a sophisticated cuisine. There was a very small group of nobles,
and everyone else were serfs. There was no social mobility
at all. In addition, the wealthiest people were usually out on
campaigns fi ghting. Charlemagne’s court is really just one bright spot on an otherwise
totally bleak several hundred years. After his death, the empire was
divided up among heirs, with each smaller kingdom struggling but
never as powerful. Recurrent famines, continued depopulation, and
more invasions by a new set of barbarians (Vikings) meant that
Europe didn’t even begin to get back on its feet until around the
year 1000, which is when things begin to change.Anthimus, De Observatione Ciborum.
Camporesi, Bread of Dreams.
Montanari, The Culture of Food.
Service à la Middle Ages: Eating with Your Hands
Evidently, many people think that eating with your hands is inherently
more pleasurable than distancing yourself from your food with a fork and
knife—if you consider the popularity of foods like hamburgers, hot dogs,
and pizza. However, these foods shield us from getting very messy with buns
or a crust to hold onto. Imagine eating truly messy food without cutlery.
This exercise is designed to help you appreciate the tactile qualities of food
directly, exactly as they would have in the Middle Ages. It is messy, but it
need not be barbaric. In fact, eating barbecued ribs comes very close. For
this experiment, try grilling something that would normally need to be cut
with a sharp knife—a steak or thick pork chop, or a joint of mutton would be
perfect. Plop it down on a thin slice of bread set directly on the table. Pick it
up with your hands, and chomp away. There is a strange satisfaction, perhaps
primal in a Freudian sense, of eating fl esh this way. Can it be that because we
evolved eating with our hands and teeth that there really is something hard-
Suggested Reading
Culinary Activity