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A Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Food: Processing and Consumption
Information from various sources is here brought together to build up a picture of how food was grown, conserved, prepared and eaten during the period from the beginning of the fifth century to the eleventh century. No specialist knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon period or language is needed, and many people will find it fascinating for the views it gives of an important aspect of Anglo-Saxon life and culture.
192 pages, Paperback
First published December 9, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 13, 2022
I don't even recall how this one ended up on my list - maybe from the book on candy I read years ago. Anyway, this is a slim volume but draws on a wealth of information from the archeological record, as well as literature, to put together a picture of what Anglo-Saxons were eating, and how it might have been prepared. Interesting for future time travelers, current historical fiction writers, or anyone who's interested in what the food and bev landscape might have looked like back then!
September 13, 2015
Intensive treatment of the subject. With discussions of how we can piece it together. Everything from the recipes given in leechdoms to archaeological evidence, like the sieved spoon buried with ladies, probably used when they were serving the wine or mead at the great feasts, to the fact that "lady" means "bread-kneeder" so probably women made bread.
It covers everything from drying kilns used for grain, dairying, and butchery -- through storage such as brining and smoking -- cooking -- to the great patterns of feasting and fasting throughout the year.
All sorts of tidbits. Pork goes bad easily, so they never ate in the summer. They boiled just about everything because that would economically preserve as much as they could of the food. Roasting was a luxury. It was said that eating acorns and fresh fruit during pregnancy would make the child stupid, but then, since those were famine foods there might be another reason. The feasting halls were called "the wine hall" or "the mead hall," which gives you an idea of what was really important in the feasts. The vast importance of bread for food -- and apparently butter was plentiful, because writers said of more southern climes that they used olive oil the way the Ango-Saxons used butter. How people would sell themselves into slavery to get food -- one law provided that a man could sell his son under seven into slavery in case of necessity, but after seven, he needed the boy's permission. Minstrels and servants at the feast.
Neat stuff.
It covers everything from drying kilns used for grain, dairying, and butchery -- through storage such as brining and smoking -- cooking -- to the great patterns of feasting and fasting throughout the year.
All sorts of tidbits. Pork goes bad easily, so they never ate in the summer. They boiled just about everything because that would economically preserve as much as they could of the food. Roasting was a luxury. It was said that eating acorns and fresh fruit during pregnancy would make the child stupid, but then, since those were famine foods there might be another reason. The feasting halls were called "the wine hall" or "the mead hall," which gives you an idea of what was really important in the feasts. The vast importance of bread for food -- and apparently butter was plentiful, because writers said of more southern climes that they used olive oil the way the Ango-Saxons used butter. How people would sell themselves into slavery to get food -- one law provided that a man could sell his son under seven into slavery in case of necessity, but after seven, he needed the boy's permission. Minstrels and servants at the feast.
Neat stuff.
November 3, 2012
This is an excellent work, both in its specialized domain (there aren't many books on Anglo-Saxon food) and as an example of rigorous and comprehensive food history overall. It is a model of how to explore periods in food history which are little-known and under-documented (as I am currently doing myself for early French food).
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews