![]() ![]() As each level of society imitated 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. 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. Slow transportation and food preservation techniques (based on drying, salting, smoking and pickling) made long-distance trade of many foods very expensive. The most prevalent butcher’s meats were pork, chicken and other domestic fowl beef, which required greater investment in land, was less common. Cod and herring were mainstays among the northern populations dried, smoked or salted, they made their way far inland, but a wide variety of other saltwater and freshwater fish was also eaten. Meat was more expensive and therefore more prestigious. Game, a form of meat acquired from hunting, was common only on the nobility’s tables. ( Phaseolus beans, today the “common bean”, were of New World origin and were introduced after the Columbian exchange in the 16th century.) These were consumed as bread, porridge, gruel and pasta by all of society’s members. Fava beans and vegetables were important supplements to the cereal-based diet of the lower orders. ![]() 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 cuisine. Cereals remained the most important staple during the early Middle Ages as rice was introduced late, and the potato was only introduced in 1536, with a much later date for widespread consumption. Barley, oats and rye were eaten by the poor. Wheat was for the governing classes. Medieval cuisine includes foods, eating habits, and cooking methods of various European cultures during the Middle Ages, which lasted from the fifth to the fifteenth century. (Forks are available on request.Peasants sharing a simple meal of bread and drink Livre du roi Modus et de la reine Ratio, 14th century / Photo courtesy Bibliothèque nationale, Wikimedia Commonsįamine was commonplace and social hierarchies were often brutally enforced. The volume of food alone is impressive enough, but have you any idea how technically difficult it is to serve rotisserie chicken at a temperature high enough to pass health and safety inspections, yet cool enough not to burn the fingers of a thousand middle-schoolers? It's a remarkable high-wire balancing act, and Medieval Times does it five nights a week, sometimes three times a day. I remember being served "dragon soup" as a child, with a consistency more like cream of vegetable, but it was tomato bisque on my most recent visit, and tomato bisque is listed on the downloadable PDF of ingredients on the Medieval Times website. ![]() There is also tomato bisque, which one drinks from a large metal bowl with a long handle. They had run out of corn on my latest visit, and offered half a kielbasa or an extra piece of potato as a substitute. ![]() Besides the chicken, Medieval Times offers a blunted potato wedge, a half-nubbin of corn on the cob, and garlic bread, all eaten out of hand. ![]()
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