Foods Through the Ages

**UPDATE: Some people wanted the soup recipe. It's in the comments.**

Three of Four gave the Elder Imperatrix-in-Training a medieval cookery book as a gift last year, and we use it from time to time for a themed dinner. I adapted a few recipes last night (it's interesting that in a world where so many people could not afford meat to eat, every recipe in these types of books are meat-laden; the classism inherent in this area of historical research is amazing). It was a good meal: winter squash soup, garlic and pork [aka Boca Bratwurst] pie, salad, and poached pears. But every plate (except for the salad, because I added that in myself and made the vinaigrette) was flavored with the brown spices (mace, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg).

This mix of the sweet with the savory on the same dish is something I just couldn't eat every day. It's more of a cultural thing than a generational thing, I believe, because this mixing reminds me very much of current Phillipino cooking (thick sweet crepes sprinked with sea salt, or three-bean ice cream, for example).

Hmmm, as I write this I'm thinking that maybe these dishes are so sweet because there'd also be roast beast of some kind or another as part of the meal (remember, if we went back in time we'd ALL be lords and ladies), and that would be the counter to the sweet-scented vegetable dishes and pies? Maybe. Especially if it were wild game.

I'm sure I'll be thinking on this as I tackle the monster project, which I will begin this morning, after a quick shower.