Fast and Feast: Food in Medieval Society

by Bridget Ann Henisch

Engagingly written and fully illustrated, Fast and Feast explores the medieval approach to food, its preparation, and its presentation. Since attitudes toward food were shaped by the religious and social ideas of the period, the medieval perspective is clearly developed for the modern reader and, in turn, sheds light on the character of life in the Middle Ages. The subject is examined from the varied points of view of all host, guest, cook, and servant. Bridget Ann Henisch draws her material from a wide range of primary devotional literature, sermons, courtesy books, recipe collections, household accounts, chronicles, and romances. Most of these works were written in England during the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, but Henisch also makes reference to texts from other periods and countries. Readers with an interest in food will find her important study both informative and entertaining.

Genres: History, Food, Nonfiction, Food History, Food and Drink, Cookbooks, Medieval

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1977

Reviews

[Louise Culmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable book about food in medieval times, mainly that eaten by the upper classes, about whom of course there is more information. The chapter on fasts is particularly entertaining, as we learn a lot about what people could and could not eat during fasts, and how sick for instance everyone got of herrings. There are chapters on cooks and kitchens, menusd methods, , on laying the table, manners etc. The book is packed with interesting information, and many quotes from medieval writers. If you want to know more about food eaten by ordinary people, however, I recommend Food and Feast in Medieval England by P.W. Hammond,who covers what was eaten by all the classes.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is marvelous. Henisch describes the customs and culture of food and eating in the Middle Ages, mostly focusing on England and Northern Europe, in an entertaining style that is fun and easy to read but not overly simplistic. There are many illustrations and contemporary quotes to highlight her discussions of fasting, feasting, methods of cooking, table manners, entertainment and actual foodstuffs. A delight to read whether you're a hardcore SCAer or just interested in the history of food in the Western world.

[Kate Irwin-smiler · Rating 3 out of 5]

It gets tedious at times, and the author is inconsistent in providing translations of Medieval English (challenging to the reader). I was willing to accept as a matter of scope the overwhelmingly Christian focus of the book, given the time and place, until the author seemed to describe a Passover Seder as a “joke.” That left an incredibly bad taste in my mouth (no pun intended).

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I found the most fascinating was just how seriously both the fasts and feasts were regarded in the middle ages - feasts were as much about piety as the fasts, rather than an excuse to party, and the fasts, all joke about the many loopholes aside, were an important part of their day-to-day culture.

A very good examination of the time period through the lens of food.

[Kartikeya Bhatotia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book, really illuminating history. Henisch’e ability to drop evergreen factoids in the middle of her narratives is amazing (eg: how the concept of curfew came to be from wanting to retain/containing kitchen fires)

Real scholarly but entertaining work, would have liked to appreciate timelines, as medieval history is a 1000+ year long affair and Henisch jumps time periods in her narratives, which makes the work really intriguing and I do believe she may have had the ability to explain the evolutions of cuisines etc