Elizabethan Food

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

Elizabethan Food
Elizabethan Food and Drink varied according to status and wealth. In the early Medieval era meat was a sign of wealth. But as the population rose, this was supported by improving agricultural techniques and inventions. The Elizabethan era also saw the introductions of different food from the New World. And the Elizabethan period saw the expanded use of sugar.  Increased cultivation of fruit trees and bee hives was also seen during the Elizabethan era increasing the range of foods available. The section and era covering Elizabethan Food includes sections on Daily Meals, Elizabethan food preservation, Elizabethan food and diet, food availability, food served at a Banquet or feast and food from the New World.

\Elizabethan Food Presentation - the Visual Effect
It was important that Elizabethan Food prepared for the nobility, especially for feasts and banquets had a great visual effect. Elizabethans enjoyed a a variety of serving methods, colors and various 'props'. Peacocks were reared for consumption but their feathers were used to decorate cooked foods. Strange and unusual shapes were used in food presentation. The old English Nursery Rhyme "Sing a song of sixpence' contains the phrase 'four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie'. It was quite probable that a court jester may well have suggested to the court cook to bake a pie pastry crust and place this over some live blackbirds to surprise and amuse the nobility!

Purchasing Elizabethan Food
Elizabethan Food was generally purchased from small markets and from fairs. In large cities like London there were specific markets which sold either fish, dairy products or fruit and vegetables. Meat was sold at large livestock markets. 

Elizabethan Food - Cooking Methods
Elizabethan food was prepared by several cooking methods:

• Spit roasting

• Baking

• Boiling

• Smoking

• Salting

• Fried

Elizabethan Food - Cooking Utensils
A large amount of Elizabethan cooking was conducted over an open flame. Useful cooking utensils for this method of cooking Elizabethan food were pots, pans, kettles, skillets and cauldrons. To prepare the food a range of knives, ladles, meat forks and scissors were used. Instead of a baking tin, Elizabethan cooks used a baking tray made of hardened pastry, which was unnervingly called a ‘coffin’! The mortar and pestle were essential cooking utensils for cooks who used nuts spices in their recipes. Each cook kept a book of their own recipes.

Elizabethan Convenience Food?
Did people in the Elizabethan era have convenience food? Yes! Biscuits were invented by the Crusaders. The 'Ploughman's Lunch' of bread and cheese was a staple diet of Lower Class workers. Communal ovens were available in villages for baking. And pastries and pies were sold as was ready cooked roasted meat! A day out at the London Theatre, or a fair, would bring in a good trade in convenience foods!

Elizabethan Drink
Water was not clean in the Middle Ages and people therefore drank wine and ale. The rich drank both and the poor just drank ale. Honey was used to make a sweet alcoholic drink called mead which was drunk by all classes. Wine was generally imported although some fruit wines were produced in England. A form of cider referred to as 'Apple-wine' was also produced. Ales were brewed with malt and water, while beer contained hops that held a bitter flavor. Other flavors were added to ales and beers such as bayberries, orris, or long pepper. Consumption of weak, low-alcohol drinks at this time has been estimated at around one gallon per person per day.

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

 Old Elizabethan Recipes
Food during Elizabethan Times was changing. New Foods such as the tomato, potato and the turkey were being introduced from the New World. Chilli peppers of the capsicum family  including red peppers, cayenne, paprika and chilli were also imported from the New World. Upper Class Elizabethans were quite adventurous with their recipes and cooking. The early Crusaders had brought to England elements of Eastern cookery requiring spices such as pepper, cinnamon, mace, ginger, cloves, raisins, saffron and sugar and these were introduced into Old Medieval recipes and passed down to Elizabethan Recipes. Spices were extremely expensive and therefore used in cooking recipes by the Upper Classes. The use of Spices in Elizabethan cooking recipes therefore became a matter of both social fashion and social prestige. Spices used in Recipes from the Elizabethan Era were a sign of wealth and high social status.

 

Elizabethan Times - the Spice Trade
The Spice Trade was extremely important. Oriental spices constituted the most profitable and dynamic element in European trade and this drive for profit through new spices ( as well as the quest for gold and silver) encouraged the explorations of Elizabethan seamen such as Raleigh and Drake.

Food Preservation methods used in Medieval Cooking Recipes and Elizabethan recipes
The spices introduced into Medieval Cooking recipes were welcomed as their distinctive flavours disguised the strong taste of salt which dominated many elements of English Medieval food. Salt was used to preserve meat. There were few alternative methods of preservation available although smoking, pickling and desiccation were also used in various old recipes. And this was still the case in the Elizabethan era so many many Medieval food recipes were included in Elizabethan recipes.

Spices used in Medieval Cooking Recipes and Elizabethan recipes
The potent ground spices used in Medieval cooking recipes were called 'Good Powders'. Pungent spices such ground ginger or a blend of cinnamon and mace, cubeb, pepper, or clove was called 'Strong Powder' (Pouder Fort).

Sweet Substances used in Old Elizabethan Dessert Food Recipes
Sugar was imported to England, having been obtained from sugar cane. Any imported foods were expensive and therefore out of the reach of Lower classes and used primarily by the Elizabethan Upper Classes and Nobility. Extensive use of Sugar was known to blacken the teeth and black teeth became an Elizabethan status symbol. This fashion fad was so popular amongst Upper Class Elizabethans that cosmetics were used to create an illusion of black teeth! Honey was a common sweet substance used in old Elizabethan Dessert food recipes - honey was produced in England and therefore far less expensive, and commonly used in Elizabethan dessert food recipes for the Lower classes. Ground sweet aromatic spices such as aniseed, fennel seed, and nutmeg were referred to as 'Sweet Powder' (Pouder Douce). Ground ginger blended with powdered sugar was called White Powder (blanch pouder).

 

The term "vegetable" was used only rarely during the Elizabethan era. Instead the term "herb" covered all green plants, roots and herbs. Food items which came from the ground were only are considered fit for the poor. Only vegetables such as rape, onions, garlic and leeks graced a Noble's table.

 

Plants, Herbs & Roots used in Old Elizabethan Recipes

Avens - this herb was used in Elizabethan salad recipes Borage - a blue-flowered plant with hairy leaves that tasted like cucumber used in Elizabethan salad recipes Clary - a plant of the sage family which cuts the grease of fatty meats and fish Dittany - a plant of the mint family with oval leaves and clusters of purplish flowers were used used in Elizabethan salad recipes Galingale - an aromatic root and the main ingredient of galyntyne which was a pungent medieval sauce Hyssop - a blue-flowered plant of the mint family whose leaves cut the grease in fatty meats and fish Laver - an edible purple seaweed used in Elizabethan salad recipes Orach - a garden plant with red and green leaves used as a vegetable and a salad herb. Pellitory - a climbing plant of the nettle family whose leaves were used used in Elizabethan salad recipes Purslane - a plant with a pinkish fleshy stem and small, round leaves; the leaves were used as a potherb or in salads. Rocket - mildly pungent plant grown like spinach and eaten in salads Rose Hips - the fleshy, bright-colored fruit of the rose plant St.John's-Wort - a plant with brownish stalks & narrow leaves which were used in Elizabethan salad recipes Southernwood - a shrubby fragrant plant with yellowish flowers and bitter-tasting leaves

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Unusual Fruits and Vegetables used in Dessert Food Elizabethan Recipes

Blaunderelle - a variety of white apple used in Dessert Food Elizabethan Recipes Bullace - a purple wild plum used in Dessert Food Elizabethan Recipes Chibol - a type of small onion Cubeb - a berry from Java which resembles peppercorn and tasting like allspice Damson - also called bullace is a this bluish black plum is named for the place of its origin - Damascus. Medlar - a small, brown, apple like fruit used in Dessert Food Elizabethan Recipes Porret - a young leek or onion Skirret - a species of water parsnip Verjuice was a a form of wine vinegar or soured lemon juice made with the juice of green or unripened fruits such crab apples. Verjuice was a popular ingredient in cookery which often replaced vinegar Warden - a hard pear with blackish bruises used in Dessert Food Elizabethan Recipes

 

Thickening Agents used used in Old Elizabethan Recipes

Almond Milk - a cloudy liquid prepared by steeping ground almonds in water, broth, or wine. Almond milk acted as the liquid base and/or thickening agent in a wide variety of medieval and Elizabethan dessert dishes.

 

Coloring Agents used in Elizabethan Recipes

Alkanet - a group of plants whose roots produced a red dye and used primarily as a coloring agent in Elizabethan Recipes Sandalwood - the pulverized wood of an East Indian tree used primarily to color food dark red Turnsole - a plant cultivated primarily for its use as a purple dye and used primarily as a coloring agent in Elizabethan Recipes.

 Subject to fashion fads!
Many of the old Medieval and Elizabethan food recipes were strongly influenced by Eastern cooking, particularly with the use of spices. Although these spices were available these spicy foods went out of fashion in the 1800's and have only just returned to favor in the last twenty years! Modern recipes now include many of the 'exotic' spices which were used as long ago in the English Medieval era!