![]() Poorer European Medieval households generally had a kettle (Fig. 2): a three-legged pot over a small fire. (courtesy of For example, here is a woodcut of a simple kitchen set-up (Fig. Closeup of a three-footed bronze pot, 14th Century. I've focused on upper-class cooking simply because period cookbooks and most period cooking resources focus solely on food preparation for the nobility, rather than on more rustic cooking for the lower classes.įig. I also looked at depictions of Hampton Court Palace during the 1540s. Specifically, much of it is from the late 16 th Century work of Bartolomeo Scappi, as well as some German works. While there are woodblock prints, paintings, tapestries, books of hours illuminations, and other artwork depicting cooking scenes of earlier Medieval periods (and other countries), the majority of information that I found on this subject is dated from the later period. Due to a desire for brevity and the availability of online images of this subject, it focuses on the court or manor kitchens of the early to mid-Renaissance of Italy and Germany, with minor discussion of France and England. (courtesy of This paper is an overview of the Renaissance diet and kitchen, its layout and structure, the types of jobs needed to create meals, and the equipment used for those jobs. 1), that necessary manual labor was accomplished with a variety of pots, pans, buckets and other storage containers, solid and perforated spoons, and other equipment that we recognize today… and some that we don’t commonly use, such as bellows, turn-spits, and mortars & pestles.įig. ![]() ![]() ![]() The kitchen was assiduously kept clean, and its success relied upon hours of manual labor rather than the time-saving devices on which we modern cooks depend.Īs depicted in this 16 th Century German woodcut of a cook testing the contents of a pot on a stove (Fig. The answer might surprise you – both descriptions in period recipes and depictions in period artwork reveal that the kitchen of a manor or palace was a well-organized and meticulously coordinated operation with up to dozens of servants assigned to specific tasks (often in several different rooms). ![]() We rarely really think about how those recipes were prepared back then – not the proportions of ingredients and the timing of the cooking, but actually what equipment was used! Judging from these menus of foods selected not only for their taste and texture but also their color and smell, a meal prepared in the high Middle Ages for nobility was a lavish experience for all the senses.īut these menus also beg the question to the modern cook: how ever did a cook of that time prepare this variety of elaborate dishes in a kitchen with dirt floors, a wood- or coal-fired heating source, no running water, and no modern appliances such as food processors or spice grinders?Īs history buffs and cooks, we look at period recipes and try to figure out how to recreate them. Looking at the menus suggested in A Noble Boke Off Cookry, Du Fait de Cuisine, Le Menagier de Paris, The Good House-wife, The Accomplisht Cook, and other period food resources, one is delighted by the array of savory roasted meats, fowl, and fish with sumptuous sauces, complex stews, rich pastries, and fancifully decorated sweets of sugarplate and almond paste. Originally presented Januin Colorado Springs Æthelmearc Æcademy, Stormsport, June 19, 2004 Overview of Cooking Equipment in the Medieval KitchenĮuropean Cooking from Rome to the Renaissance IIĪ Study of Cooking Tasks, Methods, and Equipment ![]()
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