Food

=**Elizabethan Food and Cuisine**=
 * By Tyler Campbell**

The Elizabethan Era is widely considered England's "Golden Era", and the cuisine for that time reflected it. As England's physical horizons expanded, so did it's culinary horizons. Different foods were brought back from the "New world", fruits and honey were more commonly used, and there was enough wealth to experiment and get creative. Common foods were bread, cheese, chicken, rabbit, wild fowl such as peacock, swan, goose, blackbirds and pigeon, freshwater and saltwater fish, lamb, pig, various nuts, fruits and vegetables such as apples, turnips, parsnips, carrots, onions, leeks, garlic, radishes, pears, plums, cherries and woodland strawberries, and beef, as well as pastries, tarts, cakes, cream, and custard, crystallized fruit and syrup, all assembled in various levels of fanciness, dependent on class level. Spices were also used extensively, though only by the wealthier citizens. Spices were highly valuable because they came from all over the world, from great distances.

**Preparation and Presentation**

There were several methods of cooking used to cook and prepare foods: Most of these methods are using an open flame as a heat source, which means they used utensils such as pots, pans, cauldrons, skillets, kettles, ladles, meat forks, scissors and knives. For the wealthy members of English society, style and presentation are a huge part of a meal. They would go through elaborate efforts to decorate both the foods and the dining areas. Some examples are plucking the feathers from a peacock, cooking it, and putting the feathers back in and serving it, or baking a pie crust, putting live crows in it so when cut into, the crows would fly out, an interesting and amusing sight for the unexpected patrons of that feast. They also used sugar in creative ways, and could sculpt anything out of crystallized sugar, and made many things, ranging from sculptures of birds and wildlife, to cards and actual usable plates.
 * Spit roasting
 * Baking
 * Boiling
 * Smoking
 * Salting
 * Fried

**Food for the average citizen**

Despite what most people think, the average citizen of the Elizabethan Era ate pretty well, it was the Golden Age of England after all. While not as fancy and intricate as nobility's meals, the majority certainly didn't starve. The commoners diet consisted mostly of cheap meat, fish, bread, and honey mead. The food the bought all came from the local market, and there wasn't much to choose from normally. On special occasions and holidays, they would do their best to prepare a fancy meal rivaling that of nobility, if they could. Widely available was "convenience food", which is portable and premade food, usually sold at a theater or some other event, or just in the market. This food is cheap to make and buy, and is simple. Some examples are biscuits, "Ploughman's lunch", which is bread and cheese, pies and other pastries, and meat.

References


 * [] -** A website that collects Elizabethan Era Information
 * [] -** A website dedicated to Elizabethan Information
 * [] -** Socyberty is a consolidated resource listing information about different societies throughout history.
 * [] -** "An Internet Hotlist on Elizabethan Life"