Food1

**WHAT WERE POPULAR TYPES OF BANQUETS, FEASTS, FOOD, AND DRINK IN SHAKESPEARE'S ENGLAND? WHAT WERE POPULAR RECIPES? HOW WERE THESE DIFFERENT IN URBAN/RURAL LIFE? HOW WERE THESE DIFFERENT IN** **NOBLE/MERCHANT/COMMON LIFE?**

**Answer prepared by: AlexisP**  Meals, silverware, and etiquette in Elizabethan Times were very different from meals, silverware and etiquette of the present. In Shakespeare's England popular types of banquets, feasts, food, and drinks often varied by a one's social class. However, fairly universal, etiquette and dining utensils were practiced by all the social classes, nobles, upper and lower class.  The upper class and nobles enjoyed lavish banquets and feasts, food, and drinks that the lower class could not afford. According to the book //Shakespeare's London: A Guide to Elizabethan London (Sightseers), the privileged banquets could consist of up to ten courses! The book also reveals that it was the custom to eat only one or two mouthfuls per course. Popular dishes included venison, mutton, and chickens. Popular desserts consisted of swan with fruit piers, gelatin, plums stewed in rose water, and cream with Duc powder. The web article "Elizabethan Banquets and Feasts" by Sabina Pellizzari states that banquets were so big sometimes servants performed very specific, strange jobs; hence, servant bread trenchers replaced bread that got stale during the meal with fresh new bread. //

The feasts and banquets also captivated the guest with visual appeal and almost artistic beauty. Upper class and nobilities loved dishes with strange shapes and unusual colors; weird dishes such as small birds in a pie, roast peacock, hedgehogs, or roast Swan were served partially for display. Usually, swan and peacock dishes were not consumed but rather used as lovely centerpiece decorations. Pellizzari's article elaborately tells of one famous ceremonial feast in which fifty crabs, eighteen trout, nine large and nine small pike, four large salmon, eighteen brill (flatfish), ten large turbot (flatfish), two-hundred cod tripes, fifty pounds of whale, two-hundred smoked and two-hundred pickled herring were served! Meat dominated the rich's diet. The nobility and upper class often enjoyed exotic recipes, like roast peacock or stuffed porpoise, since they had the money to buy expensive spices and sugar the recipe required. They usually had six to seven meat dishes in a single meal. Vegetables and fruits were sparse in the typical rich Elizabethan's diet. Gail Stewart's book, //Life in Elizabethan London, however, identifies potatoes as quite popular. Eating potatoes were a a sign of an upper clansman or nobility since it was hard to obtain during these times. // On Fridays and Saturdays the rich ate fish, a luxury the poor could not afford. A Elizabethan law that banned meat on Fridays and Saturdays was enacted not for religious reasons but to support the fishing industry, as cited by the source "What We Eat" on elizabethan.org. Exceptions to the meat ban required a special license, which were usually for the old, the very young, the sick, and the rich who bought the license.

Another difference between what the rich and poor ate was bread. Bread made with white flour or manchet, which was a brown, round loaf that weighed about six pounds were also daily luxuries. All the food preparation required many hours to cook. Most of the meals were prepared by armies of cooks according to //Shakespeare And The Elizabethan Age (Treasure Chests). Queen Elizabeth I employed over 160 servants to work in her kitchen. //

Along with enjoying exemption from the fish ban and higher quality bread. the Nobles and upper class Elizabethans loved decadent desserts. Desserts pastries, tarts, cakes, cream, cheese, strawberries, custard, and crystallized fruit and syrup completed the meals. Sugar and marzipan were the main stars. In some banquets animals, birds, fruits or baskets sculpted out of sugar and marzipan delighted the guests. According to "Elizabethan Food" elaborately decorated wine glasses, dishes, playing cards and trenchers were made out of sugar-plate (crisp modeled sugar) *look below for the recipe to make sugar-plate*. Queen Elizabeth liked sugar so much that all of her teeth were black. Having black teeth was considered fashionable and the hallmark of the privileged sugar rich diet.

To wash down the sugary treats, the rich had to find something sufficient to drink. The poor also had problems finding beverages since water quality and availability of different beverages were limited during the Elizabethan time. Water was often unclean. A medical expert of the time once said, "Water, is not wholesome sole by itself for an Englishman," as explained in //Life in Elizabethan London.// Milk was also scarce since cows produced a small amount of milk and much of the milk was reserved for making cheese. Coffee was not drunk; furthermore, tea was not introduced until the mid-1600s. All classes drank a sweet alcoholic drink called mead which was often produced with honey. Th Queen enjoyed metheglin, a spiced variety of mead. Various wines were important beverages. Wine was imported or some fruit wines, such as apple wine, were produced in England. Ales or beer brewed with malt and water and sometime flavors like bayberries, orris, or long pepper were popular. The average person was estimated to drink around one gallon of weak, low-alcohol drinks per day, according to "Elizabethan Food"! The rich drank higher quality beer and ale to wash down their food.  The lowerclass ate food that differed tremendously from the wealthy upper class and nobility. The lower class rarely enjoyed banquets and feasts. They usually survived on a diet of vegetables, breads, and an occasional meat dish, as stated by the book __Shakespeare's London: Sightseers Travel Guide__ __.__ Ironically, the lower class ended up eating a healthier vegetable and fruit diet because they ate natural, unprepared food. The rich would not even think of eating unprepared food because it came from the ground. The upper class lacked of fruits and vegetables and suffered from gout. The poor did not get sick from gout but often suffered from simply not having enough to eat. Malnourishment, scurvy, a lack of vitamin C, and toothaches were also common food-related diseases among all Elizabethans, according to "Elizabethan Medicine" by Andy Patterson and Bethany White. Vegetables would have been served in a form of stew, soup, or pottage. The lower class usually ate course bread that was made from rye flour or acorns; bread made out of wheat or white flour was reserved for the wealthy. If the Elizabethan was extremely poor they would eat horse bread which was made out of ground up beans and was made to feed horses, according to __Life in Elizabethan England__ by Gail Stewart. The rare and sparse meat the poor did enjoy consisted of the fatty cut of salted pork or, for the more fortunate, mutton, pork, chicken, or geese. Sugar and spices were not normally enjoyed by the poor but small amounts of fish, cheese, and porridge were available to the lower class. Most commoners could not afford to buy a fish license so they consumed fish on Fridays and Saturdays. Butter, bacon, and eggs were also know as lower-class foods according to Andrew Langely's book. The meals were often washed down with ale since ale was very inexpensive to make. Beer was also consumed because it was cheap brewed in large quantities.  While the diets of the rich and poor were very different, silverware, utensils, and table manners differed less dramatically. Most Elizabethans used trenchers which were 6x4 inch plate of thick unleavened bread source, according to "Eating Utensils and Tableware". The left over trencher would be given to the very poor or to the dogs. In the late middle ages, a square piece of wood with a circular concave in the center started to replace trenchers. The wealthy would have had their own plates and cups, while most of the lower classes shared plates in pairs. Meals were usually eaten with the fingers, but some people used knives. Many Elizabethans carried a "general-purpose dagger-shaped knife" and spoons according to "Elizabethan Food and Drink" by Rosie Crouch, Mandy Entringer, Eric Frank, and Jody Post. The fork was not commonly used back then. Spoons were very rare because most liquid foods were drunk from a cup according to "Elizabethan Daily Meals".

Etiquette in Elizabethan time did not differ between classes. Having clean hands was important, and people were told to wash their hands out in the open so everyone could see that their hands were clean. Books and manuals for manners listed that proper etiquette were published and widely distributed. According to "Table Manners", Elizabethans were instructed not to put their fingers in their ears, not to put their hands on their heads, not to blow their nose with their hands, not to scratch, not to blow their noses or wipe their sweat with their napkins, and not to poke around a plate. An etiquette rule states that putting bones back on the platter instead of the floor was considered rude! "Elizabethan Daily Meals" states, although ranging in quantity and quality all Elizabethans usually had three meals a day. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: left;"> An Elizabethan's meal quality and quantity was heavily reliant on one's social class. However, silverware, utensils, and table manners differed less dramatically or not at all on social class. In the end every Elizabethan meal, silverware and etiquette is very different from today's standard meal, silverware and etiquette.

**Works Cited**

**B**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 13px;">**ooks:** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-weight: normal;">-Ferris, Julie. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">// Shakespeare's London: A Guide to Elizabethan London (Sightseers) // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">. New York, New York: Kingfisher Books Ltd, 2000. 10-11. Print.

-Langley, Andrew. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">// Shakespeare And The Elizabethan Age (Treasure Chests) // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Running Press Kids, 2000. 8-9. Print.

-Picard, Liza. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">// Elizabeth's London: Everyday Life in Elizabethan London // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">. London, England : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003. 153-155, 165-168. Print. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-weight: normal;">-Stewart, Gail B. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">// Life in Elizabethan London // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">. San Diego, Calif: Lucent Books, 2002. 55-57. Print. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: left;">**Websites:** <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">-Alchin, Linda. "Elizabethan Daily Meals." <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">// Elizabethan Era // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">. Elizabethan Era, 20 March 2008. Web. 28 March 2010. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: left;"><http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-daily-meals.htm>. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">-Alchin, Linda. "Elizabethan Food." <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">// Elizabethan Era // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">. Elizabethan Era, 20 March 2008. Web. 1 Apr 2010. <http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-food.htm>.

-Alchin, Linda. "Elizabethan Food and Diet." <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">// Elizabethan Era // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">. Elizabethan Era, 20 March 2008. Web. 28 March 2010. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: left;"><http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-food-and-diet.htm>. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">-Alchin, Linda. "Elizabethan Foods from the New World." <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">// Elizabethan Era // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">. Elizabethan Era, 20 March 2008. Web. 28 March 2010. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: left;"><http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-foods-from-new-world.htm>. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">-Eakins, Lara E. "Eating Utensils and Tableware." <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">// Tudor History // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">. N/A, 8 March 2005. Web. 28 March 2010. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: left;"><http://tudorhistory.org/topics/food/utensils.html>. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal;">-Eakins, Lara E. "Table Manners." <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">//Tudor History// <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal;">. N/A, 8 March 2005. Web. 28 March 2010. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: left;"><http://tudorhistory.org/topics/food/manners.html>. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">- <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal;">"Elizabethan Food and Drink." <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">//Elizabethan England// <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal;">. Springfield Public Schools, N/D. Web. 1 Apr 2010. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: left;"><http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/springfield/eliz/elizfood.html>. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">-Patterson, Andy, and Bethany White. "Elizabethan Medicine." <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">// Elizabethan England // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">. Springfield Public Schools, N/D. Web. 28 March 2010. <http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/springfield/eliz/elizabethanmedicine.html>.

-Pellizzari, Sabina. "Elizabethan Banquets and Feasts." <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">// Elizabethan England // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">. Springfield Public Schools, N/D. Web. 28 March 2010. <http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/springfield/eliz/Banquetsandfeasts.html>.

-Secara, Maggie Pierce. "Food and Your Life Style." <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">// Life in Elizabethan England A Compendium of Common Knowledge: 1558-1603 // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">. Paula Kate Marmor, 27 March 2008. Web. 28 March 2010. <http://www.elizabethan.org/compendium/46.html>.

-Secara, Maggie Pierce. "Of Bread and Wine." <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">// Life in Elizabethan England A Compendium of Common Knowledge: 1558-1603 // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">. Paula Kate Marmor, 27 March 2008. Web. 28 March 2010. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: left;"><http://www.elizabethan.org/compendium/19.html>. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">-Secara, Maggie Pierce. "Snack Foods." <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">// Life in Elizabethan England A Compendium of Common Knowledge: 1558-1603 // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">. Paula Kate Marmor, 27 March 2008. Web. 28 March 2010. <http://www.elizabethan.org/compendium/48.html>.

-Secara, Maggie Pierce. "What We Eat ." <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">// Life in Elizabethan England A Compendium of Common Knowledge: 1558-1603 // <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">. Paula Kate Marmor, 27 March 2008. Web. 28 March 2010. <http://www.elizabethan.org/compendium/38.html>.

- <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal;">Thomas (M.Phil), Heather. "Elizabethan Food." <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">//Elizabeth R// <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-style: normal;">. self-published, 1998-2009. Web. 28 March 2010. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: left;"><http://www.elizabethi.org/us/food/>.

Read Shakespeare's Sonnet 75 So are you to my thoughts as food to life with the first line using a similie to compare "thoughts" and "food":
So are you to my thoughts as food to life, Or as sweet-season'd showers are to the ground; And for the peace of you I hold such strife As 'twixt a miser and his wealth is found; Now proud as an enjoyer and anon Doubting the filching age will steal his treasure, Now counting best to be with you alone, Then better'd that the world may see my pleasure; Sometime all full with feasting on your sight And by and by clean starved for a look; Possessing or pursuing no delight, Save what is had or must from you be took. Thus do I pine and surfeit day by day, Or gluttoning on all, or all away.

Listed Above are the Staples of Every-Day Dining
<span style="color: #475728; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">" //The assise of bread, newly corrected and enlarged, from twelve pence the quarter of wheat, unto three pound and sixe pence the quarter, according to the rising and falling of the price thereof in the market, by sixe pence altering in every quarter of wheate, together with sundrie good and needfull ordinances for bakers, brewers, inholders, victuailers, vintners, and butchers: and also other assises in weights and measures, which by the lawes of this realme, are commanded to be observed and kept by all manner of persons, as well within liberties as without . London, 1600. Shelfmark STC 874." //

**Health Manuals** **Importing Recipes** <span style="color: #475728; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; text-align: center;"> "François Pierre de la Varenne. //The French cook describing the way of making ready all sorts of meats, fish and flesh, with the proper sauces, either to procure appetite or to advance the power of digestion: with the whole skill of pastry work . London, 1654. Shelfmark L625." //

An Example of Elizabethan Dining
== For more cool pictures like the ones above click on this <span style="color: #000000; display: inline; font-size: 11.7px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 12px; text-align: left;">[|LINK] ==

===<span style="color: #000080; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; text-align: left;">The Following is a Table of Links to Elizabethan Recipes from the website www.elizabethan-era.org.uk including a recipe for sugar plate (see above) in the first column: === [|Portugal Eggs] [|Candy Flowers] [|Sugar Cakes] [|Very Fine Cream] [|Marmalade of Apricocks] [|Limon Cakes] [|Marmalade of Cherries with Currans] [|Preserve Rasberries] [|Stepony]** [|S]**[|hellfish]**
 * ** Old Elizabethan Dessert Recipes ** || ** Old Elizabethan Recipes ** ||
 * ** [|Bisket Cakes] **
 * [|Clouted Cream]**
 * [|Devonshire White Pot]
 * [|'Cabbage' Cream] **
 * [|Cakes without Fruit] **
 * [|Preserve Goosberries] **
 * [|Orange Pudding] **
 * [|Sillibub] **
 * [|Limon Cream] **
 * [|Cakes with Almonds] **
 * [|Shrewsbury Cakes] **
 * [|Orange Marmalade] **
 * [|Paste of Plumbs] **
 * [|Almond Ginger-Bread]**
 * [|Snow Cream] **
 * [|Rock Candy] **
 * [|Short Cakes] **
 * [|Violet Cakes] **
 * [|Goosberry Fool]**
 * [|Marchpane] **
 * [|Marmalade of Damsons]**
 * [|Oranges in Jelly]**
 * [|Orange or Limon Chips]**
 * [|Posset]**
 * [|Banbury Cakes] **
 * [|Cambridge Almond Butter] **
 * [|Sugar-Plate]**
 * [|Paste of Almonds]**
 * [|Puff-Paste]**
 * [|Comfits]**
 * [|Almond-Puddings]**
 * [|Rice Pudding]**
 * [|Quaking Pudding] **
 * [|Green Pudding]**
 * [|Rasberry Pudding] ** || ** [|Black Pudding] **
 * [|Collar'd Beef] **
 * [|Boiled Pigeons]**
 * [|Chicken-Pie] **
 * [|Capon or Hen with Oysters] **
 * [|Roste Lobsters]**
 * [|Baked Swan]**
 * [|Baked Turkey]**
 * [|Baked Black-birds] **
 * [|Baked Goose]**
 * [|Fricasie of Eggs] **
 * [|Pudding of Goose Blood] **
 * [|Liver Puddings] **
 * [|Stewed Pudding]**
 * [|Calves Tongues] **
 * [|Boiled Capon]**
 * [|Boiled Rabbit]**
 * [|Boiled Duck]**
 * [|Boiled Partridges]**
 * [|Stewed Trout]**
 * [|Pike with Oysters] **
 * [|Rost Pig with a Pudding in his Belly]**
 * [|Venison]**
 * [|Fillet of Veal] **
 * [|Boiled Mutton]**
 * [|Broth]**
 * [|Calves Head with Oisters] **
 * [|Rost Larks with Bacon]**
 * [|Pie of Shrimps] **
 * [|Pig Pie] **
 * [|Carp Pie] **
 * [|Red Deer Pie] **
 * [|Lamprey Pie] **
 * [|Boiled Flounders]**
 * [|Bulloks Cheek] **
 * [|Venison Pasty]**
 * [|Bacon Froize] **
 * [|Gammon Pie]**
 * [|Haggis]**
 * [|Potato Pie] **
 * [|Rosted Kidney of Veal]**
 * [|Artichokes]**
 * [|Quail Sauce]** ||
 * ** Old Elizabethan Dessert Recipes ** || ** Old Elizabethan Recipes ** ||

=== Also, a famous hot wine recipe from the website [|www.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/springfield/eliz/elizfood.html] is as follows: === <span style="color: #808000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1/2 put (275 ml) water 11/2 (850 ml) white wine 8 oz (225 g) ground almonds 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) ground ginger 1 tsp (5 ml) clear honey or white sugar A good pinch of salt A good pinch of Powdered Saffron or a few drops of yellow food coloring.

Bring the water and wine to a boil in a sauce pan. Put in the almonds and add the ginger, honey, or sugar and salt. Stir in the saffron or food coloring, and leave off the heat to stand for 15-30 minutes. Bring back to a boil, and serve very hot, in small heat proof bowls.