Medieval Kitchen Essay Example

The complexity of the medieval kitchen; all the techniques, the recipes, the equipment, the staff, and diet cannot be underestimated. The medieval age existed somewhere between the 5th and 15th century. The bridge in social classes was still very wide so the food disparity between the poor and the rich was quite distinguishable. However, the dealings of this kitchen remains subject of discussion years later because of its intriguing display and everything it offers. The nobles in Europe ate quite lavishly given the assorted menus that are known not only for their taste but for their texture as well (Klemettila 35). The nobles are said to have encouraged meticulous coordinate operations in their kitchens since back then, cooking was considered more of an art that needed perfection. This paper explores the medieval kitchen at great length, focusing on all its aspects in a bid to establish why the kitchen, unlike all the others from previous centuries still sparks an interest in scholars.

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The medieval diet was quite extensive. The major meals often included an assortment of both boiled and roasted meat that was served with sauces that had been well spiced. There were all kinds of meat from white to red. Fruits, pastry, herbs and even flowers were included. Even though the variety and richness of the diet is amongst the things that made it so popular, two other major factors still come to play, the dining equipment and the humoral theory. The humoral theory was quite popular back in the day and believed that when preparing food, the four elements that living organisms depend on ought to be included. These were blood, melancholy, phlegm, and choler; the correspondents to that were fire, air, water, and earth. To the cooks, these had to be the four humors simply hot, dry, humid, and cold (Klemettila 46). The superstition behind it is was that if the factors were not considered, it would be deemed unhealthy to eat it. This resulted to different methods of cooking each meal; beef was boiled since it was cold and dry and pork was roasted to eliminate the wetness. Moreover, the preparation had to be specific meaning it had to be made in such a way that it could be ate with a knife, piece of bread, fingers, or even a spoon.

The kitchen set up was generally very simple. It was even more simplistic for the poor people who primarily used a kettle for almost everything and iron spits for the more complex meals such as meat. In the wealthy houses cooking was still done in the living area to make use of heat. Later on as the century progressed the kitchens started being separated but were always near the dining or living area. The preparation of the food was done over an open hearth.

The staff that worked in the high end houses was very organized and skilled. There were numerous specialists all assigned to work on different things. They had helpers who were less skilled and did the minor work. The person who was in charge of all the roasting was called the hatcher; the potier was in charge of dishes and pots, saucier the sauces among many others. It was very labor intensive as the kitchen equipment they used was very old fashioned and mechanical. It took a lot of hours to get things done as the head chef redirected what should be done and when (Klemettila 41). It was repetitive from day to day and everything had to be prepared from scratch especially pastry. Those who were unskilled tended to things like fetching water and chopping firewood. There was also need for constant scrubbing of the kitchen surfaces. There was work such as kneading, shaping pasta, gutting animals and so forth. The difference between then and now is women were rarely found working in the kitchen since it was so laborious.

There were main equipment that were used back then that included; mortal and pester, strainer, sieve, and knives. Different techniques called for different equipment, roasting required grills, pothooks, tripods, and pulleys. When it came to boiling iron, copper and brass were used as well as earthenware. Their frying pans can be likened to the present ones since they look very similar. Ovens were also used but they were huge and were restricted to pies and breads. They used firewood to heat them up (Langley 77). There were also cranes which were used to adjustable hooks that support the cauldrons and pots so that they could easily swing away from fire preventing them from boiling over or burn. In most cases, the utensils were positioned into the embers on tripods or directly over the fire (Klemettila 28).

Unlike the present times, alcoholic beverages were preferred during eating times compared to water. This is mainly because they considered water of a lesser value. Wine was the most preferred choice. It was recommended for health purposes as well as prestigious. It was welcomed since it brightened the mood and aided in digestion. Quality wine however was believed to require a lot of expertise and was not taken for granted. Aging of the drink was a very important aspect (Langley 81). The expensive ones that had aged and had a finer taste were preserved for the nobles. The commoners and less wealthy people had to settle for wine that was cheap such as rose. It had a lower quality since the content came from the second or third pressing of the grapes when it was being prepared. This resulted into lower content of alcohol and one had to take generous amounts to gain any intoxication.

During the medieval times, it was a tradition to dine together. Even the servants joined in. It was during a time where there was so much dependency on one another that it was unethical to sneak off and dine alone. However, as time progressed towards the end of these times, the rich started secluding themselves in private chambers but still had the servants serve them continuously with drinks and food. The servants then could go eat once the nobles had cleared up their meal. Cleanliness was still observed back then so before meals linen towels were offered. A lot of table manners were expected from all those who dined at the table. The etiquette of eating however varied depending on the hierarchy (Klemettila).

The recipe

The medieval recipe ranged from beverages, meat, nuts, poultry, grain & pasta, dessert & sweet and bread. The following is the list of a few of the medieval common recipes according to Klemettila.

The beverage

Caudell (ale-based drink or foam wine)

Bread and cakes

Crispel (pastries covered in honey)

Blaunche escrepes (pancake)

Pokerounce (peanut and honey toasted in white bread)

Cheese dairy

Doucettes a-forcyd (almond milk pie)

Darvols (quiche)

Fish and sea foods

A daunce egre (fish in sour and sweet onion sauce)

Lopster boiled or Crabbe (lobster or crab with vinegar)

Puddying of purpayse (sated propoise stomach)

Fruits and vegetables

Fruays (sweet apple bread)

Cabochis (cabbage dish)

Benes yfryed (fried beans with the onion and garlic)

Grains and Pasta

Rys (milk rice)

Potage rice (gold colored rice dish)

Meat

Beefy-stywyd (beef ribs stew)

A bake Mete Ryalle (chicken & pork pies)

Chauden for potage (meat pottage)

Poultry

Capon Inzucarati (sugared capons)

Chike endored (golden battered glazed chicken)

Brawn en Peurade (chicken or pork mixed in a wine sauce)

In conclusion, the medieval age served a lot of purpose considering some of its techniques are still being used today. Lucky for this millennial, there are better equipment that make the preparation of food less tedious. Traditions such as having wine during dinner are still practiced today. Most of the recipes are still being used in the modern kitchen. Most hotels have also adopted the use of wet warm towels as a means of cleaning one's hands before eating. The uniqueness and efficiency of the medieval kitchen remains intriguing and leaves a lot to be learned from. The workers achieved maximum efficiency with such little resources and their cooking was indeed a form of art.


Work cited

Klemettila, Hannele. The Medieval Kitchen: A Social History with Recipes. Reaktion Books, 2013.

Langley, Andrew. Medieval Life. New York, DK Publishing, 2011.