Medieval Recipes: Food & Dining in the Middle Ages

When you think of the Middle Ages, you like to imagine magnificent festive tables. Servants, wine, a roast suckling pig. Food was an expression of wealth, power and honor. The serfs, however, did not eat opulently at all: they had to make do with simple dishes such as carrot or cabbage soup. The idea was that those who could afford it ate a predominantly meat-heavy, lavish and one-sided diet.

Stephan Ebert researches what was really on the table back then. He is a lecturer in medieval history at the Technical University of Darmstadt and, among other things, conducts “food studies”. He occasionally gives seminars in which students can learn about medieval cuisine. Recipes from top chefs from the 13th to 15th centuries are reinterpreted using modern foods. In Germany there are only a few scientists who research medieval food culture.

At first glance, the slim historian with long, curly hair doesn’t seem like a gourmet. Even as a boy, he was enthusiastic about cooking in his grandmother’s kitchen. While other children watched cartoons in the afternoon, he learned how to make strudel. After completing his doctoral thesis on famines in the Middle Ages, he was able to combine his passion for food with research. He is fascinated not only by the recipes, which are often written by hand in Middle High German, but also by the connections between the Middle Ages and modernity. Many of today’s dishes differ little from medieval dishes. Preparation and taste have changed primarily due to modern equipment and shorter cooking times.

Surprisingly, the aromatic richness of late medieval dishes can be compared to today’s Indian cuisine. “Spices such as saffron, cloves, sugar or oriental spices often appear,” explains Ebert. “These products were not available locally but had to be imported.” The ingredients were intended to promote health as well as increase the reputation of those who could afford such ingredients. The more colorful and exotic the food, the higher you were in the social hierarchy.

But contrary to all appearances, simple food was also eaten at court in everyday life. Banquets, on the other hand, were carefully staged events: the order of the courses, the selection of ingredients and the table manners revealed the rank of the guests. You didn’t eat with a knife and fork, but with your fingers. However, anyone who then wiped their greasy hands on the tablecloth attracted unpleasant attention – bowls of water were passed around for cleaning.

Even in the late Middle Ages, food was considered a medicine. “It was assumed that a good cook was also a kind of doctor,” says Ebert. “Food should balance the so-called four body humors: blood, mucus, yellow and black bile. So every dish could also have a medicinal effect.” In the Middle Ages, sugar was considered a panacea and, like salt today, was sprinkled into every meal. However, some spices that ended up in cooking pots back then, such as tansy, could lead to poisoning in the wrong dosage. Ebert avoids such ingredients in his dishes.

Some foods need to be replaced with others because they no longer exist. “I once made hazel grouses. The recipe just said: hazel grouses, grated bread, egg, tansy, parsley, sage – fry it, bake it and serve.” On the one hand, there are no hazel grouses left in Germany, and on the other hand, the preparation is demanding: the time, quantity and cooking process have to be assessed and tried out yourself. Ultimately, medieval taste can never be authentically recreated. Agriculture, quality of ingredients and cooking methods have changed dramatically, and modern appliances make cooking much easier.

In the Lauresham archaeological open-air laboratory in Lorsch, Stephan Ebert gave his students an insight into the old cooking method. While some were enthusiastic about the work, others encountered practical limitations, such as cutting the ingredients with medieval tools. And questions arose: How do you regulate the smoke? How do you hang the cooking pot correctly? How do you clean clay pots that break easily? All in all, it was a nice experience for the participants. “It is only through such experiments that it becomes clear how physically demanding cooking was back then, what tools were used and how attention had to be paid to details such as smoke, heat and material properties.”

One thing is particularly important to Stephan Ebert: “Medieval cuisine was by no means bland.” It was creative, versatile and surprisingly modern. People ate vegetarian food more often than expected, although for different reasons than today: meat was often not on the plate, especially on fasting days.