# Where CAN You Get AUTHENTIC Medieval Cuisine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 1, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-get-authentic-medieval-cuisine/227062 "2004-02-01T18:01:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-get-authentic-medieval-cuisine/227062/1 "2004-02-01T18:01:44Z")
I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have eaten at a banquest in medieval times.I realize that we enjoy a tremendous variety of fresh foods today that were simply not available in medieval times…such things as tomatoes, potatoes, oranges, chili peppers were unknown to medieval chefs. Anyway, suppose we were dining at the table of some 14th-century italian nobleman…like Lorenzo DeMedici. What would dinner consist of? Would most people of today LIKE the medievaldishes? I’ve heard that the cooks of the period went heavy on the spices…andused an inordinate amount of salt. Are there any restaurants (in NYC) where you can eat medieval style food? (Don’t mention that “Medieval Manor”-dinner show places…they are horrible!) ---
**Author:** ![Thrasymachus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@Thrasymachus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thrasymachus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-get-authentic-medieval-cuisine/227062/2 "2004-02-01T18:50:33Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Are there any restaurants (in NYC) where you can eat medieval style food? > (Don’t mention that “Medieval Manor”-dinner show places…they are horrible!) Not sure about NYC, but there’s a band of re-enactment enthusaists near Carnation WA that put on such a feast a few times a year in a fairly authentic looking hall. Here’s their menu for the one coming up in May: Cours i TRENCHER BREAD (to eat & to eat upon) ENGLISH CHEESES (Cotswold & Sage Derby) A FRITOR of ERBES A GRETE HERB & FLOWER SALAT A TART IN YMBRE DAY (onion & current pie) ROSTE LAMB IN FRESEYES (strawberry sauce) APULMOS (apple-almond sauce) MAY WINE - MUSTE (spiced juice) Cours ii PEASCODDES (sautéed snowpeas) CHECONES IN CRITONE (almond & pine nut sauce) QUALYS ROSTYD with SWETE MUSTARD JACK-O-THE-GREEN CAKES FRESH FRUIT OF THE SEASON PYMENTE (herb-honey wine) - MUSTE I don’t bother with this because it sounds terrible - oh sure, I’ve got medieval armor (cool), and books about the period (cool), but when comes to eating I’d much rather have the benefit of the last few centuries. Hard to beat beer-battered fish or a good cut of steak! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-get-authentic-medieval-cuisine/227062/3 "2004-02-01T18:55:57Z")
A feast prepared by aristocracy would certainly have been palattable to a modern person. Here is an example of a 14th century feast: [http://www.kateryndedevelyn.org/french1.htm](http://www.kateryndedevelyn.org/french1.htm) Among some of the goodies:Stuffed Mutton shoulder, vegeteble soups, sweet tarts, venison and chicken in various different sauces and jelly. You’d also expect to see flower salads and dishes featuring pork and venison such as goose, duck, etc. I’m hungry now! And if someone can point us to a medieval restaurant in NYC, I’m hopin on the next path train! ---
**Author:** ![Another\_Suzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@Another\_Suzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Another_Suzi)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2004, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-get-authentic-medieval-cuisine/227062/4 "2004-02-02T02:50:08Z")
First Course: Cold Delicacies from the Sideboard. Pieces of marzipan and marzipan balls Neopolitan spice cakes Malaga wine and Pisan buscuits Fresh grapes Proscuitto cooked in wine, served with capers and grape pulp Salted pork tongues cooked in wine, sliced Spit-roasted songbirds, cold, with their tongues sliced over them Sweet mustard Second Course: Hot Foods from the Kitchen, Roasts. Fried veal sweatbreads and liver Spit-roasted skylarks with lemon sauce Spit-roasted quails with sliced eggplant Stuffed spit-roasted pigeons with capers sprinkled over them Spit-roasted rabbits, with sauve and crushed pine nuts Partridges larded and spit-roasted, served with lemon Heavily seasoned poultry with lemon slices Slices of veal, spit roasted, with sauce made from the juices Leg of goat, spit-roasted with a sauce made from the juices Soup of almond paste, with the flesh of three pigeons to each serving Third Course: Hot Foods from the Kitchen, Boiled Meats and Stews. Stuffed fat geese, boiled, Lombard style and covered with sliced almonds Stuffed breast of veal, boiled and garnished with flowers Very young calf, boiled and garnished with parsley Almonds in garlic sauce Turkish-style rice with milk, sprinkled with cinnamon Stewed pigeons with mortadella sausage and whole onions Cabbage soup with sausages Poultry pie, two chickens to each pie Fricasseed breast of goat dressed with fried onions Pies filled with custard cream Boiled calves feet with cheese and egg Fourth Course: Delicacies from the Side Board: Bean tarts Quince pastries Pear tarts, the pears wrapped in marzipan Parmesan cheese and Riviera cheese Fresh almonds on vine leaves Chestnuts roasted over the coals and served with salt and pepper Milk curds Ring-shaped cakes Wafers made from ground corn Voila, your meal Sire Now, having thought about the food that is served…you can imagine that you can get a fabulous meal anywhere without eating pigeon. 😉