Research - Medieval Cooking - Vegetables

Just like fruits available at this time, vegetables were often divided between upper and lower classes.
Vegetables favored by the upper classes include onions, garlic and leeks - the more flavorful, less hearty types. While the lower classes ate more lettuce, cabbage, and carrots.
Also, during this time, vegetables were sometimes called "herbs" or "potherbs" and were grouped together with herbs such as fennel and parsley and edible flowers such as violets. Leafy plants were often called wortes.
Tomatoes, yams, artichokes, green beans, corn, and colored peppers were not yet available.

Some of the other vegetables that were eaten in this period:

• Celery
• Spinach
• Beets
• Radishes
• Turnips
• Parsnips
• Shallot
• Watercress
• Endive
• Beetroot
• Artichokes
• Long-Beans
• Broad-Beans
• Peas
• Lentils
• Asparagus
• Squashes
• Sprouts

Resources:
Middles-Ages.org
GodeCookery
Medieval Cookery Blog

Research - Medieval Cooking - Fruits

Now we will look at the fruits that were available.

Interestingly enough, nobles did not eat a lot of fruit as evidenced by their poor teeth/bone health. They thought fruit was for the poorer classes. It is known they did eat dates, an expensive and exotic import from Northern Africa.

According to the website Middle Life and Times - the following fruits were imported into Europe:

• Apricot - from Armenia
• Plums - from Syria
• Peach - from Persia
• Cherry from Cerasus
• Lemon - from Media
• Pomegranate and Quince - from Crete
• Pear and Apple - from Greece
• Oranges - from China

Wild cherries, raspberries, red currants, and strawberries grew locally. Quince was used as a dried perserve and to season meat. Eventually melons were introduced into gardens.

Fruits that have disappeared include sarb and carob.
Romans used a citrus fruit called a citron which no doubt made it to European hands.

Medieval Cookery has a wonderful, detailed listing by date of fruits and their varieties.

Old Cook has some interesting information about the different fruits and origins. For example, the orange. During the early middle ages, only the bitter orange was known (which was too bitter to eat outright) and the sweet orange (that is edible without cooking) wasn't known until the 15th century. Other fruits include blackberry, figs, and apricots. The site even includes a few recipes.

Research - Medieval Cooking - Gardening

This next topic will look at the various gardens that were in play in the middle ages.

Medieval gardens were almost always enclosed, ranging from monastic stone walls to poor laborer dirt embankments. For those who have wooden fences know a rabbit or other rodent will just burrow underneath and squeeze through, so using walls or hedges to keep out pests probably wasn't effective.

A good reference for the actual structure of medieval and later period gardens can be found in this website: Medieval Gardens. They also mention that grapes, roses and rosemary were grown over topiaries. Potted plants, both inside and out, were in use as well as starting seedlings in pots to extend growing seasons. Basil, rosemary, marjoram, gillflowers and others were often potted. Vegetables grown include cabbage, turnips, beans, peas, bulb onion, etc. A nice reference listing many different vegetables can be found near the end of the site.

Another excellent reference includes
Garden History Info which lists several good articles on gardening, including a medieval kitchen garden, mentioning turnips, beets, beans, peas, cabbage, leeks, cauliflower, and some information on tea.

A reproduction of a wattle fenced garden can be found on Penn State's Center for Medieval Studies - Kitchen Garden

And one last side trip to this nice site that talks about all kinds of gardens with lots of beautiful photographs:
Essentially England

Research - Medieval Foods - Spices

To understand cooking in historic periods, you have to learn what fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices were available either in the gardens/fields or by trade. After the Crusades, trade had spread throughout Europe, the Middle East and even to Asia and India, so exotic spices were available - to the rich, of course.

According to Middle-Ages.Org.Uk Website, the following spices and enhancers were known:

• Pepper
• Cinnamon
• Cloves
• Nutmeg
• Ginger
• Saffron
• Cardamon/Cardamom
• Coriander
• Cumin
• Garlic
• Turmeric
• Mace
• Anise
• Caraway
• Mustard
• Salt

For an excellent listing of spices used and currently available, check out the Medieval Cookery site which even includes pictures and photographs!

Research - Medieval Foods - Cooking and Dining - Intro

On my never-ending quest to learn more about the Medieval period, I have stumbled on several really great books and websites about Medieval cooking and dining.

Of course, the types of food varied with region (although traders brought "exotic" food from other areas/countries) and the wealth of the diner. The wealthier nobles ate richer, more varied foods than peasants and they could afford spices and better ingredients.

Spices also had another function - to preserve foods since they lacked sophisticated storage methods. And since spices were so valuable, they had to be locked up. Along the line of spices, royal establishments had a "spicery" who oversaw the quantity of spices used in cooking (to be sure people weren't overusing or stealing). Spices of this period included cinnamon, mace, cloves, pepper, ginger, nutmegs, and caraways.

Books of interest:

Dover - Free Sample Friday - Medieval Ornament and Design

Today Dover books has a nice collection of free samples from their book, Medieval Ornament and Design by Jules Gailhabaud, featuring archectural and artistic designs. Only four sample pages are presented and larger samples so you can see some amazing details.

Click here

Roman Britian - The Initial Invasion

This month I want to delve into some research on the invasion of Romans in Britannia and how they expanded their empire and their rule there. Then, finally, how and why they left. Should be interesting...especially with a few pictures of scantily clad Romans!

The British Isle was under frequent attack from various Barbarians, Vikings, and Romans. The most notable Roman attacks actually began around 55 BC with Emperor Julius Caesar. Typically, cities and countries that were threatened by the Romans would pay a tribute (tax) in order to avoid actual war, especially when the locals knew they could not defeat their enemy. Rome had better military tactics, a larger army, and better weapons, which is why they were able to expand so far.

August 26, 55 BC - Julius Caesar approached the Dover Channel with 2 legions of fighters (about 10,000 men) with the intention of quickly defeating the "barbarian" peoples and adding Britain to the Empire (and thus increasing his grandeur). However, it would not be an easy battle. The British Celts had been alerted and were ready to battle. Caesar's back-up calvary got caught in a storm and were forced to return to Gaul (modern-day France), leaving Caesar in a precarious situation. After some minor skirmishes and additional fleet damage by storms, Caesar admitted defeat and returned home.

The next year, he attempted the campaign again but with a much larger army (5 legions) and a fleet of 800 ships. On July 6th, they landed at Deal. On July 8th, the Celts retreated to a hill fort at Bigbury where the romans built a ramp and captured the fort. Unfortunately, another storm hit the Roman fleet and forced the legions back to the beach to repair their ships. In the mean time, the Celts appointed Cassivellaunus as their chief who eventually surrendered to Caesar when their attacks failed. They agreed to pay a tribute, ending the campaign. In September the Romans left Britain.


Book Resources:













Web Resources:
Wikipedia - Roman Conquest of Britain

Excellent Timeline

Interesting story about Julius Caesar

For Fun - The Most Expensive Castles in the World

I just love drooling over these amazing properties that I could never in a million years afford...but it's nice to look...

These are the world's most expensive castles for sale. If you have a few million dollars, feel free to sign up! For those of us a little lower on the totem pole, let's just take a peak...

RatesToGo - The World's Most Expensive Castles for Sale - Part I

RatesToGo - The World's Most Expensive Castles for Sale - Part II

For Fun - Castles for Sale Around the World

Ok, I hooked you on the first posting of Castles for Sale...so just being curious, I did a search for castles for sale and found a bunch of interesting sites. It's hard to believe so many wonderful castles are available for sale. If only I had a few million dollars...I could be living in a nice castle right now...

Anyway, back to reality...

Medievalists - a neat blog with listings (a little outdated now) but still worth looking at for inspiration.

AOL's Real Estate Pages - Castle Gallery

Castle Magic - castle builders (for those who dream big!)

Forbes - an outdated listing but worth looking through

For Fun - Castles for Sale in America

Have a few million dollars lying around? Love the thought of living in a real castle complete with turrets and your own royal suite? You're in luck...check out these properties custom built to look like castles right here in America.

Feel free to drool...

Property Listings for a few castles

Properties Listings by State and also a few listings for canada.

HubPages with a few property listings and gorgeous pictures of the interiors.

Holy Turrets - properties for sale

Research - Holidays/Festivals - Candlemas (Feb 2)

Candlemas:


Candlemas, a holiday that originated in the 4th century, was celebrated 40 days after Christmas (or Epiphany) - on February 2nd. On this day were big feasts and the church candles were blessed for the coming year (thus the name, Candlemas). People burned holiday greenery (leftover yule logs, etc) so the ashes could be used as fertilizer for the prepping of the fields. The burning of greenery and candles was symbolic of the coming light of Spring and regrowth/rebirth. The holiday also marked the start of the plowing of fields.

According to Churchyear.net,
"Thus if the sun cast a shadow on Candlemas day, more winter was on the way; if there was no shadow, winter was thought to be ending soon. This practice led to the folklore behind "Groundhog's Day," which falls on Candlemas Day."


For more info:
How Candlemas was celebrated in the Middle Ages

When Christians disposed of trees and holiday greenery

Celtic Music Guide

There's nothing more fun that sitting in a quaint pub drinking Guinness and listening to some Celtic music.

This easy-to-navigate, simple site from Ceolas offers a nice list of concerts, events for enjoying Celtic music by region.

Click here for North American listing:
Ceolas.Org

They also offer Ireland, Europe and other locations.