No, people in the middle ages did not just eat gruel. Nor did they use spice as a way to cover the stench of spoiled meat. Their diet was more broad and varied than that! The food they ate was normally based on economics, religion, geographical location, social status, and personal taste. Interestingly enough, there were no tomatoes, potatoes, or corn in this time period. Pasta wasn't even introduced until the 13th century! It's so weird to think of italian food without tomatoes or even for awhile without pasta.
They did have fruits and vegetables such as: grapes, plums, apples, pears, blueberries (no bananas or pineapples though) and onions, peas, beans, cauliflower and many more! Commonly eaten meats were beef, veal, mutton, lamb, pork, and goat while game meat was considered boar, stag, deer, rabbit, and bear. They also ate seafood like lobster, crab, mackerel, eel, oysters, etc.
All in all, they may have ate more variety than some people today!
It is truly very hard for us today to try to imagine Italian food without tomatoes and pasta! Many people don't realize that Europeans didn't get to enjoy tomatoes until after 1492 when 'Columbus sailed the ocean blue'.
ReplyDeleteNotice the knives on the table, but no forks. On the table there is an aquamanile, or pitcher and maybe some bowls of salt.
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