Would a medieval peasant have access to that much meat?
King Richard I was once captured for ransom while traveling undercover trough Austria.
His cover was blown specifically because he tried ordering a roast chicken.
There are a few variations of the details in this story though, a peasant could definitely have owned a chicken and eaten it when it died but it was probably way more valuable to sell it.
They probably ate the roosters though? Or maybe sold them for food ofc.
Yes, they had chickens back then.
“The tall, skinny ones are confused, Brother…”
Doubtful, most common meal for peasants would have been a sort of stew of vegetables and oats called pottage.
A whole chicken would have been prohibitively expensive either to purchase or in lost money from sale at market, same for pork or beef.
Fish though would be plentiful and cheap and a valuable source of protein. Oysters were considered peasant food until pretty much the 20th century.
Wheat bread similarly would have been a rare luxury, especially made from refined white flour, rye and buckwheat, roughly ground would be far more common.
Oysters until even the late 20th century, yes?
Oysters were so common that they were incredibly cheap, but they were not considered peasant food. They were enjoyed among the different classes.
Lobster also used to be a peasant food (“cockroach of the sea”)
They’d have access, but you’re not wrong, a peasant probably isn’t going to waste that much on a single meal.
A roasted bird? Why not? Y’all are making assumptions that this is a chicken and the peasant a small farmer but why not a traveling mime trapping pigeons from the square?
You ever seen a pigeon?
Not without feathers but a bird is a bird
Depends on time and place, of course. Peasants in the late medieval period in England ate more meat than we do today (about 40% of their calories).
Even in the 1960s eating a whole chicken would have been a luxury, this isn’t peasant food, that’s the gout inducing diet of a king
Skyrim ass meal. need a wheel of cheese with it.
Try a ploughmans meal - bread, cheese and pickle. Awesome as a lunch.
Btw, that “ploughman’s lunch” was created in the 1960s by british marketing executives. It has nothing to do with medieval times, it’s just meant to evoque that vague feeling.
The branding of ploughman’s lunch was invented in the 60s but that same Wikipedia page states it had been a common meal for rural labourers for centuries.
The pickle is probably the new aspect. Farm workers have obviously been eating cheese, bread, pasties, cold meats etc. since forever.
Fermenting veggies has been around a long time too. It might not have been a pickled cucumber, but something pickled wouldn’t be unheard of.
Thank you for this info. I wouldn’t have thought to look into such a thing. It reads to me like it was created by marketers, though, not politicians. It says “the Cheese Bureau, a marketing body affiliated with the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency” created it in the '50s.
You’re right, I misremembered the article. Corrected, thanks!
Is that a pickle or some pickle?
Tangy pickle yes. Branston, piccalilli. Or pickled onions, relish, or somesuch.
Neither. It’s just pickle.
And a wineskin full of barley water, chilled in the stream
Nah, just a pint of beer
A medieval peasant on a celebration day. I doubt they could eat a whole as chicken every day
Depends on which era honestly. The medieval period lasted for nearly a thousand years and could vary about as much as one would expect, so for example a very well off peasant during the high medieval period maybe could have eaten a whole ass chicken for a while at least. Probably wouldn’t have though, at least not without turning it into soup or a sandwich equivalent.
stew 🤤️
Yeah communally like a couple times a year if lucky and most likely spent hens or cockrels not this monstrosity of a broiler meat bred bird.
Cornish game hen… maybe a quail.
I understand if any more words come pouring out of your cunt mouth, I’m going to have to eat every last chicken in this room.
Oh damn, that’s a fucking feast! Peasents can’t afford that shit.
He stole the chicken and bread, calm down Mr medieval economy
All Javerts are bastards.
deleted by creator
The roast chicken is usually not an egg creating machine though.
They are fairly young male chickens, that have been raised just past their maximum growth rates.I guess that wouldn’t have been that much different in medieval times. The difference nowadays is, that we have specialized breeds for egg-laying or meat production vice versa and the respective ‘wrong’ sex of each will just be ‘discarded’ right after hatching.
deleted by creator
Peasants? Even many nobles didn’t eat like that every day.
People think that the typical nobleman in the Middle Ages ate like King Henry VIII. That isn’t true. Did you know that they determined that at least at a few points in Vlad the Impaler’s life he was basically living on a vegan diet? They ate a hell of a lot of vegetables and grains because meat was still expensive for everyone involved.
This. You had a steady diet of vegetables and bread. Maybe eggs if you had chickens and some small bit of land. Those times were harsh as fuck
Also they weren’t guzzling wine and ale at all hours and when they did drink it was usually cut with water or what they called ‘small beer’ and very young wine (which didn’t have time to properly fermented and reach full potency) that had limited alcohol content. Also they did drink water. In the same way that in places in the world where they have limited water treatment facilities they still drink water even if it isn’t the best.
Again… they weren’t stupid. They might not have had the depth and breadth of modern medical technology on how alcohol affects you, but people knew what it did and they know what addiction is (even if they made it out to be a personal weakness) and how terrible it was.
Hell no, he had brochettes almost every day…
Humans on a stick don’t count!
“What is the charge? Eating a meal? A succulent chicken meal?”, “Get your hand off my baguette!”
More like a medieval king.
You’re eating like Final Fight.
(Hits a trashcan)
Roasted chicken.
(Hits some tires)
Bread.
100% health let’s go!!!Oh look, a lead pipe!
Haggard:
Oh yes I’m tournament viable now!Just don’t drink out of it and you’ll be okay.
Needs more golden carrot
No utensils required
Fun fact: the fork wasn’t ubiquitous across Europe until the 1700s.
If by “peasant” you mean “knight of the fucking round table” then yes
A few things to unpack here.
- That chicken is roasted nicely, but I completely understand if that was bought in that condition at the grocer’s.
- Plain bread is a travesty. it needs to be either toasted and/or you need some melted butter or gravy to sop up.
- Pair this with some fruit or pan seared/roasted vegetables. Even microwaved beans would make this nutritious. Takes very little effort, very easy to do.
- Even peasants had access to beer, ale, or home-made short-beer/kvass. Gotta calorie-max so you can work in the field tomorrow. Plus, the alcohol helps with the constant muscle-aches and fatigue from endless labor.
There are innumerable ways to elevate this meal, but I’ll keep this comment short. Anyone, feel free to message me or reply here if you want tips for that.
Plain bread is perfectly fine as long as it’s not one of those super dry breads
super dry breads
Technically that’s not bread. That’s… Hm… Wheat buttscratcher? Anywho, a proper bread with no industrial processing is moist. :)
The 0.62€ industrial baguette I buy at Despar Is fine and not dry despite being industrial
How long does it keep the moistness? Is it still moist the next day? What about day after that?
The day after it’s fine. The next day it’s meh. Provided you keep it in a paper bag and not out in the air
Then it’s slightly better industrial bread (was it baguette?), but yeah. Leavens or emulsifiers or weird making process lead to it. Like they also used one of the water retaining emusifiers instead of proper starch content - those tend to keep moistness for up to 48h since baking and then it evaporates instantly.
Non industrial bread keeps water longer, but more importantly loses it more gradually and from the outside in (so that at least the “core” is still moist).
(I’m not arguing pro/against breads here, or trying to, idk, shame you for buying baguettes lol, honestly just trying spread the knowledge)
Anywho, a proper bread with no industrial processing is moist. :)
how so?
Crumb must be crumby, but “flesh” of the bread should be moist (do not confuse it with soft). Properly made bread shouldn’t be wet or chewy.
When making bread you add water to the dough. Starch will keep the water and when baking, the flesh should retain it spread evenly. Industrial bread often dehydrates/dries it, as that’s how it works with their emulsifiers or leavens - don’t ask me why though, it’s just my observation.
And you can be sure that dry bread is either old stale bread or fresh industrial bread.
a friend of mine brought me some self-made bread yesterday, and it was indeed moist, and i instantly loved it. i wish there’s more bread like that one. idk why industrial bread tastes differently.
might be that they intentionally dessicate it for hygienic reasons? i.e. i imagine a higher water content might make it spoil faster.
imagine a higher water content might make it spoil faster.
No, on the contrary, but if improperly stored in the store it could get mold, and it’s more expensive to make.
No, on the contrary,
how so?
Plain bread is a travesty
This isn’t plain bread, good sir, this is a baguette! Well, rather small one, but still.
A medieval peasant would be wishing they could est like this.
