2/18/2024 0 Comments Medieval foods to cook![]() Sugar-coated almonds and other spice preserves were served at the end of choice meals to promote the guests’ digestion. Until the 14 th century, sugar was still largely regarded as a medicine and French cooking used sugar only in dishes for the ill. Taste preferences were for light, usually white, wines full-bodied red wines became fashionable in the 14 th century. Wine growing developed considerably during the Middle Ages and peasants who did not cultivate a few vines were rare. Salted bacon gave taste to the peasant’s soup and salt barrel herring (herring salted on board fishing vessels and then placed in barrels) was his staple food during the long weeks of Lent. Salt was the most widespread means of preservation. Fish consumption, particularly herring, the fish of the poor, was accordingly very large. Refraining from meat during Lent and on days of abstinence, that is to say over 100 days a year, was required by the Church. Paris, BnF, Département des manuscrits, Latin 9333, fol. Country folk also hunted hares and small birds, using the noose or the trap. This period was marked by a proliferation of butchers’ shops.ĭeer, wild boar, herons and pheasants, pursued on foot or hunted in flight, were considered noble game. Paris, BnF, Département des manuscrits, Latin 9333, fol.24ĭuring the last centuries of the Middle Ages, meat-eating predominated. Whilst peasants had to have their bread baked in their lord’s oven, in towns, bakers were plentiful. Mixed with bran, the bread of the poor was dark, like the slices on which food was placed during mealtimes. The inhabitants of medieval towns liked their bread white, made from pure wheat, finely sifted. Like garlic, onions had numerous medicinal qualities. Onions were a very widespread vegetable among peasants. It was mostly consumed as cheese or butter. With the exception of human milk for nursing infants, doctors did not recommend milk, decrying its excessive moisture content. ![]() Pears stewed in wine were often the “ending” eaten at the end of a meal. In towns, itinerant vendors sold green vegetables (spinach, leeks and cabbage) used for making purées a nd soups.įruit was considered fit for the nobility, at whose tables it was served. Cabbage, in particular, was king of medieval gardens. Vegetables were a daily part of the peasant’s diet. A recent arrival, buckwheat, began spreading through Brittany. Rye was cultivated only in the roughest soils, whilst millet was a speciality prominent in the south west of France. By the end of the Middle Ages, wheat had become the most sought-after cereal. ![]() Oats were eaten as porridge, mainly in the Atlantic regions of Europe. Each had its place within a hierarchy extending from heaven to earth.Ĭereals were the basic food, primarily as bread. Not all foods had the same cultural value. Vegetables were more for peasants, both in reality and imagination. Bread, accompanied by meat and wine, was the centrepiece of the medieval diet.
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