From-Pottage-To-Peacock.Pdf

From Pottage to Peacock: A Guide to Medieval Food

Nicol Valentin Historyunfettered.com

In the beginning . . .

There was food, and the food was tasty. Wine from Palestine, olive oil from Spain, tableware from Gaul: these were the things coming into Britain before the fall of Rome. In fact, thanks to the Romans, the British were introduced to a large selection of vegetables like garlic, onions, leeks, cabbages, turnips, asparagus, and those beloved peas. Spices like pepper, nutmeg, and ginger were introduced too. Things were grand, and then in 410 the Romans left. The world became fragmented. Towns disappeared, villas were abandoned, and society was in the midst of catastrophic collapse. No one had time to worry about imported wine or fancy spices. Slowly, however, pockets of stability returned. Chaos turned to order, and someone said, !I think it"s time for a really great dinner.#

First, the Bad Stuff ! Unfortunately, food was never a certainty in the medieval world. Starvation was always a possibility, no matter who you were. Crops failed, fields flooded, animals caught diseases, and any of these things could leave your table empty. Sometimes you got hit with more than one calamity. Even in the best conditions, you could still starve. If you found yourself in a town under siege, your choices were to surrender to a quick death by hanging or a slow one by starvation. Neither seems very appealing. If the crops were good and no one was knocking down your door with sword and ax, there was still more to watch out for. When buying at the town market, it was “Buyer beware.” Deceptions could await you at any stall. Although statutes were passed prohibiting things like the selling of unwholesome or reheated foods, crafty salesmen tried their best to cut corners any way they could. Weights or stones were sometimes baked into bread to bring them up to the weight required by law. Meat might be starting to rot, and wine and milk might be sour. Meat pies were hugely popular market fare, and their concealing nature made it easy for devious cooks to pass off rotten and unwholesome foods. Luckily, a buyer had recourse. Anyone with a complaint could appeal to the piepowder courts, which were held specifically to deal with these situations. A London ordinance from 1379 had a fine equal to nearly three weeks of a laborer’s wages for baking pies that were “not befitting and sometimes stinking.” Bakers who wanted to cheat might suffer fines or even have a time out at the pillory. Keep in mind that types, quantities, and the quality of food varied by region, time, and affluence. For example, farm records from 1493 show workers on a Bavarian farm were fed a pretty meager diet. From St. Georges day to Michaelmas, (24 April–29 September), they had a nice water soup made with pork fat, called Rabl. Midday would bring a barley loaf and cabbage washed down with some milk. Fruit, peas, or millet were served at the steward’s discretion if they were available. At night they got another soup, this time with milk, called Graman. Things got a little better during the season between Easter and Whitsunday. Three times a week they received pork and cabbage. Around the same time, shepherds in France were noshing on fish stew, chicken, rabbit, pork and peas, leeks, Brussel sprouts, meat pies, cheese tarts, and more. It was arguably a more varied diet than some modern Americans’.

So, when do we eat?

All that talk about water soup made you hungry? Well, I hate to tell you, but early medieval peoples only ate twice a day. Dinner, the first and largest meal, would be around noon. One reason for this was practicality. It took a while to get things cooked. Larger and more affluent households had more complicated meals, which naturally took even longer to prepare. 6

Sometime around dusk, when the work of the day was done, supper would be served. This was usually a light meal, many times just a simple soup. In fact, the etymology of supper is the Anglo-French super, to sup, which is related to supe or soup.

Breakfast of Champions?

So, what about breakfast? Well, in the early days it didn’t happen. People of high status may have had some bread and cheese in the morning, especially if they were setting out on a long excursion. For the most part, however, eating before dinner was considered gluttonous and an act of overindulgence. Doctors believed it was unhealthy to eat a meal before the previous one had been completely digested. Exceptions were made for children, the elderly, and the sick. Field workers and other laborers could take breakfast as well because the calories were needed to give them strength. However, later in the period, when cooking skills became more advanced, dinner was pushed even later. If you were following doctor’s orders, this meant supper couldn’t be eaten until seven or eight. The long waits were becoming tiring, and the thought of a little smackrel in the morning became more appealing. Caution was thrown to the wind, and breakfast was born. It was meager enough at first, a bit of bread dipped in some watered-down wine. However, when people realized they liked that happy feeling of a full stomach, they got even bolder and added a bit of fish, like anchovies, herring, or trout. By 1512 clerks and yeoman were breaking the fast with beer, bread, and boiled beef—not a bad start to the day.

Still Hungry?

This wasn’t recommended, but a hungry medieval person might sometimes sneak in a fourth meal called the reresoper, or rear supper. Breakfast might be frowned upon as over- indulgent, but reresoper was unconscionable for anyone of a moral and genteel nature. At least, in public. Reresopers were usually enjoyed with a few friends and lots of alcohol. Whether a full meal or a light snack, reresopers were associated with crude jokes, gambling, and flirtatious behavior. All this led to late nights and hangovers, certainly not the hallmarks of pious people.

Cooking Methods

You only need to know three basic cooking methods to get along in a medieval kitchen. Everything made was a variety of potages, roasts, and pies cooked by boiling, roasting, or baking. The most primitive form of cooking was done directly on an open fire. Ouefs perdus or “lost eggs” are a prime example. To cook these all one had to do was crack an egg directly onto the hot embers and clean them up as best as possible before eating. However, if ashes weren’t really your thing, the next easiest meal was pottage.

Pottage

In simple terms, a pottage is anything cooked in a pot. Chemical analysis of bones and pottery shards and historical records reveal that pottages were the backbone of a peasant’s diet. These meals were quite economical because nothing was lost in the cooking and no fancy equipment was needed. However, pottage was eaten by all classes in some form or another. A typical one would include vegetables such as red or green cabbage, leeks, onion, and garlic. Upper classes might add almond milk, wine, and a variety of spices such as ginger and saffron. Depending on your means, pottages could be thin and watery or so thick you could almost cut them. Frumenty is a pottage thickened with some type of grain. A nice one might be served with a porpoise, like in this recipe in the oldest medieval cookbook, The Forme of Curry: Take clene whete and bete it small in a morter and fanne out clene the doust, !enne waisthe it clene and boile it tyl it be tendre and broun. !anne take the secunde mylk of Almaundes & do !erto. boile hem togidur til it be stondyng, and take !e first mylke & alye it up wi! a penne. take up the porpays out of the Furmente & leshe hem in a dishe with hoot water. & do safroun to !e furmente. and if the porpays be salt. see! it by hym self, and serue it forth. In today’s English, this reads: Take clean wheat and crush it into a powder. Clean out the dust, wash it clean, boil until tender, and brown. Take the second milk of almonds and do the same thing. Boil them together until it’s thick. Then take the first milk and mix it up with a feather. Take the porpoise out of the frumenty and leave it in a dish with hot water. Add saffron to the frumenty. And if the porpoise be salted, set it by itself and serve it forth. Mortrews were advanced versions of the frumenty, thickened with pureed meat, eggs, and spices. They really were more like paté than soup. Blanc mange, a thick pottage made solely of white ingredients, was a favorite of the day. It consisted of almonds, ground or liquid, rice, sugar, and chicken often shredded with a pin. This dish was not spiced, but it could be colored. For feasts, it might be divided in two with one half being yellow or red, while the other remained white. Like the frumenty, mortrews and blanc manger would have been served with fish on the appointed church fasting days. Perch, lobster, and haddock were common choices.

Roasting

Roasting was done on a spit over an open fire. It wasn't nearly as easy as throwing things into a pot and letting them boil. Fuel use was inefficient, and specialized equipment was needed. On top of all that, someone had to have nothing better to do than constantly rotate the meat. It’s not surprising that roasted meats weren’t a large part of a peasant’s diet. Being a roaster was its own job in large, wealthy households. When the head cook was away, the roaster was in charge of the kitchen. The pottager was third in line. When dinner was to be roasted, spits and grills made of wood or wrought iron were necessary. Length and thickness were adjusted based on the weight and type of food being roasted. The meat could be directly placed on over the flames or off to the side, depending on the cut and desired outcome. Scullions, the people responsible for that constant turning of the meat, would often stand behind metal shields to avoid getting overly toasted themselves. A special pan was often placed under the meat to catch the drippings as they fell.

Baking Baking required even fancier equipment than roasting; it required an oven. Medieval ovens were made from clay, tile, and stone and varied in shape and size. Manor houses could have extremely large ovens, while peasants might use an upside-down pot over a hot stone. If you lived close to town, you might mix your dough at home and then bake your bread in a communal oven. Then again, you might just say “to heck with it all” and buy what you needed from the baker. To get an oven up to temperature, a fire would be lit inside until the correct amount of heat had accumulated. If the oven were large, this could take hours, so proper planning was a must. When enough heat was built, the ashes were swept out, and the items to be baked were put in with a peel.

What"s in the Larder?

Now that we know how to cook, what shall we eat? Well, the medieval period was no time for low-carb diets. Around 80 percent of a person’s daily calories came from carbs, and when food was aplenty, people were eating to their heart’s content. Twelfth-century laborers could consume around 3,500 calories a day, while some fourteenth-century soldiers on watchtower duty could consume a whopping 6,000.

Bread, King of the Table

Beans, peas, and lentils made up a portion of the daily carbs, but in the Middle Ages bread was king. In fact, it was so important the other food served during a meal was known as companaticum, or “what you eat with bread.” This is not surprising because in the late Middle Ages eating two or three pounds of bread per person a day was common. The choice in medieval bread was much more diverse than today. The average English citizen might have clapbread, made from barley or oats; horsebread, a mix of beans, peas, and other things; and tourte, a brown bread made with husks as well as flour. Unleavened bread made from small batches of home-ground grain might be made when money was tight. Interestingly, mixed-grain breads were often made from grains grown in the same field, such as barley and oats. Maslin was wheat and rye sown together and was quite common. For example, one fourteenth- century record shows payments from peasants for the grinding of 158 bushels of maslin and only two bushels of wheat. Maslin bread would have been consumed by a wide variety of people. Upper classes could enjoy cocket, a cheap white bread; wastel; and pandemain, also called pained-maigne, or “bread of the lord.” This cream-colored bread was made from sieved wholemeal flour. In the French provinces, “table loaves” were served at the houses of the rich. One was big enough to sufficiently fill a man, even after he cut off the crust. These would be politely given to the ladies, who would use it to soak up their soup. One thing that rich and poor had in common was the use of trencher breads, long flat loaves used as plates. To fulfill its task properly the bread needed to be nice and stale. In fact, Le Ménagier de Paris, or the Parisian Household Book, suggests bread should be four days old to serve at a dinner party. No one wanted juices leaking onto their nice clothes. Le Ménagier also suggests trenchers be half a foot long and four fingers deep. Common folk would cut their own trenchers from a loaf, but those in the well-to-do households would have theirs served to them. New bread would be brought between courses, especially before the final course of cheese and sweets.

Vegetables and Fruit

Vegetables were another staple of the medieval diet. Carrots, cabbage, parsnips, garlic, onion, lettuce, cucumber: everything we’d find in a British grocers today was available except potatoes and tomatoes. They also had things we would find foreign, like borage, a fuzzy green; good King Henry, a weed of the goosefoot species; and orache, a spinach-like plant. Lots of veggies were eaten cooked, although salads were eaten as well. John Russel’s Boke of Nature contains a salad recipe with parsley, fennel, borage, mint, leeks, onions, rosemary, and purslane, among other things. Although greens and legumes were found on everyone’s table, the more affluent sometimes turned up their noses. These things were too bland, too earthy. Like vegetables, most of the fruit a person ate would have been grown on their own property. One major difference is that fruit was considered the nobler of the two. Anything that grew off the ground was closer to heaven, as though they were the angels of the produce world. Despite fruits’ pious aura, doctors were leery of their health benefits. People liked the taste too much to really pay much attention. Apples, which doctors advised be eaten at the end of a meal, came in many varieties. They could be made into cider, particularly in Normandy and some areas of England. Apples also made popular appearances in meat dishes, pies, and fritters. Pears were very popular in Italy and France and were used much like apples. Perry was a popular beverage, similar to cider but made with pears. Grapes were available, and unripe grapes were widely used to make verjuice. Like vinegar, it was a highly acidic ingredient used in sauces or for preservation. Other popular fruits were cherries, plums, and damsons. Thanks to trade with the Middle East, you could also get lemons, limes, oranges, figs, and dates, but only if you had the money.

Meat

Your social class influenced how much meat was in your diet. Obviously, the richer you were, the more you ate. However, even the average housewife would have access to a variety of meat. Pork played a large role in providing meat and fat in the average diet. Pigs roamed through forests and even city streets. In the country and in town you could find pigsties in almost every backyard. Fall was slaughtering time and provided ham, bacon, and lard for the long winter months. Nothing would be wasted: ears, snouts, tail, and tongue were all consumed. For a really special occasion, how about a complete pig head on a platter? Cattle had been in Europe since prehistoric times, but you can thank the Normans for introducing the word beef into the English language. Cattle were kept by peasants, although in much smaller numbers than pigs. Beef was recommended for labors and was eaten boiled or roasted. Due to its reputation as a common man’s food, it wasn’t the top choice for well-to-do palates. Sheep gained popularity in England after the Norman Conquest and increased in popularity throughout the Middle Ages. Their dung was a good fertilizer, and wool brought a good price. 13

Mutton, preferably from sheep three-to-five years old, could be very expensive at times, more than any other meat available. It was usually enjoyed roasted with garlic or in casseroles with spices like cinnamon and saffron. Goat was eaten as well, but it was minor in relation to the other meats. Venison consumption was only around 5 percent after the tenth century. Forestlands tended to be monopolized by local nobles or the king (especially those greedy Angevins), so venison became food for the wealthy. Wild boar was another forest animal featured on wealthier tables. Hares and rabbits, although also inhabitants of the forest, were consumed by both the wealthy and the poor. Meat consumption was also influenced by the seasons. Large animals were too costly to maintain through the winter, so they were generally slaughtered in the fall. Mutton and veal, however, were a popular summer fare. Never fear, dog and horse could be eaten anytime, anywhere.

Fowl

Even in medieval days, chicken soup was the go-to recipe when one was under the weather. It was considered easily digestible and nourishing, especially for the delicate tummies of the upper class. Plump chickens were thought to be good for the complexion and would regulate the consistency of a person’s blood. Chicken, therefore, was a very common dish for the wealthy. Commoners could partake as well, although it was mostly reserved for special occasions. In upper-class households, goose was the choice for celebrations. Whitsuntide (Pentecost) and Michaelmas (September 29) were occasions to bring out the goose in England. In Germany, it was the feast of St. Martin (November 11). Goose was served at Christmas throughout Europe. It could be boiled, roasted, or served in pies. A variety of birds was eaten by the upper class that today we would hardly think to eat, such as herons, cranes, pigeons, and doves. Pheasants and peacocks were popular at banquets as a means of getting oohs and ahhs from the guests. Since nothing was ever wasted, swan might be served with a nice chawedeyn sauce, a mix of blood, gizzards, liver, and heart. Partridges were considered one of the healthiest birds, whereas quail was considered the least healthy.

Dairy

Although every level of society consumed some type of dairy product, milk was not at the top of the list. It was considered a heavy food and used mostly for children, the elderly and, the poor. Nobel households used it on occasion for cooking, but milk made from nuts was preferred. It was available at a moment’s notice, the quality was dependable, and it was acceptable on fast days when animal products were forbidden. 14

Cheese and butter were the superstars of the dairy world. Part of what made them so wonderful was their ability to remain fresh over long periods of time. And cheese could be made in a multitude of varieties: hard, soft, and aged. In fact, many of the cheese we eat today, like Roquefort, gorgonzola, brie, edam, and parmesan, were available for medieval people to munch. Cheese was eaten throughout Europe. Green cheese was a popular choice, although it wasn’t actually green. Green, in this case, meant new. In German monasteries, a cheese soup made with eggs and pepper was popular. For fast days, that ever-handy almond milk could be turned into cheese as well, making it possible for aficionados to never go without.

Fish and Fasts

As a means of penance, the church dictated days of fasting and abstinence from all meat products. Every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday were fish days. On top of that were the forty days of Lent, days of Advent, and various vigils. Fish was the obvious choice on such days. Cod and herring appear to have been the most consumed, especially since their flesh could be preserved or salted and brought inland. Most of the fresh fish went to the aristocracy, even those living further inland. Things like lobster, clams, crab, and eel were commonly brought in live. They were simply transported in barrels of water. Freshwater fish might be kept in ponds on the lord’s estate as well. There were even certain occasions when the lord shared. It was a custom for the lord of the manor to give meals of herring, whiting, cod, and eels to workers during the harvest and spring plowing. One thing they would not share was their porpoise and whale. Along with sturgeon, these “fish” were not to be eaten by anyone of the lower class without special approval. What? Porpoise and whale aren’t fish? Some medieval people would disagree. Probably the Benedictine Abbey of Le Tréport in northern France would. Puffin was often on their meatless menu. They claimed the birds lived in and around the water, making them fair game. Beaver’s tail, which had the shape of a fish, and barnacle geese also fell into the fish category. Eating a constant diet of salted fish could start to drive a person mad. Madness, however, can often lead to bouts of creativity. Probably this is how medieval cooks came up with fake foods, or illusion foods. Those who missed their ham and bacon might stick pike and salmon together. How about a fake roast made from crayfish? Then there’s Esturgeon contrefaitde veau, or sturgeon pretending to be veal. Craving eggs? How about this German recipe for imitation eggs from the fifteenth century? Just take an empty eggshell, stuff it with a mixture of ground pike roe, parsley, pepper, saffron, and figs or raisins, and grill.

Herbs and Spices

People in the Middle Ages loved to spice their food. From 1386–87 Framlingham Castle in Suffolk, England consumed seventy pounds of ginger, 102 pounds of pepper, 216 pounds of sugar, and 1.25 tons of salt. Altogether, they imported twenty-one different spices. The idea that spices were used to cover the taste and smell of spoiling meat, or to actually keep it from spoiling, is a myth. Salting, smoking, curing, and pickling were the preferred methods for keeping food fresh. Besides the fact that it just won’t work, preserving with spices would have been costly. According to the 1432–33household accounts of the Earl of Oxford, a whole pig could be bought cheaper than a pound of pepper. So why were spices so attractive? Their many perceived health benefits were one reason. The popular medical theory was based on a modification of the Greek system introduced by the Arabs. Good health was a result of the four humors’ (blood, yellow bile, black bile, phlegm) being in the right balance. Those hot, dry Asian spices were used to balance the cold, wet European diet and keep the body healthy. During the plague of 1348, for example, doctors recommended foods be eaten with cassia, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves as a preventative measure. Herbs were thought to help with all sorts of sickness. Have bad digestion? Nutmeg can help with that. Asthma problems? It’s pepper to the rescue. Foggy head? How about mace to purge the brain of excess humors? We would be familiar with most of the herbs found in medieval kitchens. Spices like cumin, mace, mustard, cardamom, saffron, and those mentioned above are still in common use. However, there were some pretty esoteric ones as well. Take grains of paradise, for example. This peppery herb was said to float through the rivers of Eden. Its exotic name was a great marketing ploy, wrapping the spice in an air of mystery that people were willing to pay more for. Galangal is similar to ginger but with a citrusy scent. Long pepper is a sweeter, more ginger-like variety than today's common black pepper. Zedoary, or white turmeric, is musky and ginger-like with a bitter aftertaste. What’s the difference between herbs and spices? To the medieval mind spices were dry and herbs were green and fresh. This is largely because spices were not native to Europe and shipped from exotic lands. Green herbs like parsley, sorrel, and borage were locally available and didn’t have the same mystery. Saffron was the one exception to this rule. Although it was grown in Europe it was still expensive, due to the difficulty in harvesting the stamens. One popular method for ingesting all those herbs and spices was in sauces. Green sauces were quite popular in medieval cooking. Most started with a base of parsley, mint, or sage in vinegar. The extremely popular cameline sauce was the medieval version of steak sauce made with red wine, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Most sauces were thickened with bread crumbs. Herbs and spices played yet another role by coloring food. The very costly saffron would provide yellow, parsley was used for green, and sandalwood for red.

Washing It All Down

No matter who you were or where you lived, eventually you needed a drink. Water was always a cheap and easy beverage, although one needed to be particular about the when and where of it all. Medievals would have known not to drink from standing water and to be suspicious of the water close to urban areas. Rivers that flowed through towns were off the list since they had the unfortunate tendency of turning into waste dumps. You could nix castle moats as well since they usually collected whatever went down the garderobes (toilets). These precautions aside, water was an acceptable drink. Doctors warned against drinking it with food, however. Its cooling effects on the stomach would cause food to remain undigested. That was OK, though, because there were more flavorful things to drink than water.

Wine

For those who could afford it, wine was an excellent beverage choice. Medieval doctors thought it balanced the humors, revived the melancholic, and aided pain. Unlike water, it could convey food particles easily throughout the body, bringing more and better nutrition to the extremities. As beneficial as it was, it was not to be consumed by those younger than five because it could curdle the milk they were drinking. Older children were given the green light, although until fourteen the watered-down version was recommended and only during meals. The Romans were the ones to thank for all this good wine. They insisted those they conquered learn the best grape-growing techniques. They also introduced their own varietals that were hybridized with the heartier local vines. How much wine a person drank would have depended on where they lived. In Spain, France, and Italy, wine was common for both upper and lower classes, although the quality would have differed. English workers wouldn’t have been restricted to a glass here and there from the local tavern. In the twelfth century, wines from Bordeaux became quite popular in England. Thanks for this can be given to the marriage of the English King Henry II to the lovely Eleanor of Aquitaine. Things got even better for Bordeaux during the reign of the couple’s son, John. He abolished export taxes on the wine, giving it an advantage over wines from other regions. Unlike today, which wine to drink wasn’t based so much on color and taste as it was for its effects on the drinker’s constitution, just like with many foods. Sweet wines, for example, were consumed in small quantities due to their ability to overheat the body. In summer, the wine of choice would need to have cooling properties to balance the summer heat. One also considered what food the wine was served with. Something cold, like fish, would need a hot wine. Spiced wines were common as after-dinner drinks. Hippocras was a red wine spiced with things like ginger, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, galangal, and sugar, which except for the sugar were all good for digestion . If the name reminds you of that famous Greek physician Hippocrates, you’re right. The drink was based on an invention known as the sleeve of Hippocrates. Basically, it was a series of filters through which wine would flow. Claret (not the modern version) was a spiced wine mixed with honey, then strained until clear.

Beer and Ale

You can thank the Danes for one of the greatest beverages of the medieval period, ale. The Welsh physician Andrew Boorde (1490-1549) said, “Ale for an englysh man is a natural drynke,” and it was the most commonly consumed beverage in England, especially before the 1348 plague. Initially made at home for family use or by women brewers known as alewives, ale was consumed at every meal, celebration, and funeral from the fifth century on. Some houses had especially tasty brews, and the whole community knew it. Neighbors would wait eagerly for the next batch, and when it was ready the family would put a pole out through their door or window with a branch at the top. If they also had wine to share, it would be part of an evergreen bush. This became known as an ale pole. This tradition sparked the beginnings of commercial alehouses. In 1267 Henry III created the Assize (or Court) of Bread and Ale as a means of quality and price control. Ale could only be served from pots carrying the official seal. If the regulations were not followed, the maker could be fined or even flogged. Enter the job of ale-conner. This was the guy lucky enough to get paid to go around sampling everyone’s alcohol. If quality were lacking, he had every right to drag the offender to the manor court to make restitution. In certain places, he could also set the price. So, what was the difference between ale and beer? Ale was made with grains, water, and fermented yeast—no hops. This was a serious distinction, and the lines could not be crossed. Before hops, a mixture of dried herbs known as gruit was used. It was primarily bog myrtle, along with wild rosemary and laurel. Gruit would have given beer a special taste and smell as well as acting as a preservative. The English were so serious about this distinction that brewers who contaminated ale with things like hops or other spices would be fined. That’s not to say herbs were never added to ale; they were. Boorde also tells us of a drink called poset ale, made from hot milk, cold ale, and herbs. This was supposed to be a good remedy for liver problems, especially those caused by an excess of heat. Another version was ale mixed with honey and herbs, known as braggot. It is from Boorde that we learn another lesson, this time about beer. Now, pay attention. This is important: beer “makes a man fat, and doth inflate the belly, as it doth appere by the Dutch men’s faces and belly.” There you have it, friends, certainly words to live by. Only thing is, much of society didn’t care, especially the monks. Large monasteries were in the business of brewing. In fact, they were the only large-scale producers in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Taking care of pilgrims was a large part of life in a monastery, and that included giving them food and drink. As for commercial ale, the monks poo-pooed it. The pilgrims, however, weren’t impressed. They thought the monk’s ale was far too weak. The remedy was to stop at an alehouse before reaching the monastery. In fact, the town of St. Albans had an alehouse known as Mile House. It stood exactly one mile away from the abbey and the monks’ watery ale. 19

Mead

From Greeks to Vikings, everyone drank mead, probably because of the simplicity of its ingredients. All you really needed were honey and water. It should come as no surprise at this point that a version with herbs was available as well. Technically this was referred to as metheglin, although the terms were pretty much interchangeable. The alcohol content varied. It could be mild like an ale or stronger like a strong wine. Taste could vary from dry to sweet; it could be sparkling or still. Despite the variety, with all that ale and beer around, the popularity of mead dwindled in the late medieval period. The aristocracy especially turned up their noses, classifying it more as a medicinal potion than recreational drink. It remained popular, however, in northern Europe, probably because of an abundance of honey.

Extreme Cooking

When it came to partying, medieval people were no different from modern men and women. Give them an excuse to throw a feast and they were all over it. Marriages, church festivals, visits from ambassadors: all were good reasons to enjoy a banquet. Due to the inordinate expense involved, these larger feasts were far beyond the means of the average citizen. Why, just look at what the staff at Winchester Castle had to procure for Henry III’s Christmas feast in 1250:

From Portsmouth: 4 brawn hogs From Andover: 2 brawn hogs, 2000 eggs From Lym: 40 fat congers (a type of eel) From Winchelsea: 5000 whitings From Romsey: 15 fresh hogs, 2000 eggs From Basingstoke: 2 brawn hogs From Alton: 2 brawn hogs From Winchester: 8 brawn hogs, 200 rabbits, 1oo hares, 60000 eggs, 15 gallons of hogs lard, 150 whitecocks, partridges, plovers From Oxford: seven brawn hogs From Southampton: 6 brawn hogs, 15 fresh hogs, 100 rabbits, 50 hares, 6000 eggs, 15 gallons of hogs lard, 150 partridges, white cocks and plovers 2 last of red herrings (each last was 12,000 fish)

This was actually pretty modest compared to the feast thrown for George Neville, Archbishop of York, in 1465. The meat and poultry at that little dinner totaled just below 42,000 items. No wonder they had sixty-two cooks and 515 assistants. It was the Norman Conquest in 1066 that brought French court behavior and food to England, setting the stage for such grand feasts. Later, thanks to the Crusades, a Middle Eastern influence was added as well. Feasts went far beyond the food, offering music, jousting, storytelling, and jesters. Not surprisingly, these things weren’t thrown together overnight. Between having to purchase the food and wine and organizing the pageantry, it could take months of preparation. One of the best jobs to have at a feast was the carver. Copious amounts of meat were eaten, and someone had to be in charge of cutting it all. It was such a prestigious position that any great lord would have been honored to accept the position at a royal feast. Sheep and oxen were boiled whole, so the carver needed an amiable personality as well as strength and dexterity. He had also better be acquainted with the lingo. He might be called upon to splat a pike, spoil a hen, unbrace a mallard, fin a chub, uncache a curlew, or barb a lobster. It was only after a complicated ceremony of salt tasting, bread tasting, hand washing, and complex seating that dinner could begin. Before being served to the nobility, the food would be tasted. One never knew when these things could be poisoned. For extra protection, food might be touched with a serpent’s tongue (actually a shark’s tooth), unicorn horn (really a narwhal horn), toadstool, or piece of agate as a way of rendering potions ineffective. Once everything was checked, serving began at the sound of a trumpet. Hopefully, diners were well acquainted with the Book of Civilized Man or a similar manual on how to behave properly at the table. 22

Feasts were divided into courses, which became steadily more spectacular as they went on. Three courses were common, but on really big days they could go as far as fifty or sixty (Such as those of Edward the IV and the Earl of Warwick in 1466. The king and those nobles of the highest rank were offered the most and had the best choices. At the coronation banquet of Henry IV, guests were treated to forty-three dishes divided among three courses. Diners were presented with a boar’s head, joints of meat, pheasants, venison and furmenty, stuffed piglet, Lombardy custard, and pies. Finally, a good meal wouldn’t be complete without comfits. These were brightly colored, candied seeds such as anise, fennel, or caraway used to sweeten the breath and aid digestion. Nuts, spices, and fruits were used as well. One of the qualities of a good banquet was to create a sense of awe and impress upon the guests the magnitude of the host’s wealth and status. Nowhere was this seen more clearly than in the spectacular displays that came between the courses. Entremets, or sotelties in England, were culinary works of art on a sometimes massive scale. Pomys en Gele, or apples in aspic, was a popular subtlety dish. What were passed off as apples were really meatballs dyed with parsley. How about colored marzipan sculpted to look like a distinguished guest? In the fourteenth century posed animals were popular. Birds like swans and peacocks were painstakingly skinned so as to return the cooked bird to their feathers before serving. The goal was to trick the guest into thinking they were uncooked. Sometimes the skins were stuffed with a different meat entirely. Most everyone is familiar with the child’s rhyme about four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie. Live birds were inserted into pies through the underside. The pies were immediately served, and the bird would fly off when it was cut open. That’s pretty fancy, but it’s small potatoes compared to the pie at Philip, Duke of Burgundy’s feast in 1454. His was filled with a group of musicians. Sotelties could also be in the shape of buildings or allegorical scenes such as The Castle of Love from Du fait de cuisine, a cookbook written in 1420. Through the castle windows could be seen a fire-breathing boar’s head, a fire-breathing glazed piglet, and a fire-breathing skinned and redressed swan. Outside the castle was a rosewater and spiced wine fountain and a hunting scene with figures made from meat paste. Battlements were manned by miniature archers. There was even a bloody—though unsuccessful—siege. Concealed underneath it all were four musicians and their instruments. Certainly, this was dramatic food at its finest.

Terms & Recipes

Cooking Terms

Alay: mix with, pour on top of, set alongside of Brawn: meat, flesh Bray: grate canelle: cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia) char: meat or flesh, also the flesh of a fruit chirugery: sugary civey: gravy, usually with onions cubebs: a spice, sometimes called tailed pepper (Piper cubeba) cury: medieval term used for cookery dight: the term for carving a swan, crane, heron, and so on dow: dough eiren: eggs farsure: stuffing goce, gos: goose guttys: intestines leche: to slice, also (n.) a slice marybones: marrow menge: mix, related to “mingle” messe: serve mye (v.) grate peiouns: pigeons powder douce: mixed sweet spices soden: boiled (also so!en or y-sode) Swenge: stir or beat trencher: a large piece of stale bread used as a plate unc, unce: ounce wastel: a fine grade of white bread Wete: wet

The great-great-grandfather of food lovers was a guy named Marcus Gavius Apicius. A first-century Roman, Apicius loved food so much he killed himself when he realized low funds would impede his consumption of luxurious snacks. The oldest extant cookbook, De Re Coquinaria, written in the fourth century, is attributed to Apicius, although only about seven of the approximately 500 recipes can be linked to the actual man. Nevertheless, the influence of these old Roman recipes can be seen in cookbooks of the medieval age, such as The Forme of Cury. Like De Re Coquinaria, medieval cookbooks were compiled mostly by high-ranking chefs and although easily comprehended by professional cooks, ordinary housewives would have found them to be no Betty Crocker. Despite how it sounds, The Forme of Cury has nothing to do with Indian curries. Cury is the Middle English word for cookery. The collection is thought to have been written at the end of the fourteenth century by Richard II’s cooks. The following recipes therefore are fit for a king. Translations are from the British Library.

Blank Mange Take Capouns and see! hem, !enne take hem up. take Almandes blaunched. grynd hem and alay hem up with the same broth. cast the mylk in a pot. waisshe rys and do !erto and lat it see!. !anne take brawn of Capouns teere it small and do !erto. take white grece sugur and salt and cast !erinne. lat it see!. !enne messe it forth and florissh it with aneys in confyt rede o!er whyt. and with Almaundes fryed in oyle. and serue it forth. Translation Take capons and boil them, then take them up. Take blanched almonds. Grind them and chop them up with the same broth. Put milk in a pot. Wash rice and add thereto and let it boil. Then take the flesh of the capon, chop it small and add thereto. Take lard, sugar, and salt and put them in. Let it boil. Then mix it up and garnish it with any sweetmeat red or white and with almonds fried in oil. And serve it forth.

Pygg in Sawse Sawge Take Piggs yskaldid and quarter hem and see! hem in water and salt, take hem and lat hem kele. take persel sawge. and grynde it with brede and zolkes of ayrenn harde ysode. temper it up with vyneger sum what thyk. and, lay the Pygges in a vessell. and the sewe onoward and serue it forth. Translation Take scalded pigs and quarter them and boil them in water and salt. Take them and let them cool. Take parsley and sage and grind them with bread and hard-boiled egg yolks. Temper it up with vinegar somewhat thick, and lay the pigs in a vessel. Cover it with the sauce and serve it forth.

Chastelets (Little Castles) Take and make a foyle of gode past with a roller of a foot brode. & lyngur by cumpas. make iiii Coffyns of !e self past uppon !e rolleres !e gretnesse of !e smale of !yn Arme. of vi ynche depnesse. make !e gretust in !e myddell. fasten !e foile in !e mouth upwarde. & fasten 26

!ee o!ere foure in euery syde. kerue out keyntlich kyrnels above in !e manere of bataiwyng and drye hem harde in an Ovene. o!er in !e Sunne. In !e myddel Coffyn do a fars of Pork with gode Pork & ayrenn rawe wi! salt. & colour it wi! safroun and do in ano!er Creme of Almandes. and helde it in ano!er creme of Cowe mylke with ayrenn. colour it with saundres. ano!ur manur. Fars of Fygur. of raysouns. of Apples. of Peeres. & holde it in broun. ano!er manere. do fars as to frytours blanched. and colour it with grene. put !is to !e ovene & bake it wel. & serue it forth with ew ardaunt. Translation Take and make a foyle [paper-thin sheet] of good pastry with a roll a foot long and longer in proportion. Make four pastry cases from the same pastry with the roll the width of the small of your arm and six inches deep. Put the biggest one in the middle. Fasten the pastry sheets at the mouth with it facing upwards, and fasten your other pastry on every side. Quaintly carve out keyntlich [battlements] above in the manner of embattling, and dry them until they’re hard in an oven or in the sun. In the middle case or coffin, do a mixture of pork with good pork and raw egg with salt. Color it with saffron and another crème of almonds, and put in the other cream of cow’s milk with egg. Color it with sandalwood. Another manner is to make a meat of figs, raisins, apples, and pears and brown it. Another manner is to do the meat as you would for blanched fritters and color it with green. Put this into the oven and bake it well. Serve it with hot water.

Douce âme (Sweet and Lovely) Take gode code milk and do it in a pot. take parcel. sawge. ysope. saueray and ooper gode herbes. hewe hem and do hem in the milk and seep hem. take capouns halfyroasted and smyte hem on pecys and do perto pynes and hony clarified. salt it and colour it with safroun and serve it forth. Translation Take good cow’s milk and cook it in a pot. Take parsley, sage, hyssop, savory, and other good herbs, chop them, and cook them in milk. Take capons, half-roasted, chop them to pieces, and add pine nuts and clarified honey. Salt it and color it with saffron and serve it forth.

Sowpes Sorry (Golden Toast) Take Almaundes brayed, drawe hem up with wyne. Ooile it, cast peruppon safrounand salt, take brede itosted in wine. lay perofa leyneand anoper of be seweand alle togydre. Florish it with sugur powdour gyngur and serve it forth Translation Take chopped almonds add wine, oil, saffron, and salt. Take toasted bread, in wine, and put a layer on, and another. All together, decorate with powdered sugar and ginger and serve it forth.

The next two recipes are from The Boke of Kokery written around 1440. You may be surprised by this first recipe. It’s probably not the custard you have in mind. Medieval custard was a sort of open pie filled with meat or fruit and then covered in a sauce. 27

Custard Lumbarde Take good creme, and leuys of Percely, and yolkes and white of egges, and breke hem thereto, and streyne hem all !org a straynour till hit be so thik that it woll bere him self. And take faire Mary and Dates, cutte in ij. or iij. and prunes, and put hem in faire coffyns of paast. And then put !e coffyn in an oven, And lete hem bake till thei be hard. And then drawe hem oute and putte the licoure into !e coffyns. And put hem into !e oven ayen. And lete hem bake til they be ynogh, but cast sugur and salt into !i licour whan ye putte hit into !e coffyns. And if hit be in lenton, take creme of Almondes and leve the egges And the Mary. Translation Take good cream and mix in leaves of parsley. Break the yolks and whites of eggs into the mixture. Push through a strainer until it is so stiff that it will support itself. Then take good marrow, dates cut into two or three pieces, and prunes and put them in nice pastry cases. Put the cases in the oven and let them bake until they are hard. Then take them out, put the liquid into them, and put them back in the oven. Let them bake together until done, but add sugar and salt to the liquid when you put it into the coffins. And if it is in Lent, take cream of almonds and leave out the egg and the marrow.

Hare in Wortes Take Colys, and stripe hem faire fro the stalkes. Take Betus and Borage, auens, Violette, Malvis, parsle, betayn, pacience, the white of the lekes, and the croppe of the netle. parboile, presse out the water. hew hem small, And do there-to mele. take goode broth of ffressh beef, or other goode flessh and mary bones; do it in a potte, set on the fire. choppe the hare in pieces, And, if thou wil, wassh hir in the same broth, and then drawe it thorgh A streynour with the blode, And then put all on the fire. And if she be an olde hare, let hire boile well, or thou cast in thi wortes. if she be yonge, cast in all togidre at ones; and lete hem boyle til thei be ynogh, and ceson hem with salt. And serue hem forth. The same wise thou may make wortes of a Gose of a night powdryng, of beef, or eny other fressh flessh. Translation Take cabbages and strip them from the stalks. Take beets, borage [starflower], avens, violets, mallows, parsley, betony, patience, the white of leeks, and the young heads of nettles. Parboil, press out the water, chop them small, and mix. Take good broth of fresh beef or other good flesh and marrow bones. Put it in a pot and set on the fire. Chop the hare in pieces, and if you wish, wash it in the same broth, and then draw it through a strainer with the blood, and then put it all on the fire. And if it is an old hare, let it boil well before you throw in the herbs; if it is young, throw in all the ingredients together. Let them boil until they are done, and season them with salt. And serve them forth. In the same way you may make wortes of a Goose of a night

Le Ménagier de Paris, or the Parisian Household, was written in 1393 as a guidebook for a fifteen-year-old soon-to-be wife. Not only did it contain recipes, it also had advice on proper conduct, homemaking, and even daily prayers. 28

Green Poree for a Fish Day Sort, cut up, and wash the greens in cold water without boiling, then cook with verjuice and a little water, and add some salt. Then serve it boiling hot and very thick without added liquid. In the bottom of the serving bowl, underneath the poree, put salted or fresh butter, or cheese, or old verjuice.

Herbed Capon or Veal In the winter, kill the capons, moisten them, and then set them in the frost for six days. In the summertime, after killing them, keep them out of the sun for two days or wrap them in a coverlet. Cook them in water with some bacon fat to whet the appetite; add parsley, sage, coq, and hyssop, a little bit of verjuice for piquancy, then a dash of ginger and saffron for color. This pottage suits the cold weather, but if it’s warm out, add only the bacon fat and saffron to this capon or veal dish.

Walnut Jam Before St. John’s Day, peel and pierce fresh walnuts and soak in fresh water for nine days, changing the water every day. Then dry them out and fill the holes with cloves and ginger and boil in honey, and keep them thus as preserves.

Hippocras To make hippocras powder, pound together a quarter of a pint very fine cinnamon, selected by tasting it, half a quarter of a pint of choice cassia buds, an ounce of hand-picked, fine white Mecca ginger, an ounce of grains of paradise, and a sixth of an ounce of nutmeg and galingale together. When you want to make hippocras, take a generous half-ounce of this powder and half a pint of sugar and mix them together with a quart of wine as measured in Paris. And note that the powder and the sugar mixed together make “duke’s powder.”

The Viandier of Taillevent is another well-known recipe collection from the 1300s. Taillevent was a master cook for Charles V of France.

Cretonnee de pois nouveaulx ( Cretonnee of Fresh Peas) Cook them until they can be pureed, then puree them and fry them in bacon grease. Bring cow’s milk to a boil, and soak your bread in it. Grind ginger and saffron, infuse them in your milk, and broil. Then take chickens cooked in water, break them into quarters, fry them, and set them to boil with the other mixture. Remove from the fire and pour in a great quantity of egg yolks and serve.

Brouet de canelle (Cinnamon Brewet) Cook your poultry in wine or in water, or cook any other meat, quarter it, and sauté it. Then grind unpeeled, dry almonds and a great deal of cinnamon, moisten the almonds with beef broth 29 and strain them, and boil them well with your meat along with verjuice. Add ground ginger, cloves, and grains of paradise. It should be thick and strong.

Porc rosti (Roast Pork) This is to be eaten with verjuice, and some people put garlic, onions, wine, and verjuice in the pan with the drippings from the roast and make a sauce with it. Also, you can put it in a pastry with saffron and spice powder. Eat with verjuice.

Poules rostis (Roast Pullets, Hens, or Chicks) They should be plucked in water, larded, and roasted; they are eaten with cold sage sauce or with cameline sauce or with verjuice. In a pastry with spice powder and pieces of bacon fat, they are eaten with green verjuice in the summer or without sauce in the winter.

Cigognes (Roast Storks) They should be plucked like a goose, plumped in boiling water, the wings cut off, and the feet, tail, and head left on. They should be set to roast on a spit and singed thoroughly. Eat with fine salt.

Lux (Pike) Cooked in water, eaten with green sauce or in a galantine made like a good cameline sauce.

Alose d’eaue doulce (Shad) It should be larded, salted, and cooked in water. Eat with mustard sauce, or with shallots and wine, or with green sauce. Roast and eat with cameline sauce. Bake in an oven using a dripping pan in the oven, with a sauce made of a little white wine, verjuice, and spice powder. Some people put nothing other than cameline sauce on it.

Saumon frais (Fresh Salmon) It should be larded, and keep the spine in it for roasting (or fry in a pan). Then pick it apart by layers and cook it in water and wine with salt. It should be eaten with yellow pepper sauce or with cameline sauce. Some people set it to dry on the grill for eating. Alternatively, eat it in a pastry sprinkled with spice powder with cameline sauce. If it is salted, it should be cooked in water without salt and eaten with wine and chopped shallots.

Cameline To make cameline sauce, grind ginger, a great deal of cinnamon, cloves, grains of paradise, mace and, if you wish, long pepper. Strain bread that has been moistened in vinegar. Strain everything together and salt as necessary.

Saulce vert (Green Sauce) Grind untoasted white bread and a great quantity of parsley leaves with peeled ginger and sage. Steep this in a mixture of vinegar and a little verjuice, and strain it. 30

The Moors invaded Spain in the eighth century, opening up new cooking possibilities for medieval Europeans. The Book of Cooking in Maghreb and Andalus in the Era of Almohads, or The Andalusian Cookbook as it’s more commonly called, gives us an example of cooking in the Moorish territory.

Recipe for Shabât with Fat Make a dough of sifted semolina with a moderate amount of leaven. Moisten it with melted grease freshened with oil. Stir well until the dough absorbs it, and moisten it again and again until it has absorbed all it can of the grease. Leave it for a while. Then form it into thin flatbreads, or into muwarraqa [puffed pastry] if you want. Fry them in the frying pan with melted grease to cover them until they are done. Then take them out and eat them with honey.

A Dish Suitable for Autumn Take the upper parts of year-old meat and cut them up. Put them an earthenware pot, and add Chinese cinnamon, pepper, lavender, sweet almond oil, soaked garbanzos, some cut-up boiled Swiss chard, and pounded walnut meats. Cover everything with water and put it on the fire until nearly done. Throw on murri [a condiment] made from wheat with nigella, long pepper and lavender, and finish cooking. Cover the pot with cinnamon and ginger, and ladle out and serve, God willing.

Safarjaliyya, a Quince Dish Take meat and cut it in pieces, then throw in the pot and throw on it two spoons of vinegar and oil, a dirham and a half [about five grams] of pepper, caraway, coriander seeds, and pounded onion. Cover it with water and put it on the fire. Clean three to five quinces and chop them up with a knife as small as you can. Cook them in water, and when they are cooked, take them out of the water. When the meat is done, throw in the boiled quince and bring the mixture to the boil two or three times; then cover the contents of the pot with two or three eggs [p. 38, recto] and take it off the fire. Leave it for a little while, and when you put it on the platter, sprinkle it with some pepper, throw on a little saffron, and serve it.

Recipes for the Modern Cook If you’re looking for medieval flavor without going too far out of your comfort zone, these recipes are for you.

Marinated Leeks in Mustard Vinaigrette (Getty Museum Website) For the leeks: 6 to 8 leeks 1 bay leaf 5 parsley branches 4 thyme sprigs 1 carrot, thinly sliced 1 celery rib, thinly sliced For the mustard vinaigrette: 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 garlic clove, minced " tsp salt Pinch of pepper 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 tablespoon plain yogurt 1/3 cup olive oil 1 tablespoon chopped parsley 1. Halve the leeks lengthwise, using only about an inch of the pale green part. Rinse well. 2. Put them in a large pan in a single layer with the fresh herbs, carrots, and celery. Add enough water to cover. 3. Simmer until they are tender when pierced with a knife, about 20 minutes. 4. Transfer the leeks to a platter with some of the broth, and spoon the vinaigrette over the top. 5. For the vinaigrette, combine the vinegar, salt, and garlic in a small bowl. Let stand for a few minutes, then whisk in the mustard, yogurt, and oil until thick and smooth. 6. Add the pepper, and then stir in the chopped parsley. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Lozenges or Curd Cheese Pastries (The British Museum Cookbook) 225g (8oz) wholemeal or whole wheat shortcrust pastry 225g (8 oz.) curd cheese 25g (1oz.) very finely chopped stem or crystallized ginger or plump raisins 15g (1/2 oz.) toasted and chopped pine nuts Sugar to taste Lemon juice to taste 1. Roll the pastry out very thin and cut it into small rectangles, approximately 15x8 cm (6x3 inches). You should have around 24. 2. Bake in a moderately hot oven (190C, 375F) for 10 minutes or until crisp and brown. Remove and cool on a rack. 32

3. Mix the curd cheese with the ginger or raisins, the pine nuts, sugar, and lemon to taste. Set aside. Before serving, sandwich two pieces of pastry with the cheese mixture. This can be eaten as a dessert or snack.

Spiced Quince Butter Cake (Getty Museum Website) For the quince: 1 quince, peeled, cored and cut into 16 slices 1 cup water 1 cup sugar 1 cinnamon stick 1 star anise For the cake: 1 stick butter, cut into pieces 1 1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar # cup ground almonds 1/3 cup flour # tsp cinnamon " tsp nutmeg " tsp ground cardamom 1/8 tsp ground cloves 4 egg whites # tsp orange zest To prepare the quince: 1. In a large saucepan, combine the quince, water, sugar, cinnamon, and star anise. 2. Cover. Bring the mixture to a boil over a high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the quince is tender. 3. Let cool in the poaching liquid, then remove from liquid and pat dry on paper towels. To make the cake: 1. Preheat oven to 400º F. 2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Continue to let the butter heat until the white milk solids fall to the bottom of the skillet and turn a rich hazelnut brown. (This is called brown butter.) 3. Separately sift together the confectioner’s sugar, ground almonds, flour, and spices in a bowl. 4. On the lowest speed of a stand or hand blender, whisk in the egg whites and orange zest. Mix until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase the speed and stir in the brown butter. Beat until smooth. 5. Butter a 10-inch cake pan, pour in the batter, and smooth the top. Arrange the quince slices on the batter and bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool before serving.

Peas Pottage 1 cup of diced carrots 1 cup of diced parsnips 1 cup of diced onion 1 cup of diced turnips " cup vegetable broth 1 cup diced leeks 1 cup sliced mushrooms 1 cup fresh green peas 1–2 cups of chopped cabbage 2 quarts vegetable broth 1 large bay leaf # tsp dried thyme # dried rosemary # tsp rubbed sage # ground pepper and $ tsp salt 1 cup rolled oats 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar Red wine (optional) In a large stew pot, add carrots, parsnips, onion, and turnips. Sauté for 10–15 minutes using about " cup of the vegetable broth. Now add leeks, mushrooms, peas, and cabbage. Simmer slightly, then add the rest of the broth. Add all the seasonings. Throw in a bit of red wine if you wish, then simmer for 30 minutes. Now the oats and continue to cook approximately 20 minutes or until oats are soft. Add vinegar before serving. Serve with a rustic loaf of dark bread.

Onion Tart (from medievalcookery.com) 1 medium onion, finely chopped 6 eggs 2 cups grated mozzarella Pinch of saffron Pinch of salt Beat eggs, add other ingredients, and pour into an unbaked pie crust. Bake at 350°F until lightly browned on top, about 1 hour.

Barley Water (medievalcookery.com) " cup pearl barley 2 tbsp sugar 2 cups boiling water Peel and juice of one lemon Combine all ingredients, cover, and let sit until cold. Strain before serving. 34

Frumenty (Leobas Historical Kitchen) 1 cup bulgur wheat 2 " cups Beef, chicken, or vegetable stock 2 " cups milk or almond milk 2 egg yolks " tsp crushed saffron 1 tsp salt 1. Put the bulgur, stock, milk, and saffron in a pot and bring to the boil. 2. Reduce the frumenty mix to a simmer, and cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed. (This will take around half an hour.) Stir it occasionally to ensure it doesn’t stick. 3. Keeping the heat very low, add the egg yolks and salt and stir well to heat through. Serve hot or at room temperature as an accompaniment to a meat dish or a side dish by itself.

Wroclaw Trencher Bread (medievalist.net) 8 cups stone-ground rye flour 7 cups stone-ground spelt or whole club wheat flour 2 cups thick beer 1 cup active beer barm or # ounce dry yeast proofed in 1 cup lukewarm water 4 cups room-temperature water 2 tablespoons salt 1. Combine the flours in a mixing bowl. Measure out 7 1/2 cups (950g) and put this in a large work bowl or bread through. 2. Combine the thick beer, yeast, and water. Add this to the flour and stir to create a slurry. Cover and let stand overnight until foamy. 3. Combine the salt with the remaining flour, and stir down the slurry. Add the salted flour to the slurry and knead into a ball of dough on a well-floured work surface. Knead for at least 20 minutes, vigorously striking the dough from time to time with a bat or long rolling pin to break down the gluten. 4. Set aside, cover, and let the dough rise until doubled in bulk. When it is fully risen, knock down and knead again, breaking it with a bat or rolling pin as before. 5. When the dough is soft and spongy, mold it out into 9 or 10 round loaves (each about 12 oz. or 375 g to allow for water loss during baking). Cover and let the loaves rise in a warm place until they are roughly 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter. 6. While the loaves are rising, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (250 degrees C). When the loaves are fully risen, set them on a greased pizza sheets and cut a small sign of the cross or some other preferred pattern into the top of each loaf. 7. Set the loaves in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 375 degrees F and finish baking the bread for 10–20 minutes or until it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Cool on a rack. Do not cut the bread until it is room temperature.

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References

Adamson, Melitta. Food in Medieval Times. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004. ! Freedman, Paul Out of the East: Spices and the Medieval Imagination. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008.

Grecco, Gina, and Rose, Christine. The Good Wife's Guide (Le Ménagier de Paris): A Medieval Household Book. Cornell University Press 2009

Lacroix, Paul. Medieval Life. London, UK: Arcturus Publishing, 2011.

Oliver, Garret, and Colicchio, Tom. The Oxford Companion to Beer. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2011.

Pegge, Samuel. The Forme of Cury. London, UK: Forgotten Books, 2008.

Ridgard, John. Medieval Framlingham: Select Documents 1270–1524. Suffolk, UK: Boydell Press, 1985.

Scully, Terrence. The Viandier of Taillevent: An Edition of All Extant Manuscripts.University of Ottawa Press 1988

Selby, Anna. Food Through the Ages: From Stuffed Dormice to Pineapple Hedgehog. South Yorkshire, UK: Remember When, 2008

Woolgar, Christopher Michael, C.M. Woolgar, D. Serjeantson, and T. Waldron (editors). Food in Medieval England: Diet and Nutrition. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2006.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/mock-medieval-foods http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/19695/1/JBerryMedievalEnglishCook.pdf http://helewyse.medievalcookery.com/libro.html 37

https://www.medievalists.net/ http://www.godecookery.com/ https://ima.princeton.edu/2017/01/03/winter-spices-in-the-middle-ages/