Meals did often begin with cold foods, but these rarely appear in medieval and Renaissance cookbooks. This is either because they were purchased or perhaps more importantly, they were not included among the responsibili- ties of the cook and kitchen, which provided hot prepared dishes. That is, foods that required no cooking were often supplied by a separate officer, the credenziero in Italy, the butler, pantler, or various other officials elsewhere. Most important among these is bread. Everywhere, throughout the centu- ries covered by this book, bread would have been present at the table. The wealthiest people ate thin crustless slices of white bread, which were pre- sented ceremoniously on a long flat blade and served as a plate onto which other foods could be placed, eaten daintily with the fingers, of course. By the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, plates began to replace the bread trencher, but bread was still always present. Nobles ate fine soft white bread or manchet as it was called in England, while ordinary people ate darker coarser bread, the amount of bran increasing among poorer families. In the north rye bread was common, or sometimes a combination of wheat and rye—called maslin.
Along with bread there was also, in Italy, an entire course or several courses devoted only to cold foods, what we would call appetizers and pal- ate cleansers. They usually came at the start of a meal, but often between courses as well, though in France an entremet, as it was called, was often a hot savory dish between other courses. The only thing these foods had in common was that they were cold; they could be made of meat, fowl, fish, pastry, and even sweets. For example, a typical first cold course might con- sist of prosciutto, a cold chicken pie, pickled fish, salads, sugar sculptures, and so on. This was not the pattern everywhere, and in fact in England, the custom was to start with roasts and heavier foods and move toward lighter ones at the end of the meal. In any case, there were many cold foods in
medieval and Renaissance cuisine and not surprisingly, the recipes for them are comparatively scarce.
Soups
Soups were without doubt one of the major mainstays of the popular diet throughout Europe for the entire period covered in this book, and certainly long after as well. The poorer the family, the greater their dependence on soup—in which could be put any type of vegetable, grain, or meat. In fact, it was often customary to just keep a soup pot over the hearth, continually adding ingredients at hand, indefinitely. Beans could be added, cabbage and leafy greens, practically anything. Soups were also eaten any time of day, in the morning in the rustic farmhouse, or as an evening’s supper, made of left over ingredients. Soups also varied according to thickness, and recipes usu- ally distinguish between thin bouillons and broths and thicker pottages—or what in Italian were called minestre, as in the modern word minestrone. Also, many of these recipes are what was called “sops”—the ancestor of our word soup and the meal soupper or supper. The sop is a slice of bread at the bottom of the bowl that soaks up the liquid, making it a more substantial dish, appropriate for a late evening meal or a large first course. The reci- pes that have survived are naturally intended for wealthier households and were made for a single meal, but were usually based on a bouillon which would be on hand as a kitchen staple. It is best, naturally, to make a broth or stock yourself at home—and it is fairly easy to do, though time-consuming. Essentially a chicken or beef with bones is boiled slowly with aromatic vegetables such as onions, celery, and carrots for several hours and is then strained. There were also vegetable-based broths, even one based on dried peas. These were used as bases for soups and other dishes. We can never know, however, exactly what went into these bases, and cookbook authors merely assume they will be available in every good kitchen. For modern cooks canned broth is a quick alternative. Bouillon cubes are usually too salty and hide the flavor of almost any ingredient.
Meat
Throughout the entire period covered by this book, meat was invariably the centerpiece of any formal meal, with the exception of fast days. Recipes in cookbooks, designed for wealthy readers, always focused on meat. This is because meat was usually the most complicated food to prepare and the one on which cooks lavished their greatest attention. It does not follow, though,
that medieval and Renaissance diners only ate meat and nothing else. None- theless, it is still hard to deny that meat is what interested people most. Counter to our impression that noble diners preferred large whole animals roasted on a spit, and preferably huge hunted beasts like boar or venison, most recipes call for meat to be cut up during the cooking process, if not pounded into a smooth puree. It may also be that simple roasts required no recipe and therefore it is the more complicated creations that appear in cookbooks.
Among the meats, wild animals were favored for their intense gamey flavor, which matched well with spices and piquant sauces. But domestic meats were also very common, pork and beef, but also lamb and mutton (from mature sheep), as well as kid, or baby goat. There were regional differ- ences, as well as changes in preference over time. In general, beef was more common in Northern Europe, while southern Europeans tended to depend more heavily on younger animals such as lamb and veal. These are not hard- and-fast rules, though, and most cookbooks offer at least a few recipes for every meat available.
Some historians have also stressed that the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were the heyday of meat eating in Europe for all social classes. Interestingly, in the Late Middle Ages, a period of relatively low popula- tion following the first outbreak of bubonic plague in 1348, meat was rela- tively inexpensive. That is, due to general economic prosperity among those fortunate to survive, a greater proportion of the average household budget could be spent on meat. This situation changed gradually in the sixteenth century as the population grew and more money had to be spent on basic and inexpensive staples such as grains, legumes, and vegetables. In wealthy households, meat remained a central feature, though, and even a symbol of status. Increasingly it was only the rich who could afford to serve meat at every meal, except in Catholic countries when it was forbidden during Lent and other fast days.
Fowl
Chickens, wild fowl, and even waterfowl such as ducks, heron, swan, and crane were considered among the most elegant of all foods that ap- peared in medieval and Renaissance banquets. Even tiny little birds such as thrushes and fig peckers were perennial favorites. In the case of wild birds, these were captured by falcons, one of the favorite pastimes of Eu- ropean nobles. The white flesh of domestic fowl was also highly appre- ciated and was thought to be easily digested. Capons, or castrated male roosters, were considered the lightest of fowl, and along with pheasant,
perfectly apt for delicate pal- ates. Peacock, especially served resewn into its feathers, was a standard presentation dish as well. Practically every bird was eaten in some form—roasted, pounded, and placed into pies or sautéed with other ingredi- ents. By the sixteenth century, turkeys also appeared and took their place alongside other do- mestic fowl.