Every year there is a higher and higher level of preparation for medieval festivals. The most severe requirements are imposed on the identity of the costume, shoes, tent, household items. However, for a stronger immersion in the environment, it would be good to adhere to other rules of the eras. One of them is identical food. It happens that the reenactor spends money on the costume of a rich nobleman, selects a yard (team), entourage, and buckwheat porridge in a bowler hat and on the table.
What did the inhabitants of various classes of the city and village eat in the Middle Ages?
In the XI-XIII centuries. the food of most of the population of Western Europe was very monotonous. They especially ate a lot of bread. Bread and wine (grape juice) were the main staples of the unprivileged population of Europe. According to French researchers, in the X-XI centuries. secular persons and monks consumed 1.6-1.7 kg of bread per day, which was washed down with a large amount of wine, grape juice or water. Peasants were often limited to 1 kg of bread and 1 liter of juice per day. The poorest drank fresh water, and so that it would not go rotten, they put marsh plants containing ether - aronnik, calamus, etc. into it. A wealthy city dweller in the late Middle Ages ate up to 1 kg of bread daily. The main European cereals during the Middle Ages were wheat and rye, of which the former prevailed in Southern and Central Europe, the latter in Northern Europe. Barley was extremely widespread. The main grain crops significantly supplemented spelt and millet (in the southern regions), oats (in the northern regions). In Southern Europe, mainly wheat bread was consumed, in Northern Europe - barley, in Eastern Europe - rye. For a long time, bread products were unleavened cakes (bread in the form of a long loaf and carpets began to be baked only towards the end of the Middle Ages). The cakes were hard and dry because they were baked without yeast. Barley cakes were preserved longer than others, so warriors (including crusader knights) and wanderers preferred to take them on the road.
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| Medieval mobile bread maker 1465-1475. Most of the ovens were naturally stationary. | The feast in the Matsievsky Bible (B. M. 1240-1250) looks very modest. Whether the features of the image. Whether in the middle of the 13th century it was difficult with food. |
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| They kill the bull with a hammer. "Book of Trecento Drawings" Tacuina sanitatis Casanatense 4182 (XIV century) | Fish seller. "Book of Trecento Drawings" Tacuina sanitatis Casanatense 4182 (XIV century) |
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| Feast, page detail January, Book of Hours by the Limburg brothers, cycle "The Seasons". 1410-1411 | Vegetable trade. Hood. Joachim Beuckelaer (1533-74) |
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| Dance among the eggs, 1552. thin. Aertsen Pieter | The interior of the kitchen from the parable of the feast, 1605. Hood. Joachim Wtewael |
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| Fruit merchant 1580. Art. Vincenzo Campi Vincenzo Campi (1536–1591) | Fishwife. Hood. Vincenzo Campi Vincenzo Campi (1536–1591) |
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| Kitchen. Hood. Vincenzo Campi Vincenzo Campi (1536–1591) | Game shop, 1618-1621. Hood. Franz Snyders Franz Snyders (with Jan Wildens) |
The bread of the poor differed from the bread of the rich. The first was predominantly rye and of low quality. Wheat bread made from sifted flour was common on the table of the rich. Obviously, the peasants, even if they grew wheat, hardly knew the taste of wheat bread. Their lot was rye bread made from poorly ground flour. Often, bread was replaced with cakes made from flour of other cereals, and even from chestnuts, which played the role of a very important food resource in Southern Europe (before the appearance of potatoes). In famine years, the poor added acorns and roots to bread.
Next in frequency of consumption after bread and grape juice (or wine) were salads and vinaigrettes. Although their components were different than in our time. Of the vegetables, the main plant was the turnip. It has been used since the 6th century. in raw, boiled and mushy form. Turnip necessarily included in the daily menu. Behind the turnip came the radish. In northern Europe, turnips and cabbages were added to almost every dish. In the East - horseradish, in the South - lentils, peas, beans of various varieties. They even baked bread from peas. Stews were usually prepared with peas or beans.
The assortment of medieval garden crops differed from the modern one. In the course were asparagus, budyak, kupena, which were added to the salad; quinoa, potashnik, curly, - mixed in vinaigrette; sorrel, nettle, hogweed - added to the soup. Raw chewed bearberry, knotweed, mint and bison.
Carrots and beets entered the diet only in the 16th century.
The most common fruit crops in the Middle Ages were apple and gooseberries. In fact, until the end of the fifteenth century. the assortment of vegetables and fruits grown in the vegetable gardens and orchards of Europeans did not change significantly compared to the Roman era. But, thanks to the Arabs, the Europeans of the Middle Ages got acquainted with citrus fruits: oranges and lemons. From Egypt came almonds, from the East (after the Crusades) - apricots.
In addition to bread, they ate a lot of cereals. In the North - barley, in the East - rye grout, in the South - semolina. Buckwheat was hardly sown in the Middle Ages. Millet and spelt were very common crops. Millet is the oldest cereal in Europe; millet cakes and millet porridge were made from it. From the unpretentious spelled, which grew almost everywhere and was not afraid of the vagaries of the weather, they made noodles. Corn, potatoes, tomatoes, sunflowers and many other things known today, medieval people did not yet know.
The diet of ordinary townspeople and peasants differed from the modern one by insufficient protein content. About 60% of the diet (if not more in certain low-income groups of the population) was occupied by carbohydrates: bread, flat cakes, various cereals. Insufficient nutritional value of food was compensated by quantity. People only ate when their stomachs were full. And the feeling of satiety, as a rule, was associated with heaviness in the stomach. Meat was consumed relatively rarely, mainly during the holidays. True, the table of noble seigneurs, clergy and urban aristocracy was very plentiful and varied.
There have always been differences in the nutrition of the "tops" and "bottoms" of society. The former were not infringed upon in meat dishes, primarily due to the prevalence of hunting, since in the forests of the medieval West at that time there was still quite a lot of game. There were bears, wolverines, deer, wild boars, roe deer, aurochs, bison, hares; birds - black grouse, partridges, capercaillie, bustards, wild geese, ducks, etc. According to archaeologists, medieval people ate the meat of birds such as cranes, eagles, magpies, rooks, herons, bitterns. Small birds from the order of passerines were considered a delicacy. Chopped starlings and tits diluted vegetable salads. Fried kinglets and shrikes were served cold. Orioles and flycatchers were baked, wagtails were stewed. Swallows and larks were stuffed into pies. The more beautiful the bird was, the more refined the dish was considered from it. For example, nightingale tongue pate was prepared only on major holidays by royal or ducal cooks. At the same time, significantly more animals were exterminated than they could be eaten or stored for future use, and, as a rule, most of the meat of wild animals simply disappeared due to the inability to save it. Therefore, by the end of the Middle Ages, hunting could no longer be relied upon as a sure means of subsistence. Secondly, the table of a noble person could always be replenished at the expense of the city market (the market in Paris was especially famous for its abundance), where you could buy a wide variety of products - from game to fine wines and fruits. In addition to game, the meat of poultry and animals was consumed - pork (a part of the forest was usually fenced off for fattening pigs and wild boars were driven there), lamb, goat meat; goose and chicken meat. The balance of meat and vegetable food depended not only on the geographical, economic and social, but also on the religious conditions of society. As you know, in total, about half of the year (166 days) in the Middle Ages were fast days associated with the four main and weekly (Wednesday, Friday, Saturday) fasts. These days, with more or less severity, it was forbidden to eat meat and meat and dairy products. Exceptions were made only for seriously ill patients, women in childbirth, Jews. In the Mediterranean region, meat was consumed less than in Northern Europe. It was probably the hot climate of the Mediterranean. But not only him. Due to the traditional lack of fodder, grazing, etc. there were fewer livestock. The highest consumption in Europe during the late Middle Ages was the consumption of meat in Hungary: an average of about 80 kg per year. In Italy, in Florence, for example, about 50 kg. In Siena 30 kg in the 15th century. People in Central and Eastern Europe ate more beef and pork. In England, Spain, Southern France and Italy - lamb. Pigeons were bred especially for food. The townspeople ate more meat than the peasants. Of all the types of food consumed then, it was mainly pork that was easily digested, the rest of the products often contributed to indigestion. Probably for this reason, the type of a fat, puffy person, outwardly rather portly, but in reality simply malnourished and suffering from unhealthy corpulence, became widespread.
Noticeably supplemented and diversified the table of a medieval person (especially on the days of numerous long fasts) fish - fresh (raw or half-cooked fish was eaten mainly in winter, when there was not enough greens and vitamins), but especially smoked, dried, dried or salted (they ate such fish on the road, just like cakes). For the inhabitants of the sea coast, fish and seafood were almost the main food. The Baltic and the North Sea fed herring, the Atlantic - cod and mackerel, the Mediterranean - tuna and sardines. Away from the sea, the waters of large and small rivers and lakes served as a source of rich fish resources. Fish, to a lesser extent than meat, was the privilege of the rich. But if the food of the poor was cheap local fish, then the rich could afford to feast on "noble" fish brought from afar.
The mass salting of fish for a long time was hindered by the lack of salt, which was a very expensive product in those days. Rock salt was rarely mined, more often salt-containing sources were used: salt water was evaporated in salt pans, and then the salt was pressed into cakes, which were sold at a high price. Sometimes these lumps of salt - of course, this applies primarily to the early Middle Ages - played the role of money. But even later, the housewives took care of every pinch of salt, so it was not easy to salt a lot of fish. The lack of salt was partly compensated by the use of spices - cloves, pepper, cinnamon, laurel, nutmeg, and many others. etc. Pepper and cinnamon were brought from the East, and they were very expensive, since ordinary people could not afford them. The common people more often ate mustard, dill, cumin, onion, and garlic that grew everywhere. The widespread use of spices can be explained not only by the gastronomic tastes of the era, but it was also prestigious. In addition, spices were used to diversify dishes and, if possible, hide the bad smell of meat, fish, poultry, which were difficult to keep fresh in the Middle Ages. And, finally, the abundance of spices, put in sauces and gravies, compensated for the poor processing of products and the roughness of the dishes. At the same time, spices very often changed the initial taste of food and caused a strong burning sensation in the stomach.
In the XI-XIII centuries. medieval man rarely ate dairy products and consumed little fat. The main source of vegetable fat for a long time was flax and hemp (olive oil was common in Greece and the Middle East, it was practically unknown north of the Alps); animal is a pig. It has been noticed that in the south of Europe fats of vegetable origin were more common, in the north - animal fats. Vegetable oil was also made from pistachios, almonds, walnuts and pine nuts, chestnuts and mustard.
From milk, the inhabitants of the mountains (especially in Switzerland) made cheese, the inhabitants of the plains - cottage cheese. Sour milk was used to make curdled milk. Very rarely, milk was used to make sour cream and butter. Animal oil in general was an extraordinary luxury, and was constantly on the table only of kings, emperors, and the highest nobility. For a long time, Europe was limited in sweets, sugar appeared in Europe thanks to the Arabs and up to the 16th century. considered a luxury. It was obtained from sugar cane and was expensive and labor intensive to produce. Therefore, sugar was available only to the wealthy sections of society.
Of course, the provision of food largely depended on the natural, climatic and weather conditions of a particular area. Any whim of nature (drought, heavy rains, early frosts, storms, etc.) brought the peasant economy out of its usual rhythm and could lead to famine, the fear of which Europeans experienced throughout the Middle Ages. Therefore, it is no coincidence that during the Middle Ages many medieval authors constantly talk about the threat of famine. For example, an empty stomach became a recurring theme in the medieval novel about the fox Renard. In the conditions of the Middle Ages, when the threat of hunger always lay in wait for a person, the main advantage of food and the table was satiety and abundance. On a holiday, it was necessary to eat so that on hungry days there was something to remember. Therefore, for a wedding in the village, the family slaughtered the last cattle and cleaned the cellar to the ground. On weekdays, a piece of lard with bread was considered by an English commoner as “royal food”, and some Italian sharecropper limited himself to a loaf of bread with cheese and onions. In general, as F. Braudel points out, during the late Middle Ages, the average mass was limited to 2 thousand calories per day and only the upper strata of society “reached out” to the needs of a modern person (it is defined as 3.5 - 5 thousand calories). They ate in the Middle Ages usually twice a day. A funny saying has survived from those times that angels need food once a day, people twice, and animals three times. They ate at different hours than now. The peasants had breakfast no later than 6 o’clock in the morning (it is no coincidence that the breakfast in German was called “frushtyuk”, i.e. “early piece”, the French name for breakfast “degen” and Italian - “didjune” (early) are similar in meaning to it. ) In the morning they ate most of the daily diet in order to work better. Soup ripened during the day (“supe” in France, “sopper” (soup food) in England, “mittag” (noon) in Germany), and people had lunch. By evening, the work was over - there was no need to eat. As soon as it got dark, the common people of the village and city went to bed. Over time, the nobility imposed its food tradition on the whole society: breakfast approached noon, lunch wedged in the middle of the day, dinner shifted towards evening.
At the end of the 15th century, the first consequences of the Great geographical discoveries began to affect the food of Europeans. After the discovery of the New World, pumpkin, zucchini, Mexican cucumber, sweet potatoes (yam), beans, peppers, cocoa, coffee, as well as corn (maize), potatoes, tomatoes, sunflowers, which were brought by the Spaniards and the British from America, appeared in the diet of Europeans. at the beginning of the sixteenth century.
Of the drinks, grape wine traditionally occupied the first place - and not only because the Europeans were happy to indulge in the joys of Bacchus. The consumption of wine was forced by the poor quality of the water, which, as a rule, was not boiled and which, due to the fact that nothing was known about pathogenic microbes, caused stomach diseases. They drank a lot of wine, according to some researchers, up to 1.5 liters per day. Wine was given even to children. Wine was necessary not only for meals, but also for the preparation of medicines. Along with olive oil, it was considered a good solvent. Wine was also used for church needs, during the liturgy, and grape must satisfied the needs of a medieval person for sweets. But if the main part of the population resorted to local wine, often of poor quality, then the upper strata of society ordered fine wines from distant countries. Cypriot, Rhine, Moselle, Tokay wines, and malvasia enjoyed a high reputation in the late Middle Ages. At a later time - port wine, madeira, sherry, malaga. In the south, natural wines were preferred, in the north of Europe, in cooler climates, fortified ones. Over time, they became addicted to vodka and alcohol (they learned how to make alcohol in distillers around 1100, but for a long time the production of alcohol was in the hands of pharmacists, who considered alcohol as a medicine that gives a feeling of “warmth and confidence”), which for a long time belonged to medicines. At the end of the XV century. this "medicine" was to the taste of so many citizens that the Nuremberg authorities were forced to ban the sale of alcohol on holidays. In the fourteenth century Italian liquor appeared, in the same century they learned how to make alcohol from fermented grain.
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| Crush of grapes. Pergola training, 1385 Bologne, Niccolo-student, Forli. | Brewer at work. the housebook of the brother "s endowment of the family Mendel 1425. |
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| Party at the tavern, Flanders 1455 | Good and bad manners. Valerius Maximus, Facta et dicta memorabilia, Bruges 1475 |
The truly popular drink, especially north of the Alps, was beer, which did not refuse to know. The best beer was brewed from germinated barley (malt) with the addition of hops (by the way, the use of hops for brewing was precisely the discovery of the Middle Ages, the first reliable mention of it dates back to the 12th century; in general, barley beer (braga) was known in antiquity) and what some cereal. From the twelfth century Beer is mentioned all the time. Barley beer (ale) was especially popular in England, but hop-based brewing only arrived from the continent around 1400. Beer consumption was about the same as wine consumption, i.e. 1.5 liters daily. In northern France, beer competed with cider, which was especially widely used from the end of the 15th century. and enjoyed success mainly with the common people.
From the second half of the sixteenth century chocolate appeared in Europe; in the first half of the seventeenth century. - coffee and tea, incl. they cannot be considered "medieval" drinks.
General rule. The dishes served on the tables of gentlemen: aristocrats, landowners, people convicted of power, both spiritual and secular, were very different from what ordinary people who worked on their lands and depended on ate.
However, when in the XIII century, the boundaries between the classes began to blur, the powers that be took care of how to keep the workers, and decided to play on the love of the "hearth", allowing the peasants to feast on food from their table.
Bread
In the Middle Ages, white bread, which is made from wheat flour of the highest grinding, was intended exclusively for the master's and prince's tables. The peasants ate black, primarily rye bread.
In the Middle Ages, this often fatal disease grew to epidemic proportions, especially in lean and famine years. After all, it was then that everything that more or less fell under the definition of cereal was collected from the fields, often ahead of schedule, that is, just at the very time when ergot is most poisonous. Ergot poisoning affected the nervous system and in most cases was fatal.
It wasn't until the early Baroque era that a Dutch physician discovered a relationship between ergot and "Saint Anthony's fire." Chlorine was used as a remedy for the spread of the disease, although despite it, or even thanks to it, the epidemic raged even more.
But the use of chlorine was not universal and was rather determined by the type of bread: some cunning bakers bleached their rye and oat bread with chlorine, and then sold it at a profit, passing it off as white (chalk and crushed bone were willingly used for the same purposes).
And since, in addition to these very unhealthy bleaching agents, dried flies were often baked into bread as "raisins", the extremely cruel punishments that were punished by fraudulent bakers appear in a new light.
Those who wanted to make easy money on bread often had to break the law. And almost everywhere it was punishable by significant monetary fines.
In Switzerland, fraudulent bakers were hanged in cages over a dung-pit. Accordingly, those who wanted to get out of it had to jump right into the fetid mess.
To stop bullying, to prevent the spread of notoriety about their profession, and also in order to control themselves, bakers united in the first industrial association - the guild. Thanks to her, that is, due to the fact that representatives of this profession cared about their membership in the guild, real masters of baking appeared.
Pasta
There are many legends about cuisine and recipes. The most beautiful of them has been described Marco Polo, who in 1295 brought from his trip to Asia a recipe for making dumplings and “threads” from dough.
It is assumed that this story was heard by a Venetian cook who began to tirelessly mix water, flour, eggs, sunflower oil and salt, and did this until he achieved the best consistency for noodle dough. It is not known whether this is true or whether noodles came to Europe from the Arab countries thanks to the crusaders and merchants. But the fact that European cuisine soon became unthinkable without noodles is a fact.
However, in the 15th century, there were still bans on the preparation of pasta, since in the event of a particularly unsuccessful harvest, flour was needed for baking bread. But since the Renaissance, the triumphal march of pasta across Europe has been unstoppable.
Porridge and thick soup
Until the era of the Roman Empire, porridge was present in the diet of all strata of society, and only then turned into food for the poor. However, it was very popular with them, they ate it three or even four times a day, and in some houses they ate exclusively on it alone. This state of affairs continued until the 18th century, when potatoes replaced porridge.
It should be noted that the porridge of that time differs significantly from our current ideas about this product: medieval porridge cannot be called “porridge-like”, in the sense that we attach to this word today. It was… hard, hard enough to be cut.
In one Irish law of the 8th century, it is clearly spelled out which segments of the population, what kind of porridge should be eaten: “For the lower class, oatmeal cooked on buttermilk and old butter to it is quite enough; members of the middle class are supposed to eat porridge made from pearl barley and fresh milk, and put fresh butter in it; and royal offspring should be served honey-sweetened porridge made from wheat flour and fresh milk.”
Along with porridge, since ancient times, mankind has known a “one-course lunch”: a thick soup that replaces the first and second. It is in the cuisines of various cultures (Arabs and Chinese use a double pot for its preparation - meat and various vegetables are boiled in the lower compartment, and rice “reaches” steam on the rise from it) and just like porridge, it was food for the poor, until no expensive ingredients were used for its preparation.
There is also a practical explanation for the special love for this dish: in medieval cuisine (both princely and peasant), food was cooked in a cauldron suspended on rotating mechanisms over an open fire (later in a fireplace). And what could be easier than throwing all the ingredients that you can get into such a cauldron and making a rich soup out of them. At the same time, the taste of the brew is very easy to change by simply changing the ingredients.
Meat, fat, butter
Having read books about the life of aristocrats, impressed by the colorful descriptions of feasts, modern man firmly believed that representatives of this class ate exclusively game. In fact, game made up no more than five percent of their diet.
Pheasants, swans, wild ducks, capercaillie, deer... It sounds magical. But in fact, chickens, geese, sheep and goats were usually served at the table. Roast occupied a special place in medieval cuisine.
Talking or reading about meat cooked on a spit or a grill, we forget about the more than insignificant development of dentistry at that time. But how to chew hard meat with a toothless jaw?
Ingenuity came to the rescue: the meat was kneaded in a mortar to a mushy state, thickened by adding eggs and flour, and the resulting mass was fried on a spit in the form of an ox or a sheep.
The same was sometimes done with fish, a feature of this variation of the dish was that the “porridge” was pushed into the skin skillfully pulled off the fish, and then boiled or fried.
It seems strange to us now that fried meat in the Middle Ages was often also cooked in broth, and the cooked chicken, rolled in flour, was added to the soup. With such a double treatment, the meat lost not only its crispy crust, but also its taste.
As for the fat content of food and ways to make it fat, the aristocrats used sunflower oil, and later butter, for these purposes, and the peasants were content with lard.
canning
Drying, smoking and salting as methods of food preservation in the Middle Ages were already known.
They dried fruits: pears, apples, cherries, they also acted with vegetables. Air-dried or oven-dried, they kept for a long time and were often used in cooking: they were especially liked to be added to wine. Fruits were also used to make compote (fruits, ginger). However, the resulting liquid was not consumed immediately, but thickened and then cut: something like sweets was obtained.
Smoked meat, fish and sausage. This was due to the seasonality of livestock slaughter, which took place in October-November, since, firstly, in early November it was necessary to pay a tax in kind, and secondly, this made it possible not to spend money on animal feed in winter.
Sea fish imported for consumption during fasting was preferred to be salted. Salted also many varieties of vegetables, such as beans and peas. As for cabbage, it was fermented.
condiments
Spices were an integral part of medieval cuisine. Moreover, it makes no sense to distinguish between seasonings for the poor and seasonings for the rich, because only the rich could afford to have spices.
It was easier and cheaper to buy pepper. The import of pepper made very many rich, but also many, namely those who cheated and mixed dried berries into pepper, led to the gallows. Along with pepper, the favorite spices in the Middle Ages were cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg.
Saffron must be specially mentioned: it was even several times more expensive than the very expensive nutmeg (in the 20s of the 15th century, when nutmeg was sold for 48 kreuzers, saffron cost about one hundred and eighty, which corresponded to the price of a horse).
Most cookbooks of that period do not specify the proportions of spices, but based on books of a later period, one can conclude that these proportions did not correspond to our today's tastes, and dishes seasoned, as was done in the Middle Ages, might seem to us very sharp and even burn the palate.
Spices were not only used to show off wealth, they also masked the smell of meat and other foods. Meat and fish stocks in the Middle Ages were often salted so that they would not deteriorate for as long as possible and would not cause illness. And, consequently, spices were designed to drown out not only smells, but also taste - the taste of salt. Or sour.
Sour wine was sweetened with spices, honey and rose water so that it could be served to the gentlemen. Some modern authors, referring to the length of the journey from Asia to Europe, believe that spices lost their taste and smell during transportation, and essential oils were added to return them to them.
Greenery
Herbs were valued for their healing power, treatment without herbs was unthinkable. But in cooking, they occupied a special place. Southern herbs, namely marjoram, basil and thyme, which are familiar to modern man, did not exist in the Middle Ages in northern countries. But such herbs were used, which we will not remember today.
But we, as before, know and appreciate the magical properties of parsley, mint, dill, cumin, sage, lovage, fennel; nettle and calendula are still fighting for a place in the sun and in the pot.
Almond milk and marzipan
Almonds were always present in every medieval kitchen of the powerful. They especially liked to make almond milk from it (crushed almonds, wine, water), which was then used as the basis for preparing various dishes and sauces, and during fasting they were replaced with real milk.
Marzipan, also made from almonds (grated almonds with sugar syrup), was a luxury in the Middle Ages. This dish is considered a Greco-Roman invention.
The researchers conclude that the small almond cakes that the Romans sacrificed to their gods were the forerunners of the sweet almond dough (pane Martius (spring bread) - Marzipan).
honey and sugar
Food in the Middle Ages was sweetened exclusively with honey. Although cane sugar was known in southern Italy already in the 8th century, the rest of Europe learned the secret of its production only during the Crusades. But even then, sugar continued to be a luxury: at the beginning of the 15th century, six kilograms of sugar cost as much as a horse.
Only in 1747, Andreas Sigismund Markgraf discovered the secret of sugar production from sugar beets, but this did not particularly affect the state of affairs. Industrial and, accordingly, mass production of sugar began only in the 19th century, and only then did sugar become a product “for everyone”.
These facts allow us to take a fresh look at medieval feasts: only those who possessed excessive wealth could afford to arrange them, because most of the dishes consisted of sugar, and many of the dishes were intended only to be admired and admired, but in no way were used for food.
Feasts
We read with amazement about the carcasses of hazel dormouse, storks, eagles, bears and beaver tails, which were served at the table in those days. We think about how tough the meat of storks and beavers must taste, about how rare such animals as push dormouse and hazel dormouse are.
At the same time, we forget that numerous changes of dishes were intended, first of all, not to satisfy hunger, but to demonstrate wealth. Who could be left indifferent by the sight of such a dish as a peacock, “spewing” a flame?
And the fried bear paws flaunted on the table were definitely not to glorify the hunting abilities of the owner of the house, belonging to the highest circles of society and hardly earning his living by hunting.
Along with amazing hot dishes, sweet baked works of art were served at feasts; dishes made of sugar, gypsum, salt, human height and even more. All this was intended mainly for visual perception.
Especially for these purposes, holidays were arranged, at which the prince and princess publicly tasted dishes from meat, poultry, cakes, and pastries on a hill.
colorful food
Multi-colored dishes in the Middle Ages were extremely popular and at the same time easy to prepare.
Coats of arms, family colors and even whole pictures were depicted on pies and cakes; many sweet foods, such as almond milk jelly, were given a wide variety of colors (in the cookbooks of the Middle Ages you can find a recipe for making such a tricolor jelly). Meat, fish, chicken were also painted.
The most common colorants are: parsley or spinach (green); grated black bread or gingerbread, clove powder, black cherry juice (black), vegetable or berry juice, beets (red); saffron or egg yolk with flour (yellow); onion peel (brown).
They also liked to gild and silver dishes, but, of course, this could only be done by the cooks of the masters, who were able to put at their disposal the appropriate means. And although the addition of coloring substances changed the taste of the dish, they turned a blind eye to this in order to get a beautiful “picture”.
However, with colored food, sometimes funny and not so funny things happened. So, at one holiday in Florence, guests almost got poisoned by the colorful creation of an inventor-cook who used chlorine to get white and verdigris to get green.
Fast
Medieval cooks also showed their resourcefulness and skill during fasting: when preparing fish dishes, they seasoned them in a special way so that they tasted like
meat, invented pseudo-eggs and tried by all means to circumvent the strict rules of fasting.
The clergy and their cooks especially tried. So, for example, they expanded the concept of "aquatic animals", including the beaver (its tail passed under the category "fish scales"). After all, fasting then lasted a third of a year.
Four meals a day
The day began with the first breakfast, limited to a glass of wine. Approximately at 9 o'clock in the morning it was time for the second breakfast, which consisted of several courses.
It should be clarified that these are not modern “first, second and compote”. Each course consisted of a large number of dishes, which were brought to the table by the servants. This led to the fact that anyone who arranged a banquet - whether on the occasion of christenings, weddings or funerals - tried not to lose face and serve as many goodies to the table as possible, not paying attention to their abilities, and therefore often getting into debt.
To put an end to this state of affairs, numerous regulations were introduced that regulated the number of dishes and even the number of guests. For example, in 1279, the French king Philip III issued a decree stating that “not a single duke, count, baron, prelate, knight, cleric, etc. has no right to eat more than three modest meals (cheeses and vegetables, unlike cakes and pastries, were not taken into account). The modern tradition of serving one dish at a time came to Europe from Russia only in the 18th century.
At dinner, it was again allowed to drink only a glass of wine, biting it with a piece of bread soaked in wine. And only for dinner, which took place from 3 to 6 pm, an incredible amount of food was again served. Naturally, this is a "schedule" for the upper strata of society.
The peasants were busy with business and could not devote as much time to eating as the aristocrats (often they managed to have only one modest snack during the day), and their incomes did not allow them to do so.
Cutlery and crockery
Two eating utensils were hard to win recognition in the Middle Ages: a fork and a plate for individual use. Yes, there were wooden plates for the lower strata and silver or even gold ones for the higher strata, but they ate mainly from common dishes. Moreover, instead of a plate, stale bread was sometimes used for these purposes, which slowly absorbed and did not allow to stain the table.
The fork also "suffered" from the prejudices that existed in society: its shape earned it a reputation as a devilish creation, and its Byzantine origin - a suspicious attitude. Therefore, she was able to “break through” to the table only as a device for meat. Only in the Baroque era, disputes about the merits and demerits of the fork became fierce. On the contrary, everyone had their own knife, even women wore it on a belt.
Tables also featured spoons, salt shakers, rock-crystal glasses, and drinking vessels—often richly decorated, gilded, or even silver. However, the latter were not individual, even in rich houses they were shared with neighbors. Crockery and cutlery for ordinary people were made of wood and clay.
Many peasants in the house had only one spoon for the whole family, and if someone did not want to wait until it reached him in a circle, he could use a piece of bread instead of this cutlery.
Behavior at the table
Chicken legs and meatballs were thrown in all directions, dirty hands were wiped on a shirt and trousers, food was torn apart, and then swallowed without chewing. ... So, or approximately so, we, having read the records of cunning innkeepers or their adventurous visitors, imagine today the behavior of knights at the table.
In reality, everything was not so extravagant, although there were also curious moments that amazed us. In many satires, rules of conduct at the table, descriptions of the customs of eating, it is reflected that morality did not always take a place at the table along with its owner.
For example, the prohibition against blowing your nose on a tablecloth would not be so common if this bad habit were not very common.
How they cleared the table
There were no tables in their modern form (that is, when the tabletop is attached to the legs) in the Middle Ages. The table was built when there was a need for it: wooden stands were installed, and a wooden board was placed on them. Therefore, in the Middle Ages, they did not remove the table from the table - they removed the table ...
Cook: honor and respect
Powerful medieval Europe highly valued its cooks. In Germany, since 1291 the chef has been one of the four most important figures at court. In France, only noble people became cooks of the highest ranks.
The position of the chief winemaker of France was the third most important after the positions of chamberlain and chief equerry. Then followed the manager of bread baking, the chief cupbearer, the chef, the restaurant managers closest to the court, and only then the marshals and admirals.
As for the kitchen hierarchy - and there a huge number (up to 800 people) of interdependent workers were employed - the first place was given to the head of the meat. A position characterized by the honor and trust of the king, for no one was immune from poison. At his disposal were six people who every day chose and prepared meat for the royal family.
Teilevant, the famous chef of King Charles VI, had 150 people under his command.
And in England, for example, at the court of Richard the Second, there were 1,000 cooks, 300 lackeys, who daily served 10,000 people at the court. A dizzying figure, demonstrating that it was important not so much to feed as to demonstrate wealth.
Cookbooks of the Middle Ages
In the Middle Ages, along with spiritual literature, it was cookbooks that were most often and willingly copied. Between about 1345 and 1352, the earliest cookbook of this time, Buoch von guoter spise (The Book of Good Food), was written. The author is considered to be the notary of the Bishop of Würzburg, Michael de Leon, who, along with his duties to mark budget expenditures, was involved in the collection of prescriptions.
Fifty years later, the "Alemannische Buchlein von guter Speise" (Alemanian little book on good food) appears, by Master Hansen, a Württemberg cook. This was the first cookbook in the Middle Ages to have the name of the compiler on it. A collection of recipes by the meter Eberhard, the cook of Duke Heinrich III von Bayern-Landshut, appeared around 1495.
Pages from the Forme of Cury cookbook. It was created by the chef of King Richard II in 1390 and contains 205 recipes used at court. The book is written in medieval English, and some of the recipes described in this book have long been forgotten by society. For example, "blank mang" (a sweet dish of meat, milk, sugar and almonds).
Around 1350, the French cookbook "Le Grand Cuisinier de toute Cuisine" was created, and in 1381, the English "Ancient Cookery". 1390 - "The Forme of Cury", by the cook of King Richard II. As regards the Danish collections of recipes from the thirteenth century, it is worth mentioning Libellus de Arte Coquinaria by Henrik Harpenstreng. 1354 - Catalan "Libre de Sent Sovi" by an unknown author.
The most famous cookbook of the Middle Ages was created by the master Guillaume Tyrell, better known by his creative pseudonym Teylivent. He was the cook of King Charles the Sixth, and later even received the title. The book was written between 1373 and 1392, and was published only a century later and included, along with well-known dishes, very original recipes that a rare gourmet would dare to cook today.
Plan
Introduction
everyday food
food luxury
Beverages
Feast: utensils, serving, etiquette
Applications
Introduction
Interest in everyday life has appeared among professional historians relatively recently and is associated primarily with the revision of the very subject of history by the famous school of annals. Annalist historians turned to the life of a common man, tried to draw a picture of each of the historical eras through the practices of everyday life. The history of nutrition was also among their interests. The first fundamental work that dealt with this topic was the work of F. Braudel "Material Civilization: Economics and Capitalism". In the first volume of this work, the issue of changing the structure of nutrition was studied in detail; F. Braudel, in particular, introduced the now familiar term “food revolution” into scientific circulation. W. Sombart also made a certain contribution to the history of nutrition in Europe.
Today, the largest specialist in the field of food history is the Italian medievalist and cultural historian Massimo Montanari. His book Hunger and Plenty. How Europeans ate” turns out to be a book not so much about the culinary history of Europe (or about the eating habits of Europeans), but about European civilization as a whole - it’s just that the optics chosen for this are specific and not quite familiar.
The authors of studies on the daily history of individual cities or certain periods inevitably turn to the history of nutrition, devoting special essays to it.
This work is abstract in nature and is based on rich factual material collected by F. Braudel. When working on the topic, studies of domestic authors and historical sources in the form of memoirs and travel notes by the Russian writer Fonvizin were also involved. The work is illustrated with paintings by famous European artists of the 17th-18th centuries. - paintings by D. Velazquez, still lifes by P. Klas and G. Flegel.
The abstract gives an idea of the daily food of different strata of society, the features of the festive table, the development of culinary arts, the emergence of new drinks and exotic products, dishes, table setting rules and feast etiquette in Europe in the 17th - 18th centuries.
^ everyday food
The main grain product of the West is wheat. It belongs to those leading cultures that are called "plants of civilization". Of the grains in this series, in addition to wheat, there are rice and corn, respectively, dominating the Eurasian and American continents. These are not just agriculture, they have an impact on the life of entire peoples, determine the everyday life of peasants, the well-being of citizens. They concentrate the work, thoughts and concerns of the masses of people, and therefore they are in the center of the picture of the universe, affect the human psyche, form the mentality. Grain yields in the late Middle Ages and early modern times remain depressingly low, essentially medieval: five, and often less. In the XVIII century. an “agricultural revolution” will begin, which, however, will take more than a dozen years to significantly increase productivity.
To get a good harvest, wheat must be alternated with herbs used to feed livestock, or with other secondary crops: rye, barley, oats, spelt, pro-catfish. They make cheaper bread - the bread of the poor. It contains not only additives of other grains, but also a lot of bran. Thanks to less valuable grain, it is possible to avoid starvation during wars and sieges, to replenish the shortage of provisions in warehouses. Rice, which has become food for the poor, plays a supporting role in the West: “folk bread” is baked from rice flour, rice porridge is fed in hospitals, in the barracks, it is boiled in water and mixed with vegetables. Buckwheat ("black wheat"), beans, chestnuts, peas and lentils also served as food for the poor, replacing wheat. Oats and barley are the main food for horses, and military operations are impossible without them: “A bad barley harvest means there will be no war.” Oats and barley are at the same time food for people: flour for bread, grain for porridge. So, English oatmeal has become a kind of national dish of the English and Scots.
Ration is determined by many factors. Usually a village
eats more bread than the city, and Southern Europe more than Northern Europe.
Everything related to bread, grain harvest, is perceived
the population is extremely serious. The poorer the person, the more monotonous he eats. For the poor, daily food was bread, stews and cereals. Bread (with the exception of soft wheat) remained the cheapest and therefore most accessible food. Its price served as a measure of all other goods. With its increase, unrest, robberies of bakeries and markets occur, which were brutally suppressed.
In addition to the simple bread of the poor, there was expensive white, intended for the rich. It was made from selected wheat flour, sometimes with the addition of milk. Brewer's yeast, on which the dough was kneaded, made it possible to obtain soft bread, which was considered a real luxury. France was the leader in its production. Here, the transition to predominantly white bread began early (second half of the 18th century), and therefore wheat is gradually replacing other grain crops.
The second pillar on which the European table rested was meat. Europe has always been carnivorous, but it was usually consumed by the privileged classes. But if until the XVI century. meat was consumed in huge quantities, then in the second half of the XVI century. everything changes. Meat consumption is decreasing because the population is growing. This process is uneven, but there are retreats and backward movement. The East of Europe is practically not affected by it. It is less developed, has a large number of pastures and therefore has a large number of livestock. The meat ration has not decreased in England either, but England is an exception. For other Western countries, the decline in its consumption was very significant; thus, in Germany and France, it constituted an example - but a fivefold value: from 100 kg per person per year at the end of the Middle Ages to 20 kg by the beginning of the 19th century.
As the meat diet decreases, fresh meat becomes a luxury that not everyone can afford. After the "salted beef revolution" (Sombart's term), salted meat spreads in the lower strata. Corned beef is relatively cheap, and therefore the European poor feed on it. Salt, essential and indispensable, was sacred food.
Everyday food in Europe was also fish and seafood. They served as an important support, and sometimes the main food for the inhabitants of sea and river coastal regions. One of the main fisheries was fishing for herring in the North Atlantic and cod near Newfoundland. It was smoked, dried, salted, and in this form it became the usual food of the poor, "the food that is left for laborers."
Fish was all the more important there because the prescriptions of religion multiplied the number of days of fasting (166 days a year, including Great Lent, which was observed extremely strictly until the reign of Louis XIV). During these forty days it was possible to sell meat, eggs and poultry only to the sick, moreover, subject to the presentation of a double certificate, from a doctor and a priest. To facilitate control, the sale of forbidden food in Paris was allowed only to one "Lenten butcher". Where did the huge need for fish come from - fresh, smoked or salted.
As they moved away from the sea coasts towards the inland regions of Central or Eastern Europe, it was more and more necessary to resort to river fish. There was not a single large or small river on which there were no fishermen who had a fishing license, they were even on the Seine in Paris.
A whole range of seafood for centuries was intended only for the privileged table, namely: squid, Russian caviar, oysters, shrimps, lobsters.
The European diet has long included eggs, milk and dairy products: butter, cheeses. Eggs are a common food item for rich and poor alike. On the contrary, butter was consumed only by the wealthy. It will spread in Northern Europe, as olive oil was preferred in the south. However, the widespread consumption of oil will begin later - in the 18th century. They will be especially fond of it in France: it is believed that French sauces, which largely determine the originality of national cuisine, are almost always prepared with butter. Cheese is also very popular. Hard Dutch cheese, which is exported to many countries, is best known (since the 18th century, Dutch cheeses, F. Braudel notes, "flooded the markets of Europe and the whole world"). The cheeses of the south of Europe are soft; sheep's cheese is widespread there.
Changes in the consumption of bread, meat and other foods, accumulating, cause dramatic changes. The latter were called "food revolutions", and this is no coincidence. They are essentially revolutionary, as they form a new type of food that replaces the medieval one. A particularly important role is played by the spread of new products that entered the European diet after the discovery of America. Between the Old and New Worlds, the migration of animals and plants, including food, begins. Rice, wheat, sugar cane, coffee tree, etc. are sent from Europe to America. Many of them acclimatize well in a new place and conquer in the XVIII - XX centuries. entire regions. Potatoes, corn, tomatoes, beans, tobacco, cocoa, sunflowers arrived from America. All of these traveler plants meet at first with a surly reception from the natives. The population of different countries demonstrates an enviable unanimity: conservatism in food traditions, tastes and preferences is equally inherent in different peoples of Europe and Asia.
Corn is one of the "plants of civilization", the main grain crop of the American continent. She, like beans, began to be cultivated in Europe in the 16th century. Corn, despite its high yield, spreads extremely slowly, and only after 200 years will it finally win: it will take its place in the fields, will be recognized as one of the main food crops. It gradually becomes the daily food of ordinary people, and also goes to feed cattle. The peasants, feeding on corn, sell wheat, which will turn, largely due to such a replacement, into an object of large trade.
The ways of spreading potatoes were complex and confusing. The Spaniards met him in Peru in the first half of the 16th century. Then he began his unhurried march through the countries of Europe. The "epic" of potatoes is replete with adventures: it was bred in the gardens of the nobility for the sake of flowers to decorate ladies' hairstyles and dresses, "tops" - stems and leaves, etc. were cooked for food. It should be borne in mind that for a long time potatoes were offered to peasants as a product from which bread could be baked, - so Parmentier assured in his treatise, this was taught by many manuals and brochures of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It, like corn, took at least two centuries to become a staple food. In almost all countries, it was introduced "from above", under direct pressure from the authorities, with the resistance of the farmers themselves. The people did not want to eat potatoes, preferring to leave the service of those masters who imposed this food on them. However, the potato had a number of advantages. Firstly, its productivity: a potato field could feed twice as many people as a grain field. Secondly, the “safety” of growth: in conditions of constant wars, potatoes become an extremely profitable product, since they are reliably covered by the earth and therefore practically invulnerable.
Both new products and old ones, long known to Europe (but they are used in a new way, their ratio in the diet changes) are involved in the formation of the type of nutrition. In particular, the importance of vegetables and fruits is growing: many vegetable crops in the 18th century. migrated from peasant gardens to fields, and therefore their cultivation gained mass proportions, they became cheaper and more accessible, diversified the table: peas, spinach, artichokes, cauliflower, asparagus, lettuce, tomatoes. The traditional set of fruits and berries is replenished with new, unusual for a European - bananas, pineapples, etc. These cultures traveled from one European country to another: for example, Charles VIII brought melon from his Italian campaigns. Some of them are beginning to be delivered more or less regularly to Europe, others are being cultivated in the Mediterranean south (for example, citrus fruits).
Bananas appeared in England for the first time in the first half of the 17th century, oranges were considered a delicacy there, which were brought around Christmas, they were tried to be kept in a edible form until April-May (!).
Gradually conquers Europe and the New World sugar. It is supplied in increasing volumes to Europe. Having turned from a drug into a food product, sugar will continue to be in increasing demand: for new drinks (tea, coffee, chocolate), sweets, including sweets, jams. It was also made in the shape of a sugar loaf (a large cone), it was a luxury, and therefore, for example, a wealthy peasant family placed the sugar loaf in a conspicuous place. To drink sweet tea, a glass of boiling water was brought to her. Sugar beet has been known since the 16th century, but it took almost a century for the production of sugar from it to become commercial. Despite all the successes, he at the end of the XVIII century. was still not distributed throughout Europe, although the capitals actively consumed it. (Thus, the shortage of sugar even caused unrest in revolutionary Paris.)
The food of different strata of society is different: the food of commoners is simpler and cheaper than the food of nobles. The peasant often sold more than the “surplus”, and most importantly, he did not eat the best part of his products: he ate millet or corn and sold wheat; once a week he ate corned beef, and brought his poultry, eggs, kids, calves, and lambs to the market.
“Both the nobility and the common people have only one meal a day - at half a day; in the evening they do not eat anything hot, ”wrote in 1633 a German traveler who traveled through Spain. For the rich people of Spain, this single meal consisted of one or two meat courses (or fish and eggs during fasting). The less affluent were content with a piece of goat meat or lamb, while the poor people's meal consisted of several types of vegetables (Spanish artichokes, beans), cheese, onions and olives.
Russian travelers note the total poverty of the everyday table of ordinary Europeans, especially Italians: “ I don’t understand why Venetian rule is praised, when people suffer hunger in the most fertile land. We have not only never eaten in our lives, we have not even seen such vile bread as we ate in Verona and as all the noblest people eat here. The reason for this is the greed of the rulers. It is forbidden to bake bread in houses, and the bakers pay the police for permission to mix tolerable flour with bad flour, not to mention the fact that they don’t know how to bake bread, ”Fonvizin writes in his diary. “Italian way of life, that is, a lot of disgusting. The floors are stone and dirty; dirty linen; bread, which among us the poor do not eat; their pure water is what we have slop. In a word, we, seeing this threshold of Italy, were timid, ”he continues.
In Holland, before the improvement of the diet at the end of the 18th century. the food remained poorly balanced: beans, a little corned beef, bread (rye or barley), fish, a little lard and, if necessary, game ... But game is usually used either by a peasant or a seigneur. The poor of the cities hardly know her: “For her there is turnip, fried onions and dry bread, if not moldy”, or sticky barley bread and “weak beer” (“petite biere”) (“double” goes to the rich or drunkards). The Dutch citizen lived modestly. Of course, the national dish "hutsepot" consisted of meat, beef or lamb, but finely chopped and always used sparingly. The evening meal often consisted of a tyur of leftover bread soaked in milk.
^ Food luxury
Some dishes become truly precious, and the price for them reaches astronomical sums. So, turtle soup cost at the end of the XVIII century. about a thousand ecu. Fresh fish, young oysters, hazel grouse, oatmeal were considered fashionable; fruits from greenhouses - strawberries, peaches, pineapples; citrus fruits - you can give examples endlessly. “Now at dinner, a wide variety of dishes are required everywhere - different entrees and entrées, and not even a quarter of what is served to the table is eaten. All these expensive foods are eaten by the servants. The footman eats much better than any petty bourgeois. This one does not even dare to approach fresh fish; he inhales her fragrance and confines himself to this. The remnants of princely and royal meals were sold in the markets and sold out briskly (for example, in the Versailles retail leftovers market).
When the chief admiral of England arrived in Spain in 1605, the feast that was arranged in honor of his arrival consisted of 1200 dishes of meat and fish, not counting desserts, so that even the onlookers who came running managed to feast on plenty.
An idea of what the rich meals of the nobility consisted of can be formed on the basis of the “food ration” issued by the royal warehouses to the Duke of Mayenne, who arrived in 1612 with a large retinue to ask for the hand of the Infanta Anna of Austria for King Louis XIII: every fast day - 8 ducks, 26 capons, 70 hens, 100 pairs of pigeons, 450 quails, 100 hares, 24 rams, two quarters of beef, 12 beef tongues, 12 hams and 3 pigs, in addition, 30 arrob ( 300-400 liters) of wine; for each fast day - the equivalent number of eggs and fish.
You can also remember the description ceremonial dinner of the French king Louis XVI (XVIII century): “Upon returning to the palace ... a ceremonial dinner. It is served in one of the front rooms... for a small and, as required by etiquette, a square table, lined with silver, the king and queen sit opposite each other...”. The lunch menu consists of fifty different dishes - there are four soups, and two very solid main dishes: beef with cabbage and the back of veal on a skewer ... Then another sixteen dishes are served: there are turkey giblets in broth, and sweet meat in papilots (i.e. cooked wrapped in oiled paper), and a suckling pig on a spit, and lamb cutlets, and a veal head with spicy sauce ... Then there are four types of appetizers ... pieces of veal, fillet of a young rabbit, cold turkeys, veal hamstrings; they are followed by six hot, two solid salads and sixteen light ones - from vegetables, eggs and dairy products; and finally, for dessert - marvelous fruits: grapes, pomegranates, pears, an unusual variety of cherries, etc., etc. Four hundred chestnuts and forty-eight muffins complete the meal.
Vienna was a truly gourmet city. The inhabitants of Vienna loved good cuisine, and especially the light dishes served after the roast, before dessert, as well as the confectionery that glorified Vienna throughout the world. Along with local dishes based on sugar, flour and cream, huge quantities of which were constantly consumed both in countless cafes and in private homes, traditional dishes from all provinces of the empire were always willingly prepared here. Thus, Austrian gastronomy became a kind of synthesis of Slavic, Hungarian, Italian, German and Czech cuisines to the greatest delight of food lovers.
Expensive and rare food is a symbol of social status. It attracts precisely because of its inaccessibility. If many people get the opportunity to feed on it, it immediately loses all its hypnotic appeal. So, in particular, it happened with pepper and spices. The spices of the Levant served as the main article of trade with the East, personified the wealth of the medieval world. Europeans dreamed about them for several centuries, sent expeditions for them, which laid the foundation for colonial conquests in India and America. In modern times, the dream of the Middle Ages came true: Europeans found protected places where pepper and cloves grew. The Portuguese, and then the Dutch, are increasingly increasing the volume of deliveries of expensive products, using the power of their fleet. An abundance of spices leads to excesses in consumption. They are put in meat, fish, soups, consumed in the form of sweets and as medicines.
However, in the middle of the XVII century. there comes a break: pepper and spices go out of fashion. They are going out of fashion, as large-scale supplies have reduced their price, made them available, and they have ceased to be a prestigious product. The consumption of spices is moving to the north and east of Europe: to Germany, Russia, Poland. Rare overseas and therefore extremely fashionable products are becoming a new sign of luxury and wealth: tea, coffee, chocolate, tobacco, alcohol. In the 17th century Europe embraces a new passion for fragrances. They are given by amber, iris, musk, marjoram, rosepach and orange water. Everything is fragrant - meat and fish, all kinds of sweets. Eggs could even be poured with aromatic water. In cooking, as well as in clothing, fashion reigns. Paris claims to be its legislator, approving certain soups, sauces, decoctions and gravies on the menu. In 1756, mayonnaise sauce was invented. Cookbooks appeared, such as Menon's Cuisiniere bourgeoise, published in 1746, a precious book that went through, rightly or wrongly, more editions than Pascal's Letters to a Provincial.
Beverages
Wine in the 17th century you can drink only young, it quickly sours, turning into vinegar. That is why the wines of 4-6 years ago are, as a rule, spoiled. A new technology for processing and storing wines is slowly being introduced: they are being filtered, poured into thick glass bottles, and cork plugs are being used. Now it is the old wine that is of high quality. By the middle of the XVIII century. the glory of the wines of certain vineyards is affirmed, the taste differences of various varieties are identified and fixed. Differentiation leads to the fact that certain varieties become especially expensive, and their use symbolizes luxury and gourmetism, such as champagne.
The rapid spread of alcoholic beverages begins. Strong alcoholic drinks cease to be a medicine, and their production acquires a commercial character. The Dutch become the leader and initiator of distillation and its popularization. In general, the northern countries (behind the line of commercial viticulture) were ahead of the Mediterranean in this respect. Strong drinks can be obtained from almost any plant material: grapes, grains, fruits. Grape wine is distilled in the hinterland, cognacs and armagnacs appear in France. The tastes of that time require strong, thick wines, for which special Muscat grape varieties are grown. Malaga, Madeira, Marsa-la, Spanish sherry, Portuguese port wine are very popular, and their production becomes an export industry. The sugar of the Antilles created rum, the favorite drink of the British and Dutch. From Italy came the fashion for flavored sweet alcoholic drinks - liqueurs or ratafia. In the north of Europe, cereals became competitors to wine spirits: bread vodka, whiskey, gin. Vodka in Central and Northern Europe is also obtained from fruit raw materials: pears, apples, cherries, plums. Different countries prefer different drinks: in England, in addition to American rum, they drink whiskey, gin, in Holland - all kinds of grape and grain vodkas, in France, in Italy, Spain - their own wines, in Germany - both Rhine wines and vodkas. Farther to the east (beyond the Elbe) begins the kingdom of grain alcohol, since wine here is only imported and is expensive.
Beer is another widely used drink. Its production in modern times acquires a commercial scale. Brewing flourishes in the northern countries - in England, the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic. Unlike past centuries, beer is brewed with hops.
In the "food revolutions" an important place is occupied by drinks borrowed from distant countries - tea, coffee, chocolate. All of them are tonic in nature. Contemporaries treated chocolate in two ways: as a drink and as a medicine. The only place in Europe where he scored a complete victory was Spain itself: the favorite drink in Madrid is thick chocolate with cinnamon. In other countries, it remained the privilege of an elected society: "the great ones drink it sometimes, the elders - often, the people - never." Maria Theresa secretly follows her Spanish habit of drinking chocolate (second half of the 17th century). Under the regent, he was guaranteed success: "come to the chocolate" meant to be present when the prince got up. Gradually develops the habit of mixing it with milk
In Europe, tea took root practically only in three countries: in Russia, England and Holland. It first appeared in Western Europe allegedly in 1610 (it was brought by the Dutch), and in England in the middle of the 17th century. Tea consumption will increase sharply, and therefore its supplies will reach colossal proportions (whole tea fleets are being organized). England in its predilection will overtake Holland: at the end of the 18th century. even the poorest English will consume about 5-6 pounds of tea a year. The state will impose a large excise tax on it, which will cause a negative reaction and resistance from the population, including smuggling and protests (Boston Tea Party).
Tea could not take root in the south of Europe, where the vine dominated for centuries. Conversely, wine failed to conquer the Far East. The two "plants of civilization" turned out to be incompatible. For tea, which has become the national drink of the British, it was necessary to create a certain ritual. Initially, it was drunk without sugar and milk, from small cups without handles. Later, sugar, milk (a European solution) will be added to tea, a tradition will arise to drink tea at five o'clock in the evening.
In the second half of the XVII century. coffee will settle in Europe: peddling will appear in France; shops will open where hot coffee is served - coffee shops or cafes. In the XVIII century. the custom of drinking coffee spread in France, Germany, Italy, Portugal. “There is not a single bourgeois house where coffee is not offered to you. There is not a single saleswoman, cook, maid who would not drink coffee with milk at breakfast, ”a contemporary commented on this custom. The habit of drinking coffee with milk has become so widespread among the people that this drink has become a constant breakfast of all artisans and workers: "they drink it in myriad quantities."
The popularity of the new drink was facilitated by the relatively low prices for coffee grown on the tropical islands - Martinique, Jamaica, Guadeloupe, San Domingo. True, often the drink of the poor was just bad milk, tinted with coffee grounds. From Fonvizin's diary: “I asked for coffee, which was immediately served to me. I have never seen such vile wash - direct emetic. Upon returning home, we regaled the company with tea, which the Germans drank like nectar.
In 1798, lemonade (that is, a carbonated soft drink) appeared. Then in France and England they began to sell water saturated with carbon dioxide. It was considered an inexpensive imitation of healing mineral waters, with the soda being sold in pharmacies rather than regular stores. Chemists provided further expansion: in 1784, citric acid was first isolated (from lemon juice).
^ Feast: utensils, serving, etiquette
The device for each participant in the meal is a rather late invention of Western civilization. The spoon is an old friend, but they only ate liquid stews with it, and the use of a personal spoon spread in the 16th century. together with the use of napkins (before that, hands were washed or wiped on the tablecloth). Solid food is still eaten with hands: in the 17th century. according to the rules of good manners, it was supposed to take food not with the whole hand, but only with three fingers. Aristocrats could wear gloves for dinner, and then their hands remained clean. Louis XIV, for example, was a great master at eating with his fingers, which delighted his courtiers. The companions had their own knives and wore them behind their belts, as well as personal goblets. The origin of the table knife is quite amusing. It was spiky, and diners often used it as a toothpick. Cardinal Richelieu banned this outrage, and since then table knives have a rounded end.
The fork has its own history. It is considered eccentricity, a sign of eccentricity, even perversion (in this spirit it is perceived during the reign of the French king Henry III). The church stigmatizes innovation and forbids it in monasteries until the 18th century. In the XVI century. they eat with a fork in Italy, and from here it begins to spread throughout Europe, however, rather slowly. At the French court, she appeared on the table, graciously admitted by the "sun king", only at the end of his reign.
Plates were distributed in the 16th-17th centuries, the earliest, of course, among the nobility. For a long time, ordinary people are content with medieval “dishes” - a slice of bread on which a piece of meat was placed, or a wooden mug. It is believed that the inventor of deep plates (at least in France) was Cardinal Mazarin, it was thanks to him that a bowl of soup from the middle of the 17th century. becomes individual.
In 1695 in France, ceramic porcelain was invented, which, however, was not widespread because it was soft (without kaolin) and brittle. In Bohemia, glass manufactories developed, producing especially durable glass, close to crystal. At the end of the 17th century, the British discovered that glass acquires a special luster when lead is added to it.
The 18th century brought a decisive invention: the "new" discovery of porcelain. Starting from the 30s of the 18th century, the manufactories began to produce large porcelain services made in the same style. For the first time, it became possible to set the table with the same dishes.
With the spread of tea, coffee and chocolate, special dishes for them appeared. Since 1730, cups of various shapes have become widespread. Their development proceeded on the basis of the Chinese "top" bowl. Already as a European decorative element, handles were added to them, as well as saucers.
How to set the table, say, for "a company of thirty persons of high position, whom you wish to treat luxuriously"? The answer is given in Nicolas de Bonnefont's cookbook, which bears the unexpected title "The Delights of the Country" ("Les Delices de la campagne") and was published in 1654. Answer: place fourteen appliances on one side, fourteen on the other; and, as the table is rectangular, place one person "at the upper end" and "one or two at the lower end." The invitees will be "a chair-width apart". It is required "that the tablecloth hang down to the floor on all sides and that in the middle of the table there are several salt shakers with teeth and coasters, so that large portable dishes can be placed." The meal will consist of eight courses, and the last, eighth, will consist, for example, of “liquid or dry” jams, “glazes” on plates, nutmegs, Verdun dragees, sugar “impregnated with musk and amber” ... The head waiter at the sword will give orders to change plates "at least at every change, and napkins every two".
But this careful description, which even specifies how the dishes on the table will be “changed” at each change, does not say anything about how to place the “appliance” for each companion. In that era, the latter certainly included a plate, spoon and knife, one can speak less confidently about an individual fork, and definitely no glass or bottle was placed in front of the participant in the meal. The rules of decency remain obscure, as the author recommended, as a form of graceful manners, having a deep bowl for soup so that the companions could pour it for themselves at once "and not take spoon after spoon from the tureen because of the disgust they may feel for each other" .
However, back in 1624, the Austrian decree on the Landgraviate of Alsace specified, for the information of young officers, the rules that had to be observed when they were invited to the Archduke's table: to be cleanly dressed, not to come half-drunk, not to drink after each bite, but before drinking wipe your mouth and mustache clean, don't lick your fingers, don't spit on your plate, don't blow your nose on the tablecloth, don't drink too much like a beast...
From Fonvizin’s diary: “Dinner linen throughout France is so vile that the nobles have a festive incomparably worse than what is served in our poor houses on weekdays. It is so thick and so badly washed that it is disgusting to wipe your mouth. I could not help expressing my surprise at seeing such bad linen at such a good table. To this, in apology, they say to me: “So they don’t eat it” - and that for this there is no need to be good linen. Think what a stupid conclusion: for the fact that napkins are not eaten, there is supposedly no need for them to be white.
In addition to the thickness of the napkins, the holes on them are sewn up with blue threads! There is not enough intelligence to sew them up with white.
<...>I will now return to the description of the tables. As soon as they say that the food is on the table, then every man will take the lady by the hand and lead her to the table. Each has his own footman behind the chair. If there is no lackey, then the unfortunate guest at least die of hunger and thirst
Otherwise, it is impossible: according to the local custom, dishes are not carried around, but you need to look around the table and what you like, ask through your lackey. No wine or water is placed in front of the couvert, and if you want to drink, then every time send your servant to the buffet.
Consider, if there is no servant, to whom to bring a drink, to whom to change the plates, whom to send to ask for some dish? and your neighbor's lackey, no matter how you ask, will not accept your plate ...
<...>Deserved people who do not have servants do not sit down at the table, but walk around with a plate near those who are sitting and ask that they put food on the plate. As soon as he eats, he will run into the hall to the trough set for washing dishes, he himself, the poor one, will wash his plate and wander again to ask for something from the dishes.
conclusions
Thus, the history of nutrition, set out in the right perspective, is not only an illustration of the daily life of society, but also gives an idea of \u200b\u200bthe era as a whole.
17th - 18th centuries in Europe was marked by significant changes in the food system: meat consumption begins to decline, the diet becomes more balanced, Europeans begin to consume more fruits and vegetables. A number of new products come into use, which are quite familiar to today's European: potatoes, corn, exotic fruits. They are imported from the colonies.
The daily diet consists of bread, meat, fish, eggs, milk, cereals and vegetables. Despite the food revolutions experienced, Europe at this time still lacks food.
The attitude towards spices is changing: from an expensive curiosity, they turn into an ordinary thing, with which the market is oversaturated.
Culinary art is developing: competition in quantity is replaced by sophistication, festive food becomes more diverse, dishes more complex. Daily consumption includes tea, coffee and other drinks.
In the 17th century, the modern type of cutlery (knives, forks, spoons) also began to take shape, porcelain was invented, dishes became individual. The rules of eating are gradually ennobled, table etiquette is spreading.
Bibliography
Brion M. Everyday life in Vienna in the time of Mozart and Schubert. - Moscow: Young Guard: Palimpsest, 2009. - 358 p.
Braudel F. Material civilization, economics and capitalism, XV-XVIII centuries. - 1995. - 543 p. : ilustr.
Burovik K. A. Pedigree of things. - M.: Knowledge, 1991. - 228 p.
Weiss G. History of civilization: Architecture, weapons, clothing, utensils: Illustrated. encycle. in 3 vols. - Vol. 3: New time of the XIV - XIX centuries. - 1998. - 768 p. : ill.
Defurno M. Everyday Life in Spain in the Golden Age. - M. : Young Guard: Palimpsest, 2004. - 313 p.
Kozyakova M. I. History. Culture. Everyday life: Western Europe: from antiquity to the 20th century: Proc. textbook on cultural studies for universities. - M.: All world, 2002. - 360 s
Fonvizin about the life of Europeans. Diary "Journey to Europe" // Access mode: http://interpost.mirbb.net/forum-f6/tema-t6.htm
Montanari M. Hunger and abundance: the history of nutrition in Europe // Access mode: http://www.openspace.ru/literature/projects/119/details/12484/
Applications
D. Velasquez. Breakfast, 1617-1618
D. Velazquez. old cook
D. Velazquez. Peasant breakfast 
P. class. Dessert (Fragment)
P.Klas. Crab breakfast. 
P.Klas. Breakfast 
Pieter Claesz, Still Life with Turkish Pie and Nautilus Cup.
P. Klas Breakfast with ham, 1647 
P.Klas. Still life, 1625
P.Klas. Still life, 1623 
P.Klas. Still life, 1624/1625
G. Flegel. Still Life with Flowers and Snack, 1635 
G. Flegel. Still life with food and beetles 
G. Flegel. Big lunch. 1638 
G. Flegel. Storage room by candlelight. 1630 
W. Hogarth - Election banquet.
Still life with bread and sweets G. Flegel 
Still life with a parrot. G Flegel 
Buffet. 1610 G. Flegel
Dinner at Emmaus. The Lenin brothers. 1645
G. Flegel Still life with a beetle. 1635
Terborch. Glass of lemonade (detail)
Chardin, Jean-Baptiste Simeon. Cook cleaning turnips. 1738
In the XVI-XVII centuries. Europe has not yet freed itself from the fear of hunger. The food of the bulk of the population remained rather monotonous.
The basis of the diet was cereals - wheat, rye, barley, millet.
The “bread menu” was supplemented by buckwheat, and in the south of Europe, corn was also imported from America. Soups and porridges were prepared from them.
Beans, peas, and lentils also belonged to mass consumption products. Meat - beef, lamb, pork, chicken - consumed quite a lot.
They prepared dishes from game - meat of wild boars, deer, roe deer, hares, as well as partridges, larks, quails. Pigeons were bred especially for food.
Fresh meat was expensive, so corned beef was more common on the table of commoners.
The “mania for spices” was a thing of the past: they were not used as much as in the Middle Ages. This was partly due to the emergence of new vegetable crops - asparagus, spinach, green peas, cauliflower, tomatoes, zucchini, corn and potatoes, partly - a decrease in the consumption of stale meat.
The usual diet of a European also included cheeses, eggs, butter, milk, olive oil. For a long time, Europe was limited in sweets.
At first, sugar was considered a medicine and was sold only in pharmacists' shops. In the XVI century. it was obtained from sugar cane in a laborious and expensive way.
Therefore, sugar remained a luxury item, although its consumption gradually increased.
Almost half of the year fell on fasting days. Then came the turn of seafood. Fresh, but especially smoked, salted and dried fish markedly supplemented and diversified the table.
The Baltic and the North Sea fed herring, the Atlantic - cod, the Mediterranean - tuna and sardines. There were also many fish in the rivers, lakes and ponds.
They drank mostly natural grape wine. The original folk drink was beer, and in Northern France, cider. Their consumption was motivated not so much by the love of intoxicating drinks as by the poor quality of water, especially in cities. There were few aqueducts.
We used melted snow, river and rain water. It was especially dangerous to drink water from rivers, because they poured harmful waste from dyeing, tanning and other crafts.
Such water was purified by passing through fine sand, and then sold. Every day, the cries of 20,000 water carriers carried through the streets of Paris, each of which delivered 60 buckets of water to apartments in high-rise buildings.
Thanks to the Great geographical discoveries, new drinks penetrated into Europe - chocolate, tea and coffee. Medicinal properties were attributed to chocolate, but they were also afraid: in France, opponents of the drink spread rumors that black children were born to those who consume chocolate.
Tea was brought from distant China at the beginning of the 17th century. Dutch. The fragrant drink remained the privilege of the nobility for a long time, and only from the 18th century. came into widespread use.
Coffee, which Europeans met in Muslim countries, especially liked the taste. In the 17th century Paris was literally flooded with wandering merchants - Armenians in picturesque Turkish turbans.
Soon the doors of numerous cozy coffee shops opened wide, where aristocrats, politicians and people of art met and had endless conversations over a cup of coffee. Everywhere on the streets there were women who, from special tanks with taps and heating, sold hot coffee diluted with milk to ordinary townspeople.
From the 16th century Numerous taverns opened up, where you could chat with friends over drinks and snacks, play cards or dice. Often such taverns became a real haven for criminals and scammers, especially in poor neighborhoods.
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