Food In The Renaissance Era

In the dining halls of noble houses, servants came out of the kitchens with steaming platters revealing roasted chicken, vegetable stew, and freshly-caught fish baked in a cream sauce. Such were the meals of the Renaissance, the beginning of a new age of creativity and culinary innovation. From these Renaissance innovations came practices that inspired modern cooking traditions throughout Europe and North America.
The English hunted animals for food, like the rest of the world. English farmers raised livestock such as cattle, fowl, sheep, and pigs on farms. Other animals like venison, rabbits, and fish were hunted. Lots of other crops were grown to be used in Renaissance dishes. Vegetables and legumes like corn, potatoes, beans, and peas were very prominent. Spices like pepper, ginger, and cinnamon were used to enhance flavor in sauces to accompany many recipes (Tannahill). Fruits like apples, grapes, and figs were used as a sweetener. There were very stark differences in the diets of classes. Ironically, commoners may have been considered healthier due to their more wholesome diets. These people couldn’t afford to waste food and ate their crops fresh. The nobles, however, were picky about fruits and vegetables unless they were sweetened with honey or cooked in …show more content…
Dinner was the main meal at around 10 or 11 in the morning, which would now probably be considered lunchtime. Supper was a smaller meal at 4 or 5, which would now be called dinner. Dinner was split up into “courses”, with different types of food in each course (Albala). The first course was akin to appetizers in modern day. The second course had larger dishes. The third course had more unconventional meats and fish. Sweets and wine would be served after the meal in middle-class houses to aid in digestion, very similar to today’s dessert course. Breakfast was near nonexistent in this time, save for very few noble families