Foodstuffs

• Across Western Europe, bread, dairy products, preserved fish and inexpensive cuts of meat were available to the general public, while wealthy households had access to more exotic tastes. Some medieval foods that are found at modern supermarkets include beef, chicken, pork, cabbage, pears, oranges, apples, pistachios and walnuts. Less familiar fare in modern times included wild boar, deer, pheasant, peacock, quail, partridge, pigeon, swan, rabbit and heron. Seasonings and condiments used in medieval times included salt, sugar, honey, vinegar, olive oil and verjuice, which was the juice of crab apples or unripe fruit used in sauces.
  
  

Beverages

• According to Professor Melitta Adamson, the nobility and well-to-do used water for cooking but only the poorest peasants drank it regularly. Medieval physicians believed water interfered with digestion and advised against drinking it with meals. Most people drank alcohol or fruit juice with their meals. In warmer climates such as France and Italy that could support grapes, wine was the preferred beverage. In cooler climates such as England, Scandinavia and Germany, people drank an ancestor of beer called ale or a honey wine called mead almost every day.
  
  

Breakfast

• Today we are told that "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." However, according to Professor Adamson, medieval people didn't consider breakfast important. In fact, medieval moralists such as church leaders saw eating too early as a weakness. In spite of that, some people, such as laborers, children, the sick and the elderly, did take an early morning meal. The nobility began indulging in breakfasts consisting of meat, bread and ale in the 15th century.
  
  

Snacks

• Medieval moralists generally frowned upon snacks. However, according to Professor Adamson, most laborers took a mid-morning snack called "nuncheon" which roughly corresponds to what we would call "lunch." The nobility indulged in afternoon snack breaks referred to as "drynkyngs" which probably included copious amounts of liquid refreshment such as ale.
  
  

Dinner

• Roast pheasant was a popular medieval dish.Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images
  
  The mid-afternoon communal meal called dinner was the most important meal of the day. It was served at portable tables that were cleared away after the meal. Diners of all classes ate with their fingers, a spoon and a knife. Food was typically served on a stale slice of bread called a trencher that was given to the poor after dinner. Dinner consisted of two main courses and included soups, stews, pies, pastries, sauces, jellies, meat and fowl. Simpler fare such as fish was served on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and during Lent. However, people made up for this abstinence at holiday banquets that emphasized hedonistic indulgence and entertainment.
  
  

Supper

• Supper was supposed to be the last meal of the day, eaten right before retiring for the evening. It typically consisted of "sops" or broth, gravy, or even wine sopped up with bread. "Sop" eventually developed into what we call "soup."