In English folklore, groaning food was food, which was occasionally kept uneaten for superstitious reasons, customarily made and served after childbirth.[1] [2]
The word groaning referred to the noises made during childbirth by the woman. The groaning food was served on a groaning board, with the various foods served prefaced by the term 'groaning'.[1] A groaning cheese is a large cheese traditionally divided among the members of a household when a childbirth took place. It was cut from the middle so that the baby, when born, could be passed through it.[3] Groaning cake was another popular groaning food made for the occasion of a birth and retained as a simple talisman afterwards, much like topper from a wedding or birthday cake.[4]