What Did They Eat?
Hannah Epstein
It is likely that what Hal ate in the Boar’s Head tavern in Eastcheap was very different from what he ate when he resided in the palace. What people ate was often determined by how much money they had. Huey-Ling Lee points out that, “what was dismissed from the high tables in formal dining occasions could very well become the food on the lower tables” (256-7). This statement not only applies to situations where there were literal higher tables for the nobles and lower tables for the more common folk, but also to food customs in general. For instance, it was acceptable for the poor to eat the internal organs of a deer, but not for nobility to do the same (257). Meat was also passed from rich to poor simply as leftovers. At a king’s table, for instance, there might be many meat dishes, most of which would not be finished, and these would go to feed the poor (Thirsk 15).
According to Joan Thirsk in her article, “Food in Shakespeare’s England,” she comments that, “…ordinary folk…were able to eat foods of great variety without spending much money” (13). She comments that many vegetables were grown in home gardens, and that greens and edible flowers grew wild. This contradicts the conventional description of the early modern diet as extremely restricted (13). Thirsk also comments on the high consumption of dairy in early modern England. She states, “Among those having land, no matter what their class, a cow was deemed the first necessity” (21). Thirsk goes on to say that, though cheese was still viewed as extremely suspect, other dairy products, such as butter, slowly gained popularity over the course of the period (22).
The most common food in early modern England was a dish called pottage. Thirsk describes it as, “…a stew containing onions, peas and beans, and other vegetables such as leeks, garlic, roots, greens, and herbs that lay to hand. It was thickened with cereals and flavored with a bone or a piece of meat”(15). Pottage exemplifies the people’s willingness to use any food that came their way. It could be found on the tables of everyone, commoner or nobility. The only other thing that could be found on virtually every table was bread. This bread was generally made from a mix of flours, but varieties of bread abounded (Thirsk 16). William Edward Mead points out, however, that, at least in medieval times, “Bakers…were under close supervision and liable to corporal punishment for failure to conform to the laws concerning the making of bread” (40).
According to Joan Thirsk in her article, “Food in Shakespeare’s England,” she comments that, “…ordinary folk…were able to eat foods of great variety without spending much money” (13). She comments that many vegetables were grown in home gardens, and that greens and edible flowers grew wild. This contradicts the conventional description of the early modern diet as extremely restricted (13). Thirsk also comments on the high consumption of dairy in early modern England. She states, “Among those having land, no matter what their class, a cow was deemed the first necessity” (21). Thirsk goes on to say that, though cheese was still viewed as extremely suspect, other dairy products, such as butter, slowly gained popularity over the course of the period (22).
The most common food in early modern England was a dish called pottage. Thirsk describes it as, “…a stew containing onions, peas and beans, and other vegetables such as leeks, garlic, roots, greens, and herbs that lay to hand. It was thickened with cereals and flavored with a bone or a piece of meat”(15). Pottage exemplifies the people’s willingness to use any food that came their way. It could be found on the tables of everyone, commoner or nobility. The only other thing that could be found on virtually every table was bread. This bread was generally made from a mix of flours, but varieties of bread abounded (Thirsk 16). William Edward Mead points out, however, that, at least in medieval times, “Bakers…were under close supervision and liable to corporal punishment for failure to conform to the laws concerning the making of bread” (40).