A typical meal for a poor peasant of the time would consist of cabbage, onions, herring, and wheat bread. Herring and cuttlefish were everyday fishes, unlike the bourgeois' cod, salmon, and pike. Salting meats was necessary to preserve them for the poor, much like everywhere else in Medieval Europe at the time.
The findings demonstrated that stews (or pottages) of meat (beef and mutton) and vegetables such as cabbage and leek, were the mainstay of the medieval peasant diet. The research also showed that dairy products, likely the 'green cheeses' known to be eaten by the peasantry, also played an important role in their diet.
Peasants tended to keep cows, so their diets consisted largely of dairy produce such as buttermilk, cheese, or curds and whey. Rich and poor alike ate a dish called pottage, a thick soup containing meat, vegetables, or bran.
In the years during and surrounding the French Revolution, both before and after, bread was a hot topic to the French peasantry. The staple food product ate up about 50% of their income and was often the only thing they could eat due to France's financial struggles at the time.
The bulk of a peasant's diet came from the consumption of bread, with an adult male eating as much as two or three pounds in a day.
What would peasants eat? Focusing on 'living only off what you can grow', the traditional peasant diet was therefore predominantly plant-based, with wholegrains (rice, barley, oats, rye) and vegetables such as potatoes being the main source of nutrition, and legumes providing the primary source of protein.
Originally, pizza was considered peasant food and was only topped with cheese and basil. Over time, pizza became very popular in the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea.
Barley, oats, and rye were eaten by the poor while wheat was generally more expensive. These were consumed as bread, porridge, gruel, and pasta by people of all classes.
What, exactly did people eat? Probably a lot of grains—barley, wheat, and millet—along with legumes, fruits, vegetables, and, for those living on right on the Mediterranean, fish and saltwater mussels. They likely used the pots to boil these ingredients together, and maybe also to make beer.
The Aristocratic Diet
Bread was a staple food and was invariably present at meals. Loaves of bread were placed on the table, and slices of bread were used as plates. But the heart of the aristocratic diet was meat. The Europeans ate more meat per capita throughout the Middle Ages than did anyone else in the world.
"The medieval diet was very fresh food. There were very few preserves so everything was made fresh and it was low in fat and low in salt and sugar." Meal times were more a family and community focus in medieval times and Caroline said this was a positive force.
After seeing a matinee play full of farts, peasants would revel in the opulent bounty of the countryside, hunting, fishing, and swimming. Many of them also took advantage of seasonal gifts, such as gardening in the spring and eating fruits in the summer.
Tarrare ([taʁaʁ]; c. 1772 – 1798), sometimes spelled Tarar, was a French showman and soldier noted for his unusual appetite and eating habits. Able to eat vast amounts of meat, he was constantly hungry; his parents could not provide for him and he was turned out of the family home as a teenager.
Most peasants worked the land as feudal tenants or sharecroppers and were required to pay a range of taxes, tithes and feudal dues. 3. A much smaller section of the Third Estate were skilled and unskilled urban workers, living in cities like Paris.
Kings, knights, monks, peasants – everyone in the Middle Ages ate bread. It was also the food that caused bitter religious disputes and could make you go insane.
People invented endless ways to make pasta, relying on what was at hand or in season. A firmly rooted peasant cooking tradition developed, based on local customs, geography and resources.
They would have dined on bread and so-called 'white meats' - a term used by peasants which included butter and various cheeses. Poor people couldn't afford finer delicacies like fish but the presence of oats and barley proves they had access to carbohydrates, likely in the form of bread.
According to new research, medieval English peasants ate a lot of meat stews, leafy greens and cheese – and their diet was healthier than the modern one. “The medieval peasant had a healthy diet and wasn't lacking in anything major!” Dr. Julie Dunne of the University of Bristol told the Daily Mail.
The diet of lower class groups, who had little access to meat, mostly consisted of grains (e.g., barley and rye) and vegetables (e.g. cabbage and carrots). Spices, such as black pepper, were introduced as meat seasoning—albeit in small quantities— following initial contact with Asia.
It was also not eaten on Fridays. Lunch (prandium) was the main meal of the day and was probably eaten at around 11am, but this varied across establishments, depending on the number of people there and the number of sittings required.
kulak, (Russian: “fist”), in Russian and Soviet history, a wealthy or prosperous peasant, generally characterized as one who owned a relatively large farm and several head of cattle and horses and who was financially capable of employing hired labour and leasing land.
Food & Drink in the Medieval Village
Everyday food for the poor in the Middle Ages consisted of cabbage, beans, eggs, oats and brown bread. Sometimes, as a specialty, they would have cheese, bacon or poultry. All classes commonly drank ale or beer. Milk was also available, but usually reserved for younger people.