Our very different cuisines did not just spring out from nowhere. It has a beginning and a history. So when we eat a particular cuisine, it will seem like we are being transported back in time where that particular dish started and getting a taste of what history tasted like those hundreds and thousands of years ago. Here is a look at historical or medieval cuisine where all our lovely dishes began.
What Shaped Historical Cuisine?
As stated above, what we call cuisine did not just happen. It developed slowly over time, and it has been shaped not only by the land and its produce but also by the people, their culture, and their needs. Aside from this, historical cuisine also encompasses the eating habits of the people as well as their cooking techniques and methods.
Other factors that shaped historical cuisine include the events that were happening during the period, the social classes of the people, their social norms, and their religions and beliefs. There is also the belief that upper class deserves refined and very expensive cuisine, while the working class deserves less refined and less expensive cuisine, simply because there is the idea that one’s food should resemble one’s labor. So if you do manual labor to make a living, then your food should be coarser and cheaper than what the rich people usually have.
The Early Cuisine
If there was one thing that was very important to the diet of the people who lived during the Middle Ages is that it was the cereals. It has always been a part of the people’s diet, with the rich having wheat and the poor having barley as well as rye and oat. Rice was a later introduction to Europe though.
When it comes to meat, again, the upper society were the only ones who can afford meat particularly since it was a bit expensive during the Medieval Ages. In fact, game was normally only seen on the nobilities’ tables. Other types of meat that were also prevalent during that period were the usual pork as well as chicken, and they also have the domestic fowl. However, beef, on the other hand, was not the common for the simple reason that the butchers will have to invest more not only in land but also in feeds if they want to raise livestock like cows.
As for fish, those who live near water have fresh fish daily, the staples of which include cod as well as herring. However, those who live inland have to rely on the different techniques to preserve fish. Some of these techniques are smoking as well as drying, and you also have pickling as well as salting. In fact, these techniques are not only used for fish alone as they also use it on meat to preserve it.
The poor have the local herbs and spices, of course, and these are those that can be found in the forest as well as those that can be grown in their gardens. On the other hand, the rich people get to enjoy exotic spices, especially if those purchased from traders who bring imported goods from neighboring lands.
During the late Medieval Period, upper class society’s cuisine became more refined with the use of seasonings. The most common of which are vinegar as well as verjuice. They also made use of wine in their cooking to enhance the flavor of the dish. It was also during this period that the combination of spices and seasonings were used to create exotic flavors such as sweet and sour.
This is also the period wherein they began using sauce thickeners in their soups as well as sauces and stews, the most common of which is almonds and almond milk.
The historical or medieval cuisine made use of ingredients that were available to them. There were exotic spices, other exotic meats, and food imports brought by traders, but it is usually the upper class who can afford such luxurious items. However, the traditional historical or medieval cuisine was soon influenced by the many wars, crusades, and invasions that were so prevalent during that period.
Ingredients Utilized in Historical or Medieval Cuisine
* The following list is, by no means, exhaustive. It is only intended as a reference source.
Cereals: Rye, barley, buckwheat, millet, oats, wheat, rice
Vegetables: Cabbage, beets, onions, garlic, carrots.
Fruits: Lemons, citrons, bitter oranges, pomegranates, quinces, grapes, apples, pears, plums, strawberries, figs, dates.
Dairy Products: Milk, cheese.
Meats: Wild game, mutton, lamb, veal, pork, hedgehog, porcupine.
Birds and Fowls: Swans, peafowl, quail, partridge, storks, cranes, larks, linnets, chicken, duck, geese.
Fish and Seafood: Herring, cod, mollusks, oysters, mussels, scallops, crayfish, pike, carp, bream, perch, lamprey, trout.
Bake Mete Ryalle or Pork Pie
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs. pork
- 1/2 tsp. cloves
- 1/4 tsp. mace
- 2 tsp. cubebs
- 2 tbsp. sugar
- 4 tbsp. butter
Procedure:
Boil or slow-cook the pork until tender. Allow to cool and then chop into small pieces. Add spices and sugar, put into pie crust, dot with butter, cover with a top crust, and bake at 350°F until golden brown – about 30 minutes. Serve hot.
Bukkenade or Beef Stew
Ingredients:
- 2-3 lbs. beef, cut into cubes
- 1 tbsp. parsley
- 1 tsp. sage
- 1 tsp. hyssop
- 1/2 tsp. cloves
- 1/4 tsp. mace
- 4 egg yolks
- 3/8 cups verjuice (if verjuice is unavailable, use 1/4 cup wine and 1/8 cup lemon juice)
- 1/2 tsp. ginger
- 1 tsp. salt
- pinch saffron
Procedure:
Put the beef into a large pot along with water to cover – about 8 cups. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Skim off and discard any scum that forms on the surface. Add parsley, sage, hyssop, cloves, and mace. Stir well and simmer for another 30 minutes, or until the beef is tender. Temper the egg yolks in a separate bowl by slowly whisking in a cup or two of the broth from the pot. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot along with the egg mixture and stir. Remove from heat when as soon as it comes back to a boil.
Image Credit: foodinsichuan.com
About the Author: Matthew Goudge
Chef Matthew, the owner of ProChef360Blog.com, is an expert in culinary arts. He is after all an outstanding chef, having had worked in some of the finest resorts, hotels and restaurants in the world. His interest, however, in social media was awakened when he started his own websites. Over the years, he took it upon himself to learn everything he can about social media.
He endeavored to discover the secrets behind generating huge traffic and leads for his websites. He studied the secrets behind generating sales by piggy-backing on high-traffic social media sites. Over time, he has developed 77 techniques on how to generate huge amount of traffic through the use of social media.
Articles Source: Cuisine Focus – Historical Cuisine – Where It All Began
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