Food

How a family lived depended on who they were. The courtiers set the fashions in clothes, food, and homes. The gentry and rich merchants copied what they could afford. The farmers and craftsmen came next, and last came the labouring poor. Fashion, of course, meant nothing to the poor - their concern was just to stay alive.

In the time of the Tudors, most English people ate only two meals a day. They had dinner between eleven in the morning and twelve noon, and supper between five and eight o'clock in the evening. By 1750, nobles and gentry were dining at between two and three in the afternoon. To keep them going until then, they ate breakfast (tea and bread and butter) in the morning.

The nobles ate a great deal of meat. As well as beef, mutton, and pork, they were fond of rabbits, deer, and swans. And those who could afford it had sauces made from spices and herbs to go with the meat. They were fond of fish and shell-fish as well, and liked lots of tarts and puddings. But they were not so keen on vegetables.

In the sixteenth century, the law forced people to eat fish on two days each week. The reason was to strengthen the navy! By making people eat fish, the king made sure that there would be plenty of fishermen. And in time of war the fishermen were the crews of the ships in the navy.

A rich man's banquet consisted of three or more 'courses'. And a course meant a table filled with dishes. At the end of the meal, what was left was taken out for the servants. What they did not eat was given to the poor.

Walter Robson: Crown, Parliament and People; Oxford University Press, 1992/2002, page 73