![]() Consumption of meat was forbidden for a full third of the year for most Christians.īut, there were ways around this. The church had strict rules around eating. Or, in lower-class households they ate straight off the table.Īt a big meal, spoons were provided, but it was bring your own knife.įorks for eating weren’t widely used until the early modern period. Instead, people used the bottom part of a loaf of bread. Or, they sat at the table and ate very little. Medieval Europeans typically ate two meals a day: dinner at mid-day and a lighter supper in the evening.ĭuring feasts, women often dined separately from men due to stupid social codes. In the middle ages, food and eating was very different. This gave rise to the “baker’s dozen”: a baker would give 13 for the price of 12, to show they weren’t cheating. Since bread was so central to the medieval diet, tampering with it or messing with weights was considered a serious offense. Legumes like chickpeas and fava beans were viewed with suspicion by the upper class, in part because they cause flatulence.īut the regular folks chowed down on them. Other parts of Europe cooked with lard or oils of olive, poppy, walnut, and hazelnut. ![]() ![]() What people cooked withīutter was a popular cooking medium in Northern Europe – but it was super salty (5–10%) so it wouldn’t spoil. Cheese was kind of a big dealĬheese was the most common source of animal protein for the lower classes, and many of the varieties would look familiar today, like Edam, Brie and Parmesan. Cow milk, not so muchĬow milk wasn’t popular because it spoiled so quickly. Almonds were commonĪlmonds were commonly used as a thickener in soups, stews, and sauces, and almond milk was hugely popular. These, along with the widespread use of honey, gave many dishes a sweet-sour flavor. Seasonings for upper-class peopleĬommon seasonings for upper-class people included verjuice, wine and vinegar with black pepper, saffron and ginger. So along with their grains, peasants ate cabbage, beets, onions, garlic and carrots. Beef, which required lots of land, wasn’t very big yet. Wild game was common, as was pork and chicken. Middle ages food for rich people included wheat and meatīoth of these items were expensive and prestigious. Grain provided 65-70% of calories in the early 14th century. ![]() Middle Ages food for poor people revolved around barleyīarley bread, porridge, gruel and pasta, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The exact rules varied, often permitting the eating of fish and birds.Back in the Middle Ages in Europe, what you ate depended a lot on how rich you were. Many days of the year were fast days, where meat was not permitted. ‘When the calamity of a deadly famine threatened, a vast crowd of destitute people reckoned to number four thousand gathered at Melrose, and erected huts and tents for themselves in the fields and woods around the monastery for a distance of two miles.’ Accidental Vegetarians?Ĭommon thinking in medieval times was that humans were entitled to make use of all resources available to them so voluntarily abstaining from meat was not common.īut even outside of monasteries, the church limited the eating of meat. Walter Bower’s great chronicle of Scottish history, the Scotichronicon, recounts how the local community relied on the Abbey for food during times of hardship: Standing at the heart of a fertile valley, Melrose Abbey quickly became one of the wealthiest foundations in the country. Sweetheart Abbey was the last Cistercian abbey to be established in Scotland
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