Medieval Foods

Medieval cuisine

Medieval cuisine includes foods, eating habits, and cooking methods of various
European cultures during the Middle Ages, which lasted from the 5th to the 15th
century. During this period, diets and cooking changed less than they did in the
early modern period that followed, when those changes helped lay the foundations
for modern European cuisines.
Foods Eaten
The foods that were most consumed by the people were cereals the most
important staple during early middle ages, rice with potato was introduced in the
16th century. Barley, oats, and rye were eaten by the poor while wheat was
generally more [Link] were consumed as bread, porridge, gruel, and
pasta by people of all [Link], fruits, and vegetables were important
supplements for the lower orders while meat was more expensive and generally
more [Link], a form of meat acquired from hunting, was common only
on the nobility's tables. The most prevalent butcher's meats were pork, chicken,
and other poultry. Beef, which required greater investment in land, was less
common. A wide variety of freshwater and saltwater fish was also eaten, with cod
and herring being mainstays among the northern populations.
l

Long-distance trade of many foods very expensive (perishability made other foods
untransportable).Because of this, the nobility's food was more prone to foreign
influence than the cuisine of the poor; it was dependent on exotic spices and
expensive imports. As each level of society attempted to imitate the one above it,
innovations from international trade and foreign wars from the 12th century
onward gradually disseminated through the upper middle class of medieval cities.
Dietary Norms
The cuisines of the cultures of the Mediterranean Basin since antiquity had been
based on cereals, particularly various types of [Link] on wheat
remained significant throughout the medieval era, and spread northward with the
rise of Christianity. In colder climates, however, it was usually unaffordable for the
majority population, and was associated with the higher classes. The centrality of
bread in religious rituals such as the Eucharist meant that it enjoyed an especially
high prestige among foodstuffs. Only olive oil and wine had a comparable value,
but both remained quite exclusive outside the warmer grape- and olive-growing
regions.
Class Crostrains
Medieval society was highly stratified. In a time when famine was commonplace
and social hierarchies were often brutally enforced, food was an important marker
of social status in a way that has no equivalent today in most developed countries.
According to the ideological norm, society consisted of the three estates of the
realm: commoners, that is, the working classes—by far the largest group; the
clergy, and the nobility. The relationship between the classes was strictly
hierarchical, with the nobility and clergy claiming worldly and spiritual overlordship
over commoners. Within the nobility and clergy there were also a number of ranks
ranging from kings and popes to dukes, bishops and their subordinates, such as
squires and priests.
Etiquette
Food was mostly served on plates or in stew pots, and diners would take their share from the dishes and
place it on trenchers of stale bread, wood or pewter with the help of spoons or bare hands. In lower-class
households it was common to eat food straight off the table. Knives were used at the table, but most
people were expected to bring their own, and only highly favoured guests would be given a personal knife.
A knife was usually shared with at least one other dinner guest, unless one was of very high rank or well
acquainted with the host. Forks for eating were not in widespread usage in Europe until the early modern
period, and early on were limited to Italy. Even there it was not until the 14th century that the fork became
common among Italians of all social classes. The change in attitudes can be illustrated by the reactions to
the table manners of the Byzantine princess Theodora Doukaina in the late 11th century. She was the wife
of Domenico Selvo, the Doge of Venice, and caused considerable dismay among upstanding Venetians.
The princess' insistence on having her food cut up by her eunuch servants and then eating the pieces with
a golden fork shocked and upset the diners so much that there was a claim that Peter Damian, Cardinal
Bishop of Ostia, later interpreted her refined foreign manners as pride and referred to her as "... the
Venetian Doge's wife, whose body, after her excessive delicacy, entirely rotted away."[35]
Meals
In Europe, there were typically two meals a day: dinner at mid-day and a lighter supper in the
evening. The two-meal system remained consistent throughout the late Middle Ages. Smaller
intermediate meals were common, but became a matter of social status, as those who did not have
to perform manual labor could go without them.[29] Moralists frowned on breaking the overnight fast
too early, and members of the church and cultivated gentry avoided it. For practical reasons,
breakfast was still eaten by working men, and was tolerated for young children, women, the elderly
and the sick. Because the church preached against gluttony and other weaknesses of the flesh,
men tended to be ashamed of the weak practicality of breakfast. Lavish dinner banquets and
late-night reresopers (from Occitan rèire-sopar, "late supper") with considerable alcoholic beverage
consumption were considered immoral. The latter were especially associated with gambling, crude
language, drunkenness, and lewd behavior.[30] Minor meals and snacks were common (although
also disliked by the church), and working men commonly received an allowance from their
employers in order to buy nuncheons, small morsels to be eaten during breaks.]
Medieval kitchens
In most households, cooking was done on an open hearth in the middle of the
main living area, to make efficient use of the heat. This was the most common
arrangement, even in wealthy households, for most of the Middle Ages, where the
kitchen was combined with the dining hall. Towards the Late Middle Ages a
separate kitchen area began to evolve. The first step was to move the fireplaces
towards the walls of the main hall, and later to build a separate building or wing
that contained a dedicated kitchen area, often separated from the main building by
a covered arcade. This way, the smoke, odors and bustle of the kitchen could be
kept out of sight of guests, and the fire risk lessened.] Few medieval kitchens
survive as they were "notoriously ephemeral structures".
Thank you!!