In Tudor England cereals were the staple foodstuffs for the poor, occasionally accompanied by a few vegetables such as beans, peas and turnips and very exceptionally meat. Bread flours milled from barley, rye or wheat, were baked into loaves.
At the main midday meal, pottage might be flavored with bacon and thickened with eggs. The pottage often made with peas might contain cabbage or spinach to give it extra nutritive value and bread would often be used as a thickener and as an accompaniment. A smaller supper was taken around 5.00 in the afternoon.
The average Englishman was better fed than his fellow European citizens were. Standard food for the middle classes included beef, mutton, pigeon and oysters sometimes cooked in pastries and puddings. English beef and mutton was believed to be the best in Europe.
Due to the warmer climate after several centuries of colder weather, a greater volume of food was being produced during the Tudor period. To eat well meant to eat a lot. Greater body weight was a sign of wealth and good health during a time where famine was always a threat.
At the main midday meal, pottage might be flavored with bacon and thickened with eggs. The pottage often made with peas might contain cabbage or spinach to give it extra nutritive value and bread would often be used as a thickener and as an accompaniment. A smaller supper was taken around 5.00 in the afternoon.
The average Englishman was better fed than his fellow European citizens were. Standard food for the middle classes included beef, mutton, pigeon and oysters sometimes cooked in pastries and puddings. English beef and mutton was believed to be the best in Europe.
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| William Brooke, Baron Cobham, and his family at the dining table, 1567 |
Due to the warmer climate after several centuries of colder weather, a greater volume of food was being produced during the Tudor period. To eat well meant to eat a lot. Greater body weight was a sign of wealth and good health during a time where famine was always a threat.
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