Shruti

=Diet in the Elizabethan Era=

[[image:herbs.gif align="left" caption="Herbs used in cooking (Levick)"]]Vegetables and Fruit:[[image:carrotss.gif align="right" caption="Carrots that serfs might have eaten. (Levick)"]]
Vegetables and fruits, astoundingly, were eaten more often by the lower classes, and less so by the nobility and privileged. Vegetables and fruits were available seasonally, and were often grown locally. Food that came from the ground was viewed with suspicion, such as roots and carrots ([|Levick]). Most of the foods that modern society refers to as vegetables were actually referred to as herbs in the Elizabethan Era. Fruit was only eaten by the privileged in pies, pastries, jams, or the like, that were intensely sweetened. As the rich barely ate fresh produce, they encountered an array of health problems, not limited to scurvy, skin disease, and rickets ([|"Elizabethan Era Food"]).

Sweeteners, Spices, and Preservatives:
People who had funds used sugar to sweeten their food. Most people used honey if they could afford it, and those who couldn't made do without. It became fashionable during this period to blacken the teeth with cosmetics so that it appeared that one had enough wealth to afford such sweet food. During this period, preservation by freezing had not developed yet. Thus, salt was used extensively on fish and meat to keep it eatable. Animals were killed in autumn, salted, and kept for consumption. Also used to preserve meat is smoking (Picard 156). This, as well as salting, resulted in a rather unpleasant taste. Because of this, people of the Elizabethan era spiced their food very strongly to try to mask the taste of the salt and smoke. Another reason to season heavily was to cover up the fact that the food might not be as fresh at it should be ([|Coles]; [|"Elizabethan Food"]). Some spices that were used by the lower classes included pepper and mustard. Costlier seasonings used by the privileged included saffron, cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon ([|Coles]). People also pickled their food to help preserve it.

Drink:
Mead, a drink made from honey, was a popular choice during this period. Water was completely unsuitable for consumption as standards of cleanliness simply had not developed yet, and waste was mixed in to water sources. Thus, the only potable options were alcoholic. Beer was also drunk, as was wine. Both were consumed widely and in great variety. Beer was most often produced from barley, and could have been flavored with (wild) hops ([|Levick]). Wine was mostly imported, although homemade fruit wines were quite likely to appear at a feast (Picard 167). Also, ale was a popular choice, and was made from malt and water. Elizabethans mostly drank alcoholic beverages, however, these drinks had a very low alcoholic content ([|"Elizabethan Era Food"]).



Cooking Methods:
Most meals consisted of a stew, pottage, or something similar, accompanied with bread. Stews were eaten by the entire society, regardless of class, and they were prepared in large cauldrons. Social class, however, would be a way to predict what kind of pot was used. For example, serfs generally used a clay pot that was placed near the hearth, while yeomen utilized a suspended metal cauldron over a fire. A nobleman's cook had the run of a large kitchen with cooking utensils, cauldrons, and fireplaces galore. Baking took place in an oven or griddle ([|Coles]; [|Levick]). People also ate biscuits, preroasted meat, and pies, the equivalent of our fast food. People also simply boiled their foods, pickled, or spit roasted ([|"Elizabethan Era Food"]). To get rid of the salty, tough taste that resulted from salting, chefs resorted to soaking meat. Roots were also soaked as to make digestion easier ([|Levick]).

Meat:
The average table in Elizabethan England may have had chicken, fish, pork, and beef. The poor ate meat much less often than the rich, simply because it was too expensive. They thus had a much more balanced diet as their normal meal included a variety of vegetables. Because of the dominant influence of the church, fish was eaten with regularity ([|"Elizabethan Food"]). However, people could apply for licenses to eat meat on fish days "for their health" (Picard 154). Chickens were only eaten when they were too old to lay eggs anymore ([|Coles]). Eggs were an expensive foodstuff. Cows and sheep also valued for the hide and wool. Birds such as ducks and geese were eaten as well, along with any number of wild birds ([|Levick]).