Food and Drink in Tudor England

I’m delighted to welcome back Terry Breverton to On the Tudor Trail. Terry’s latest book, ‘The Tudor Kitchen: What the Tudors Ate & Drank’ contains over 500 recipes, all taken from contemporary sources. Terry is here today to talk to us about his new book and to share two Tudor recipes.

Book Blurb:

Did you ever wonder what the Tudors ate and drank? What was Anne Boleyn’s favorite tipple? Which pies did Henry VIII gorge on to go from a 32 to a 54-inch waist? The Tudor Cookbook provides a new history of the Tudor kitchen, and of both the sumptuous – and more everyday – recipes enjoyed by rich and poor, all taken from authentic contemporary sources. The kitchens of the Tudor palaces were equipped to feed a small army of courtiers, visiting dignitaries and various hangers-on of the aristocracy. Tudor court food purchases in just one year were no less than 8,200 sheep, 2,330 deer and 53 wild boar, plus countless birds such as swan (and cygnet), peacock, heron, capon, teal, gull, and shoveler. Tudor feasting was legendary, Henry VIII even managed to impress the French at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520 with a twelve-foot marble and gold leaf fountain dispensing claret and white wine into silver cups, free for all!

What the Tudors Ate & Drank

By Terry Breverton

We all have a stereotype of Tudor feasts, with grease dribbling from chins and bones being hurled over the shoulder, but in the upper classes they were formalised affairs, where etiquette and hygiene were extremely important. The age also saw an amazing variety of new dishes, many of which have been taken from contemporary sources for this cookbook. As well as giving us interesting and useful recipes, the book tells us to forget popcorn – when being entertained by Shakespeare’s plays, theatre-goers enjoyed vast quantities of oysters, crabs, cockles, mussels, periwinkles and whelks, as well as walnuts, hazelnuts, raisins, plums, cherries, dried figs, peaches, elderberry and blackberry pies and sturgeon steaks.

Part One of The Tudor Kitchen explains how the Tudors farmed, their animals and cereals, with the majority of the population having a monotonous diet with very little meat or fish. The first two chapters describe Tudor food and drink, and the differences between diets and the classes. The third chapter informs us about the great kitchens such as Hampton Court and Chapter 4 tells us of royal feasts, etiquette and helps understand why Henry VIII went from a 32-inch waist aged 30, to a 54-inch waist aged 55. Part Two gives us around 500 recipes of the times, which can be tried by curious or enterprising readers. There are some astonishing combinations of flavours, and Tudor cuisine is something we are only now coming to appreciate.

There could be up to a hundred courses served at some banquets, along with entertainments, but for the upper classes meals were like the Chinese dim sum, Indian thali or Spanish tapas – with people tasting dishes, not finishing them. Leftovers were shared between the servants or given to the poor – nothing was wasted.

It was a healthy diet, with low salt and sugar (except for the very rich, which is why Henry VIII expanded in girth), and no potatoes, although sweet potatoes were known. There were astonishing flavour combinations or sweet and sour, fruit and meat and the like, and some of the foods have only come back into British cuisine in the last fifty years. Who knew that pasta was used in long voyages by Drake, Hawkins and Raleigh. They took pasta and couscous on board, as well as rice. Globe artichokes, chickpeas, ravioli, macaroni, pomegranates, saveloy, Polish sausage, quiche, fritters, crackers and vegetable crisps were all consumed, along with otter and puffins on ‘fish days’. We also find that storks, bittern and egrets were eaten, but have been almost extinct in Britain until recently.

‘Compost’ was cold spiced vegetables in wine and honey sauce, and ‘garbage’ was a not so delightful broth of chicken heads, feet and livers. ‘Rapes in potage’ in the book has been renamed as ‘Baldrick’s turnip broth’.

SALMON SALLET FOR FISH DAYS – SALMON AND ONION SALAD WITH VIOLETS

Thomas Dawson’s The Good Huswifes Jewell 1585, 1594, 1596

‘Salmon cut long waies with slices of onyons upon it layd and upon that to cast Violets, Oyle and Vineger’.

Colours and presentation were extremely important at the rich man’s table, especially when demonstrating one’s wealth, and therefore power, to guests. Many types of edible flower were used, both for taste and visual appeal. Flowers were also set at table to enhance the presentation of the food. Large and elaborate sculptures and settings of ‘flowers’ were even made of cut vegetables and herbs, if attractive flowers were not in season. This has a resonance today. With a well-presented dish, in attractive settings, we often think mentally that the meal is a small portion, and we eat it more slowly. We then realise that we are full, and consequently tend to eat less in quantity than when a mound of food is heaped on our plates. One can easily make this a main meal rather than a starter, and substitute other edible flowers such as nasturtiums.

Ingredients: Salmon fillet cut into 4 strips for 4 servings; large mild onion sliced very thin; 1 tbsp lemon juice; 2 tbsp white wine vinegar; 1 tsp sugar; ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil; ¾ cup edible violets; salt and pepper to taste.

Method: Put the vinegar, sugar and lemon juice into a bowl and slowly whisk in the olive oil. Season to taste, then add the sliced onion to the vinaigrette. Remove the onion for later. Lightly coat with some of the vinaigrette, and place under a preheated medium grill. Cook for 3-4 minutes each side, or until firm. Place a mound of the onion in the centre of each dish, with the salmon strip on top. Drizzle the rest of the vinaigrette over the salmon, and scatter violets across the top.

A DYSSCHEFULL OF SNOWE – STRAWBERRIES ON SNOW

A Proper Newe Book of Cokery c.1575

Use culinary, not cosmetic, rosewater, which is available in delicatessens or on the web. Rose water was our preferred flavouring ingredient until the advent of vanilla in the seventeenth cnetury, and is only now coming back into favour with the increasing popularity of Middle Eastern cuisine. Ratafia biscuits resemble small macaroons. Two pints of strawberries weigh about 1 to 1½ pounds, 3-4 cups if sliced.

Ingredients: 8 egg whites; 1 pint whipping cream; ½ cup sugar; 1-2 tbsp rose water; 2 pints strawberries; 1 cup red wine; separate ¼ cup sugar; ½ tsp cinnamon; ¼ tsp ginger; ratafia or amaretti biscuits or wafers.

Method: Whip the cream and set aside. Beat egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the egg whites to the whipped cream, and whisk together. Add rose water, and add a little sugar at a time of the half-cup, blending in smoothly. Place cleaned strawberries into a bowl. Mix red wine, ¼ cup of sugar, cinnamon, and ginger. Pour mixture over strawberries and allow to marinade for at least an hour. Serve the ‘snow’ with strawberries on top and with a couple of wafers or amaretti/ratafia biscuits on the side.