In 18th-century Scotland, the day was organized around three meals. In the morning (breakfast), oat porridge and tea. Dinner, the main meal taken in the middle of the day, consisted of a broth (a hearty soup-base) followed by boiled or roasted meat. In the evening, supper was lighter: oatcakes, cheese, leftovers from the broth. Oats, boiled beef and mutton, fish, and kale formed the staple; sugar from the West Indies and tea, new commodities that Smith observed as an economist, found their way into the homes of the well-to-do middle classes of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The queen of Scottish cereals, oats run through Smith's entire table: morning porridge, traveller's oatcakes, and even the comforting liqueur Atholl Brose. Hardy, nourishing, inexpensive — a food that the theorist of value and labour knew right down to his plate.