as you can imagine, this rarely happened.

Today, people have dispensed with exchanging wine from one glass to the other, but still tap there glasses to celebrate a meal or a reunion.

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