# Would We Find Medieval Dining Habits Gross? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-find-medieval-dining-habits-gross/530574 "2010-02-26T21:54:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-find-medieval-dining-habits-gross/530574/21 "2010-03-01T23:08:03Z")
And for a book on early modern table manners, check out [Peter Brears’ \*Cooking and Dining in Medieval England \*](http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Dining-Medieval-England-Brears/dp/1903018552) ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-find-medieval-dining-habits-gross/530574/22 "2010-03-02T07:03:30Z")
In _That Hideous Strength_, Ransom entertains the awakened Merlin to dinner. After twelve centuries or more, most modern tableware is beyond the old wizard’s ken, but Ransom observes that he is just as fastidious according to his own lights as Ransom is by his. ---
**Author:** ![Woeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Woeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Woeg)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-find-medieval-dining-habits-gross/530574/23 "2010-03-02T15:21:41Z")
Just a quick plug for the [Gode Cookery](http://www.godecookery.com/godeboke/godeboke.htm) website - awesome place for finding medieval recipes and feasting information. Woeg AKA Lord Bastiano Francisco de Valencia, Kingdom of Meridies 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-find-medieval-dining-habits-gross/530574/24 "2010-03-02T15:35:07Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > From what I recall on eating meat, it was picked up in one hand, then you got your teeth around a piece, then used your knife to slice (upward) the piece off. As opposed to simply ripping at it with your teeth. Yikes. That sounds dangerous. Probably less so if you’re used to doing it, but still. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-find-medieval-dining-habits-gross/530574/25 "2010-03-02T15:52:49Z")
[The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century](http://www.amazon.com/Time-Travelers-Guide-Medieval-England/dp/1439112894/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267543409&sr=1-1) by Ian Mortimer has a chapter on dining. Before the meal, servants would bring you a pitcher of water and a bowl to catch the runoff, and towels to dry your hands. Bread was a staple. High-ranking people ate wheat bread, low-ranking people ate rye. They often baked more than they could eat in one sitting. Older, dry bread would be cut into “trenchers”, which served as dinner plates. After the meal, the trenchers would be donated to the poor, or fed to the hogs. Meatballs were common. Large pieces of meat would be cut up before being served. One of a young boy’s first tasks was to learn how to use a pair of carving knives. Three days a week, and all during Lent, meat was forbidden, and fish was served instead. Vegetables were nearly always cooked. Mortimer says raw vegetables were considered unsafe. According to one of Terry Jones’ TV shows, this was because the farms were often fertilized with human waste. The highest-ranking people in the hall would be served wine. The lowest-ranking people would be served ale. Milk was for small children and old people. Water was often unsafe to drink ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-find-medieval-dining-habits-gross/530574/26 "2010-03-02T16:15:15Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > In _That Hideous Strength_, Ransom entertains the awakened Merlin to dinner. After twelve centuries or more, most modern tableware is beyond the old wizard’s ken, but Ransom observes that he is just as fastidious according to his own lights as Ransom is by his. After years of seeing your posts around here, I only just now connected your name to that Trilogy. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-find-medieval-dining-habits-gross/530574/27 "2010-03-02T17:05:08Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > After years of seeing your posts around here, I only just now connected your name to that Trilogy. :smack: Excellent! [Here’s your sign.](http://jacksond.net/sighn/heres_your_sign_photo.gif) 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-we-find-medieval-dining-habits-gross/530574.md?page=1)