PREPARING A TYPICAL PEASANT MEAL FROM MEDIEVAL TIMES

Have you ever wondered what a typical meal would have look like back in the medieval times? 

Jason Kingsley OBE of Modern History TV invited food historian Chris Carr to prepare what would a typically be a meal prepared by peasants, farmers and innkeepers from the medieval times. 

They prepared a barley/rye flour brown bread, salmon steaks with sorrel sauce and pottage peas, all served with a side of ale. A meal like this in present day would not only not be unusual, but would probably cost quite a bit. 

Back in the medieval times, those who worked in the field burned a lot of calories, so during the day they would eat cold meals like bacon or cheese with beer bread.

“This would actually be your midday meal. Eating in the Middle Ages was that you would have breakfast which would be bread and ale then you would stop work in the middle of the day and have the main meal of the day, which is quite important at this time of year because by the time you come in in the evening it’s dark right and again you probably have something like bread and cheese or pheasant and ham. You have a cold meal so you eat your main meal in the middle of the day when you can see what you’re eating.”

“A knight would often be expected to attend at a feast given by those of even higher standing than himself, perhaps a high ranking bishop or even the King.”