Here is an excellent article about mediaeval myths. It discusses the “right of the first night” (here called prima nocta and supposedly imposed by Edward I in Scotland, according to Braveheart), table manners, the frequency of open warfare as opposed to sieges, the standard of food and the chastity belt.
Tag: mediaeval food
From Yule Log to Buche de Noel
While the traditional Yule Log is associated with Great Britain – as its television broadcast/DVD version is associated with America – it seems to have originated in the misty past of Central Germany and Westphalia. It is certainly of pagan origin as are many of our Christian customs. To quote Sir James George Frazer in… Continue reading From Yule Log to Buche de Noel
First, take your royal sturgeon….
It’s always rewarding to find a site that is helpful with medieval research. By this I mean everyday research, not the highly specialised work of historians. This site was stumbled upon because I needed to find out how sturgeon would have been served in the medieval period. Yes, it had been a royal fish… Continue reading First, take your royal sturgeon….
Pucklechurch and the death of a king….
According to The Folklore of Gloucestershire by Roy Palmer, there was a traditional dish in the south of the county known as whitepot, and it was served at Whit Sunday “revels”. The ingredients of whitepot were: “….four quarts of milk, a pound of flour, a pound of golden syrup, eight eggs, two ounces of butter,… Continue reading Pucklechurch and the death of a king….
Medieval food that looks awful but apparently tastes divine…!
Well, we know that the people of the medieval period loved their colours. The brighter the better, it seems. But, it also seems that this liking didn’t extend to their food. I found this wonderful article on the British Medieval History Facebook group, and just had to share it here. However, it has to… Continue reading Medieval food that looks awful but apparently tastes divine…!
A French Medieval Lenten Repast
Good Friday falls today and in commemoration of the crucifixion of Christ we offer several meat free loosely-based receipts from the medieval manuscript Le Menagier de Paris or The Goodman of Paris. First published anonymously in 1391, it is amusingly similar to Mrs. Beeton’s famous 19th century book of household tips covering diverse subjects such… Continue reading A French Medieval Lenten Repast
The importance of fish in the medieval diet….
There is no disputing that fish was very important to the medieval diet. The Church ruled that not only was it required food on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, but also for Advent and the forty days of Lent. And I’m sure there were other days when it was mandatory too, but the previous sentence covers… Continue reading The importance of fish in the medieval diet….
Christmas under Henry VII, complete with “foot sheets”. . .!
I was browsing, and came upon the following interesting details about how Henry VII celebrated Christmas and Twelfth Night. It is from Christmas: Its Origin and Associations by William Francis Dawson, which I found in Google Books. The following extract has been tweaked a little by me, to create more paragraphs and thus make it… Continue reading Christmas under Henry VII, complete with “foot sheets”. . .!
Gourmet Magazine Does a Christmas Medieval Feast
Long before Gourmet Magazine went out of business in 2009, collapsed under too many overwrought articles on bovine emissions, it had been an intellectual colossus in the culinary world. From the 1940s through the ’60s, it featured lush travel articles on world cuisine venturing into far-flung places such as Persia, Bhutan (“a taste of Shangri-La!”)… Continue reading Gourmet Magazine Does a Christmas Medieval Feast
Some dilgirunt for His Majesty, if you please….!
Don’t you just love it when glossaries cross-reference you from the word you seek, to another word, which then refers you back to the first word – with no definition or explanation whatsoever? I have just been looking at this culinary glossary, seeking more information about an intriguing medieval dish known as ‘dilgirunt’. Intriguing because… Continue reading Some dilgirunt for His Majesty, if you please….!
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