Food Historian ?

RJ said:

[snip]
What made up a common meal in 14th century Europe ?

Europe in the 14th century was a disaster, with the Black (bubonic)
Plague killing off probably half the population. Not a time for
festive dining. -aem

RJ said:

I've been reading a book about "Latin American Cuisine".
They started to list the foods that came from the New World;

Corn Potatoes Yams Chili Peppers
Beans Squash Tomatoes Chocolate,
etc.etc.

I can't imagine a meal without one of these ingredients.

Pre-Columbian European cooking must've been pretty dull.
Cabbage, beets, pork, grain-based starches.....

Imagine Italian cooking without tomatoes.
or Asian cuisine without peppers.

What made up a common meal in 14th century Europe ?

<rj>

Would depend on your location and social status.
Try this link for some English info:

http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/foc/

Bubba

--
You wanna measure or you wanna cook?

Bubba said:

RJ said:

I've been reading a book about "Latin American Cuisine".
They started to list the foods that came from the New World;

Corn Potatoes Yams Chili Peppers
Beans Squash Tomatoes Chocolate,
etc.etc.

I can't imagine a meal without one of these ingredients.

Pre-Columbian European cooking must've been pretty dull.
Cabbage, beets, pork, grain-based starches.....

Imagine Italian cooking without tomatoes.
or Asian cuisine without peppers.

What made up a common meal in 14th century Europe ?

<rj>

Would depend on your location and social status.
Try this link for some English info:

http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/foc/

Bubba

Lots of stew/soup type dishes until the wide spread use of Cast iron or
standardized cuts of meat, if you even had access to meat.

Quoted post said:

I've been reading a book about "Latin American Cuisine".
They started to list the foods that came from the New World;

Corn Potatoes Yams Chili Peppers
Beans Squash Tomatoes Chocolate,
etc.etc.

That's about it. Not much more than that. True yams come from Africa
not the New World (but presumably you meant sweet potatoes). Only
certain beans are New World; other legumes are Old World.

Quoted message said:

I can't imagine a meal without one of these ingredients.

Think the food the rest of the world eats.

Quoted message said:

Pre-Columbian European cooking must've been pretty dull.
Cabbage, beets, pork, grain-based starches.....

Not at all. Remember that wheat, rice, citrus fruits, apples etc were
imported *into* the New World. There were also game animals and fish.
Plenty of herbs/wild salad greens depending on climate. Plenty of fruits
and berries in season. People preserved much more food than is done now
in the US.

Quoted message said:

Imagine Italian cooking without tomatoes.

Very easily. Most Italian cooking doesn't involve tomatoes. Go read some
good cookbooks.

Quoted message said:

or Asian cuisine without peppers.

Also easily done. Black pepper didn't come from the New World and it's
easy to do Asian cooking without a single chile.

Quoted message said:

What made up a common meal in 14th century Europe ?

Just as in the US heavily dependent on location and income.

There are library books on Mediaeval cooking.