Vegetables Fit For A King

Vegetables Fit For A King

By Gael Stirler

Medieval feasts were not all bread, meat, and cheese. Fruits—and especially vegetables—were served as side dishes or were cooked with the meat. In fact, Medieval cooks didn't make the same distinction between fruits and vegetables that we do. We often find recipes that used apples in a stew or turnips in a sweet dessert.

Some of today's favorite vegetables were not yet introduced to Medieval Europe. These include potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, and maize corn. However, people still had a great variety of vegetables to choose from in their gardens and public markets. They undoubtedly ate more fruits and vegetables than we do now since meat was expensive and the landlords taxed grain and flour. Vegetables, on the other hand, were free, a gift of the earth, and any excess from the garden could be sold.

Seasonal vegetables: Some vegetables were only available while in season, so people looked forward to eating them. Asparagus, artichokes, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, green and yellow beans, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, fennel, some varieties of crookneck squash (which they called gourds), peas, melons, okra, and rapini were usually served raw, steamed, or boiled, but occasionally they were also deep fried or roasted.

Leafy vegetables: This group was available more often since they could be continuously harvested from Spring until winter. Green, white and red cabbage, sorrel, lettuce, chard, collards, dandelion, mustard greens, turnip greens, chichory, radiccio, endive, escarole, spinach, parsley, cilantro, and many other herbs were served raw in salads, boiled in soups, stewed, baked, sautéed, dipped in batter and fried, or pickled to be eaten later. They also ate flowers like violets, daylilies, waterlilies, borage, fruit blossoms, mallows, sweet peas, marigolds, angelica, and roses.

Root vegetables: Carrots, turnips, rutabagas (called swedes), radishes, beets, yams, and parsnips were highly favored vegetables because they were easy to grow and could be stored all winter. Root vegetables were prepared in a variety of ways; baked, fried, boiled, braised, sautéed, steamed or eaten raw. Onions, leeks, shallots, garlic, and chives formed another class of root vegetable prized for their flavors and storage properties. Their leaves and flowers were also edible and could be dried for use all year long.

Vegetables were served with sauces, gravies, dressings, and glazes of all kinds. Verjuice was a tart sauce that was as common in the Middle ages as ketchup is now. It was made of mashed unripe grapes and the green juice of various herbs and vegetables. Nuts and dried fruit were often cooked with vegetables. Many vegetable dishes had sauces made with distilled alcohol, beer, or wine. Others were sweetened with sugar or made savory with herbs and vinegar. Toasted bread crumbs and croutons were sprinkled over vegetables as a garnish or mixed in sauces to thicken them. Sauces of milk, cream, and cheese were great favorites, too.

The Jousts and Horse races

We'd just like to thank those of you who are participating in our monthly events. More and more people are coming out to enjoy them, and the more the merrier, (not to mention all the handsome men running around heh).