Food

The food that people ate during the Middle Ages would depend on the class of the individual. Those living in the manor house, that is the the lord and his family, would usually have available a wide range of foods such as capons, geese, larks, and chickens. They would also dine on other meats; bacon, lamb, beef and those who lived close to water may have regularly eaten salmon, herring, eels and other fresh water fish. Fish would either be sold smoked and salted or fresh. Wealthy people could also afford large quantities of milled flour and other meals made from grain along with dairy products such as cheese and butter.

However life was not as grand for the peasants, they had a much simpler diet available to them. Their options were very limited when compared to that of the wealthy society. Peasant breads were made from barley and rye and baked into dark heavy loaves. To quell their thirst peasants would drink water drawn from the well sweetened with honey and make Ales from barley. Due to their limited diet, peasants would get what little proteins they could from beans and peas that would be added to pottage and bread.

Peasants would often favour pottage over bread because it did not require the grains that the miller closely guarded. They would also make thick soups from cabbage, onions, nuts, leeks, berries, spinach, garlic and parsley. Raw were rarely eaten because they were considered unhealthy, but in general anything that could grown, with the exception of known poisonous plants, would be added to the mix.

Exercises:

On a new page in your books put the Heading “Medieval Food”. Under the heading write a 1/4 - 1/2 page summary based upon the information available from this link. After you have completed the summary, write the following sub-headings and the questions in your books and answer them in full sentences using the links to the websites listed below.

Wealthy Society

1. What order would people eat in?
2. What were their plates made from?
3. What would they use pepper and spices for?

Peasants

1. Why was the bread that peasants ate made from rye?
2. What was pottage?
3. What meat would peasants eat?
4. Why did peasants drink ale?

Test your knowledge and complete this crossword

Use the information from these two links, link 1 and link 2, to create a menu for a medieval themed restaurant. Create the menu using Microsoft Word. Your menu must include the name of your restaurant, opening ours, and prices for each dish. You need to have a drink list, at least 4 starters, 8 main meals and 4 desserts. Each dish needs to include a brief description. Once finished, print out your menu and glue it into your books