P. W. Hammond

I read this book because I like food and I like history, mostly Medieval to Renaissance history. I am looking for detailed information on it. Perhaps I was expecting too much from this book. The author has written many books on medieval history so I guess I should not be surprised that it was more about history then about food. I mean, yes it was about food but it is defiantly a history book not foodie book and I want a historical foodie book.

The period covered is 1250 to about 1550, and as the author says ‘there is a bias towards the fifteenth century’. I find this interesting since the author also did a Food and Feast in Tudor England which since the Tudor period should start in 1485 when Henry VII became the first Tudor king and end with the death of Elizabeth I in 1603. The author also states that ‘cooking is not covered at all’, because he doesn’t cook. What he does cover is - what was eaten, who ate what, the manners of the people while they are and whether it was nutritious or not.

The impression I had when I finished this book was as if I watched a movie through a veil, I could get a general idea of what was going on, but not a clear picture. I remember thinking as I was reading it that maybe if things were organized in a different way it might be easier to get a better picture of what was eaten etc. About the only section that really stood out was the one on table manners.

I think that it would have been nice to have had more details, more on the guilds that governed food, more about the doctrine of the ‘humours’ which is the medieval equivalent of the food pyramid, to name just a few examples.

There are 7 pages worth of bibliography which I am sure that I will find helpful as I look further into this subject.

DS… (mer)