Click here to add text.
Medieval Food
What They Ate was Based on Class
By Joy J. Fine
During the middle ages the medieval food that one had access to was based completely on your social standing. The lord and family are very well, as did his priests, and nobleman along with their wives. The knights also ate pretty well. But the peasants found food hard to come by and usually rather boring. The local lord sat at his long table with his guests and enjoyed a hearty meal. Knights would be nearby, often at either end of the table, to protect their lord from any form of attack that might occur during the meal. Young boys who were in his employ would have served the lord. He would take first, then his family and the other important people who might share his table. Anything leftover would be served to those others he allowed to eat with him at other tables.
The people ate their medieval food mostly with their hands despite spoons and knives being used in those days. They used plates and bowls but just as often would cut a large slice of bread and put the food on it directly on the table. This was especially true of bread that was slightly stale since this way the bread would get used, be freshened by the new days food, and so nothing was wasted and there was more to fill them. More than anything they used their hands to eat with.
The upper classes ate well no matter what season it was. The lords were able to hunt year around and had enough money to buy salt to preserve the meats so they could be eaten at any time. He also was able to afford spices and so his food had a better taste. Spices were often used to mask the taste of food that was going bad. They also were able to enjoy butter, cheese, and a variety of poultry. Sometimes fish would be served.
For the peasants it was a very different story. Their medieval food consisted mainly of bread made from rye or barley. Mostly they ate stew made from things they grew in their own little garden plots. This included peas, beans and onions. This stew was known as pottage. They would find berries or nuts in the nearby forests, which, along with the honey they gathered, were their only treats. They had very little meat though sometimes they might hunt for rabbits. But, this could be a dangerous thing to do if the rabbits they caught were on their lord’s lands. They drank mainly ales, which were also made from barely or water directly from the wells. They would often choose to make it taste better by adding a little honey to it. They did not eat their vegetables without cooking them first since this was considered an unhealthy practice.
Overall this meant that what they ate was not high in calories or in vitamins. So, drinking ale was good filler for them. The medieval food was low in fat, high in fiber which was healthy but that was only a coincidence since they did not know things like that back then. The nobles ate well and felt full at the end of a meal while the peasants were usually hungry on their limited diet.
Related Articles:
