The staple food in Yalding
is bread. People prefer
white bread made from wheat flour. However, only the richer farmers
in the village are able to grow the wheat needed to make white bread.
Wheat can only be grown in soil that has received generous amounts
of manure. Most farmers in Yalding do not have enough animals to produce
this manure, so they grow rye and barley instead.
Rye and barley produced
a dark, heavy bread. Maslin bread is made from a mixture of wheat
and rye flour. After a poor harvest, when grain is in short supply,
people are forced to include beans, peas and even acorns in their
bread.
Hugh de Audley, like most
lords of the manor, does not allow his serfs to bake their bread in
their own home. All the serfs in Yalding have to pay to use
the lord of the manor's oven.
As well as bread, the
people of Yalding also consume a great deal of pottage. This is a
kind of soup-stew made from oats. People in Yalding make different
types of pottage. Sometimes they add peas and beans. On other occasions
they use other vegetables such as onions and parsnips. Leek pottage
is especially popular.
The peasants rely mainly
on pigs for their regular supply of meat. As pigs are capable of finding
their own food in summer and winter, they can be slaughtered throughout
the year.
Geoffrey
Luttrell Psalter (1325)
Peasants also eat mutton,
but as sheep are small, thin creatures, their meat is not valued very
highly. People also use the blood of the slaughtered animal to make
black-pudding (blood, milk, animal fat, onions and oats).
There are animals such
as deer, wild boar, hares and rabbits living in the woodland surrounding
Yalding. These animals are the property of Hugh de Audley and the
villagers are not allowed to hunt them. If caught killing these animals,
they face the possibility of being punished by having their hands
cut off. The people of Yalding do have permission to hunt animals
such as hedgehogs and squirrels.
Hugh de Audley has granted
permission for people in Yalding to catch dace, grayling and gudgeon
from the River Beult. These fish are fairly small and the villagers
prefer the large eels that are in the river. They also like the tench,
bream and chubb in Hugh de Audley's fish pond. However, if they get
caught fishing in the pond they are punished severely at the Manor
Court.
Water and milk is drunk
by the villagers. The water from the River Beult is unpleasant to
drink and milk does not stay fresh for long. The main drink in Yalding
is ale. The brewing process takes many days and much labour. The grain,
usually barley, has to be soaked for several days, then drained of
excess water and carefully germinated to create malt. After the malt
is dried and ground, the brewer adds it to hot water for fermentation.
People in Yalding are not
allowed to sell ale unless they first gain permission from Hugh de
Audley. So far, he has only been willing to grant a licence to produce
and sell ale to Edeline Hale and Alice Nash. These women charge 2d.
for a gallon of ale.
Geoffrey
Luttrell Psalter (1325)
1. Write out five
interesting things about food and drink in the 14th century.
2. What was the main drink
of the people in Yalding?
Why was this drink so popular?
3. Copy this table into
your book. Fill it in. The first one has been done for you. You will
need to look at the Medieval
Recipes sheet
before doing this.
| Horse
Bread |
|
| Maslin |
bread
made from a mixture of wheat and rye flour. |
| Pottage |
|
| Black-Pudding |
|
| Lenten
Stew |
|
| Green
Porray |
|
4. List three ways in which
food and drink in the 14th century and the 20th century are different.
5. List three ways in which
food and drink in the 14th century and the 20th century are
similar.
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