The Tudors and Food

Not Just the Tudors

History Hit

History

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 28 July 2022

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What food - and how much of it - did people eat in the Tudor period? Where did they get it? When did they eat it? What arrangements for cookery and dining were in place in their homes? What did they drink?

In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr. Mark Dawson, who has closely studied the household accounts of the Willoughby family of Wollaton Hall in Nottingham and Middleton Hall in Warwickshire. Through them, he has been able to trace many interesting developments including the decline in enthusiasm for salted herring, the embracing of new meats such as turkey, and the complex network of supplies through merchants, markets and fairs.

For this episode, the Senior Producer was Elena Guthrie. It was researched by Esther Arnott, edited by Thomas Ntinas and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	What did the chewers eat? Or more specifically what did the Elizabethans eat?
0:09.0	Today we're going to be thinking about the dining habits of the gentry, getting into
0:14.3	that nitty-gritty that gives us a real insight into people's everyday experiences of life,
0:20.2	what they ate, what they ate off, and when they ate it. We'll learn of the preponderance
0:25.5	of beef, some strange meal combinations, sauté fish and parsnips, and changing habits
0:32.5	over the seasons and fashions of the gentry. My guess to guide us through this culinary
0:37.6	fair is Dr. Mark Dawson. Dr. Dawson is a historian specialising in the history of food
0:43.5	and drink, particularly of the Tudor period. His book Plenty and Grace, Food and Drink in
0:48.8	a 16th century household from 2009, was based on his PhD research into the remarkable household
0:55.2	accounts of the Willoughby family. He's subsequently been looking into more ordinary households
1:01.1	through probate inventories and exploring the history of oat cakes, sheep's milk
1:05.5	cheese and Henderson's relish, Plenty and Grace beat in this place, while every man is
1:11.0	pleased in his degree.
1:19.1	Mark, it is an absolute pleasure to see you and welcome you to not just the Tudors. I
1:23.6	want to tell you that this book of yours Plenty and Grace has been so important to me
1:29.0	over the years. I did some historical consultancy recently and then they were asking questions
1:33.2	about what was on the table or whatever. Your book is the go-to book about the everyday
1:38.4	experience of English people when it came to eating and what they did and what they had.
1:42.0	So I can't wait to talk to you about it.
1:44.0	Thank you.
1:45.0	So, let's first of all talk about sauces because I think it's so useful to think about
1:50.3	how we know what we know. I know that we have all sorts of cookery books and advice
	...

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