CUISINES BY REGION
When it comes to the types of dishes that were prepared from such a
limited range of foodstuffs, soups, potages, broths, and porreys, that is
stewed vegetables such as peas, onions, or leeks with seasonings, pre-
dominated.
The food of manorial servants was generally more varied, with beef,
herring, or cod as additional sources of protein, and bread made from
rye and wheat. The yeoman in Langland’s Piers Plowman was doing
better with his “bacon flitches, eggs, cheese, butter, milk, cream,
onions, garlic, and malt to make ale.”29 Tenants who did boon work
such as plowing or harvesting for the lord of the manor were often
quite well fed, enjoying soup, wheat bread, beef, cheese, and an un-
limited amount of ale. At Christmas the lord would receive a hen or
grain for the brewing of ale from his tenants, and in return would give
them a meal that included not just the staple foods bread, cheese, and
potage, but also various meat dishes. Among the fruits and nuts peas-
ants in medieval England often had access to were cherries, apples,
pears, plums, filberts, walnuts, and sweet chestnuts. Parsley and other
potherbs, small birds, rabbits, some freshwater and salt fish, and cock-
les also found their way into many a villager’s stewpot. Poaching was
a problem throughout the period and was usually severely punished
by the authorities. With sugar having the status of a luxury food along
with spices, the only sweetener for the lower classes, aside from fruit
sugar, was honey.
The central role ale played in the life of the English peasants be-
comes especially evident in the festivities where the drink flowed
freely. It was also frequently used as a way to raise money. “Bride ale,”
for instance, was an ale brewed for a wedding. The profits from its sale
were given to the bride. “Help ales” were designed to give financial
support to villagers in need, and “scot ales,” special events held by the
lord or on his behalf, required tenants to pay money for the privilege
of drinking there. Exceptions were sometimes made for village bache-
lors, who on the last day of a “scot ale” were allowed to drink free of
charge for as long as they could stand. The end of plowing was cele-
brated with seedcake, pasties (meat pies), and hulled wheat boiled in
almond milk, known as “frumenty.”
The food on offer in the towns of medieval Britain was generally
more varied than that available to the villagers. In 1300 London had
a population of close to one hundred thousand.30 It was supplied with
grain and livestock from the surrounding countryside. Wheat, barley,
oats, and malt were often transported by water, while live cattle, poul-
try, and sheep were driven to town. Pigs, on the other hand, were
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