Anyone who is a history buff has probably wondered what kind of food they ate in the medieval days at some time or another.
Well, thanks to this video, we’re going to learn exactly what that was, and you won’t believe what the peasants ate.
A window to the past
YouTube channel Modern History TV takes us on a journey of historical eating, giving us a glimpse into the past by showing us what the peasants of medieval times used to eat.
They ate better than people think
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With the help of food historian Chris Carr, host of Modern History TV, Jason, tried out the foods that would have been served to the poorer parts of medieval societies.
He couldn’t believe what he was eating.
Bread was a sign of class
Believe it or not, the food that distinguished people’s status in the Middle Ages was bread. It was all in the color.
The browner your bread, the poorer you were back in those days.
The first bread Chris shows Jason is a low-end bread made of barley and rye, and he immediately takes note of its color.
So what made it browner for the peasants back then? The reason is simple- more effort goes into making the white flower.
Because people felt peasants didn’t deserve as much, they put less effort into their bread.
Many peasants drank beer from the age of five
There’s a common misconception that people in medieval times only drank ale.
This is far from the truth.
People who had a clean source of water or the resources to get water drank it, but others didn’t have any choice but resort to beer.
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This meant many peasants had no choice but to drink ale, in many cases from the age of a child all the way into adulthood.
The next peasant food shown might shock you, and you may have even paid $30 for it in a restaurant.
The king of fish
When Chris pulls out the next dish, Jason couldn’t believe his eyes.
He saw big fillets of salmon.
That’s right, the peasants back then were accustomed to eating the fish we all pay so much for now.
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Back in the Middle Ages. the rivers were packed with salmon, which meant the abundant supply made it less sought-after and good food for the peasant population.
Jason finally gets to eat.
Chris shows Jason how to make a medieval sorrel sauce with a recipe from the Middle Ages, before cooking all the food that peasants used to eat and blowing him away.
Not knowing what to expect, Jason is completely impressed by the food that the peasants use to eat.
Nowadays, that’s more like the meal of a King than a peasant. Oh, how the times have changed.
See this “peasant” meal come together like a gourmet dish in the video below!
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