Step back in time and enjoy all of the foods and drinks that the Elizabethan era has to offer. The Elizabethan era was a time that had significant shifts in food and drink trends, as new ingredients and cooking techniques were introduced. From the simple meals of the peasants and the elaborate feasts of the nobility, there was a big shift in the way people ate everyday. The food and drink of the Elizabethan era were influenced by social class and the changing times.
First off, Peasants had very little money to spend on food and were having to make do with what they had. Therefore they had to resort to different measures to survive, including hunting for food and profit. Peasants had an imbalanced diet primarily of wild game and alcohol, with a lack of grains and vegetables. The effects of this limited nutrition affected the entire population as it shortened their lifespan due to malnutrition. This was in contrast to the nobility who had access to a more diverse range of food, including lots of homegrown fruits, grains, and meats, (British).
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Some of the main alcohol beverages available were beer, cider, and ale due to their cost-effectiveness and ease of production. Hops-infused beer was a preferred choice due to its higher alcohol content which allowed for extended storage and enhanced taste over time. Ale on the other hand was an option for children, since its low alcohol content did not affect them. When wanting a stronger kick people could add up to four times the usual alcohol content to their ale or beer. Peasants and nobility preferred alcoholic beverages since the water was often contaminated and had a bad taste. Aside from beer, the wealthy would import wines from Europe or France, because they are known for their humid climate and skilled wine producers,
You ate apples in the fall and leafy greens in the spring. In most places people ate small portions of meat, though not at every meal” (Pollan 86). Back then, people had a concrete idea of what it was that they were eating. They knew what was good to eat and what to avoid. And they knew where the food was actually coming from, so that wasn’t ever a mystery, as they were the ones to get the food for themselves.
Sugar and rum became an important import because it was needed in order to produce other things such as Whisky. Whisky began to be taxed in attempt to increase the income of money. This angered many people into not wanting to pay. Native Americans believed that the spirits had supernatural powers that the drinkers could obtain by becoming fully intoxicated with the beverage.
Firstly, source 3 (a) shows beer drinkers as being functioning members of society as it shows people socialising and working while drinking whereas source 3 (b) shows gin drinkers as being unsocial and disorderly showing people lounging around or groups of people engaged in violent behaviour. 3(a) also depicts beer drinkers to be more upper class as it shows them in a up and coming city showing new buildings being made in the background where as 3(b) shows a lower class based on the state of their clothing and people who appear to be starving suggesting they can’t afford food or are spending that money on gin. Another conclusion that could be drawn is that beer drinkers were happier than gin drinkers as source 3a portrays the people smiling and engaging in conversation while 3b shows angry and sad people even featuring someone that appears to have committed suicide in one of the
When the Europeans returned home, they brought home new crops which had a huge impact on their diets. While the rich had “meat heavy” diets, “the poor were relegated to mainly vegetables (Shelton, The Columbian Exchange). However, Europe’s vegetables were becoming scarce. People were becoming malnourished from the lack of vegetables. New crops from
The early modern world period was from the 15th century to the 18th century. The majority of the population lived in rural cities. Life expectancy was not very long, and the lifespan was twenty-five years old. Diseases, famine, lack of medication, and improper sanitation contributed to the low life expectancy. Diet of the wealthy class consisted of bread, meat, and wine however the lower class’s diet consisted of fruits and vegetable.
They had to pay for rents and taxes. Britannica Students Encyclopedia states, “ Besides providing labor, serfs had to pay taxes to their lord in money or produce.” Serfs were forced to do hard labor to earn money and pay the lords. Due to the fact that the serfs and peasants were poor, they barely ate meat.
Although they were faced with a region where farming was challenging, they were able to use the trees in the forests of their colonies to export goods in return for their imported
The way the people in Elizabethan Era ate in the years of 1550-1600. The kinds of food eaten depended very much on wealth and status. Poor people, in general, had humble and unvaried diets, whereas the rich of Elizabethan England ate well. The upper class people of the Elizabethan Era ate many spicy and sweet foods consisting of expensive spices and ingredients. Poor people could not afford much red meat, like beef or pork, so tended to eat white meat, like chicken, rabbit or hare, and birds they could catch like blackbirds or pigeons.
During the Elizabethan Era, ranging from the 1558-1603, a plethora of things was established and one of them included foods and drinks. Foods and drinks were a major part of life for any person. There were many different types of foods and drinks developed around this time period. The types foods and drinks were consumed depending on which class the people were in, the upper or lower class. The upper class received and enjoyed various spices imported from abroad.
1. The Great Famine was when it caused millions of deaths due to severe weather. Storms brought rain which ruined the wheat, crops, oat which people and animals almost everywhere depended to live. It’s impact on the medieval society was that more people were getting diesease as they wouldn't take in a lot of calories especially for the young kids, and the elderly. Working people, not eating much had less energy which meant lower productivity, output and higher grain prices since the amount was decreasing.
Including certain time periods like: The Plague which helped the europeans improve medication to be able to heal people. I learned great deal of interesting facts during this essay. During the Elizabethan time period people mostly believed in spiritual healing and not drugs. I enjoyed learning about spiritual healers and how people were treated during the plague. Not only did people suffer from the symptoms of the plague,but they also suffered from being split from their family and friends.
The Elizabethan Era had many rules and laws, so many that sometimes they were hard to keep track of. The capital offenses included robbery, larceny/theft, rape, and arson (Harrison). The more frequently committed crimes included theft, begging, cutpurses, adultery, debtors, poaching, forgery, fraud, and dice-cogging (Elizabethan Crime). In a desperate effort to control how the less fortunate and homeless behaved, Parliament passed the Poor Laws, which made it illegal to beg for food and money (Harrison). These laws went so far as to make it illegal to live on the streets (Crime and Punishment).
Journal #1. Page 19- “Since beer was a gift from the gods, it was also the logical thing to present as a religious offering.” Response - Beer was used in ceremonies such as religious, agricultural, funerals, etc. The religious meaning of beer has a longer timeline than the Sumerians and the Egyptians.
Food today varies in multiple ways. We can choose from the seasonings, to the style in which the meal is prepared. We have a vast variety of food and drinks to choose from depending on what we crave. How did this contrast during the Elizabethan era? As some would argue it is completely different because of the time periods, it does not contrast in much prospect.
There were so many ways they prepared their food. It was processed a certain way as well. The Elizabethan food was processed in many different ways. They had many combinations they could have prepared their foods and recipes. They prepared things like; for example, spit roasting, baking, boiling, and smoking, salting, and frying their foods.