What did the poor people eat in Tudor times?

Answer 1

MEAT

Rich people had a wide variety of meat and game including what they hunted:- deer, boar, rabbit, quail, bustard, curlew, plover, cormorant, badger, hedgehog, heron, crane, pheasant, woodcock, partridge, Blackbirds etc.

They also had meat from the animals they reared on their land:- beef, mutton, veal, lamb, kid, pork, rabbit chicken, duck, swan, peacock, goose, pigeon, doves etc.

Poorer people would eat chickens which they could rear themselves, beef from the local market when they had the money, and rabbits which they could catch for themselves. They were also encouraged to shoot rooks and crows because these birds destroyed crops. Farm labourers sometimes fed on "coloppes" - which were slices of bacon.

They might also have meat they poached from the local landowners.

FISH

The sea fish for eating included cod, haddock, ling, conger, and plaice.

The fresh water fish included eels, pike, perch, trout, sturgeon, roach, and salmon.

Cockles, mussels and oysters also appeared in recipe books at the end of this period and oysters were available in large quantities in London markets.

Poor people sometimes poached fish from local landowners

Manchet was a very fine white bread made from wheat flour with a little bran and wheat germ added. It was creamy-yellow in colour. This bread was for the nobility.

Raveled bread or Yeoman's bread was made from coarser whole-wheat flour with the bran left in; it was a darker colour and less expensive than the manchet.

Carter's bread was dark brown or black bread. This was the bread that the poorest people ate. It was made from maslin, a mixture of rye and wheat, or from drage, a mixture of barley and wheat, or from rye alone. In the north it was made from oats.

VEGETABLES

Rich people didn't eat a lot of vegetables, they preferred high protein diets

Yeoman farmers' wives grew vegetables, herbs and flowers for eating in their gardens. The variety of vegetables grown included leeks, garlic, peas, parsnips, skirrets (like parsnips), collards and kale (types of cabbage), lentils, turnips, broad beans, onions, spinach, carrots, beets, artichokes, radishes, asparagus, Good King Henry (a summer savoury vegetable like spinach with a peppery flavour) and Alexander, which tastes similar to celery.

Vegetables were not eaten to accompany meat as nowadays. They might be used by the farmer's wife to make pottage which consisted of peas, milk, egg yolks, breadcrumbs and parsley which would be flavoured with saffron and ginger.

The word "sallet" was used to mean not only salad as we know it but any vegetable dish raw or cooked.

SUGAR & SWEET THINGS

The finest sugar was white from Madeira and melted easily in liquid. The next grade was Barbary or Canary sugar. The common, coarse sugar, which was brown and rather gluey, was good for syrups and for marinating meat; honey roast ham is a dish from this period. Puddings, pastries and biscuits were very popular and these all contained some sweeteners.

Poorer people used honey as a sweetener - they kept bees in hives in their gardens. The hives were made out of woven straw or wicker and covered with clay.

DAIRY PRODUCERich people did not eat much of these foods as they were thought of as peasant food.

Dairy produce provided a rich source of nourishment for poorer families; the women would spend time milking, churning butter and collecting eggs and feeding their hens. Milk, butter and eggs were also a useful source of income for the yeoman farmer and were sold at markets.

FRUIT

Oranges or any fruit imported from abroad was expensive and therefore only eaten by the upper classes. "Apricocks" (apricots) were imported from Portugal and "apples of love" (tomatoes) came from Mexico;

Poor people would have eaten fruit that they grew or could buy at market. There were many more varieties of apples, pears and cherries grown in England during the Tudor times than now. Other popular fruits included damsons, plums, strawberries and Gooseberries.

DRINK

Hypocras was a sweet liqueur imported from the Eastern Mediterranean; it was the most expensive drink of all and was served at Royal banquets and special occasions.

Wine was popular at Court but was too expensive for most people because it had to be imported from countries where it was warm enough to grow grapes.

Sack was a sherry, a sweet wine from Spain.

Aqua vitae (the Latin for the water of Life) was the name given to any strong spirit such as brandy; it was expensive.

Ale was the word used for any fermented drink made from grain and water.

Beer was brewed from hops and was not so popular although it was cheaper than ale.

Cider was made from apples and was drunk by the poorer people.

Perry was a fermented drink made from pears.

People would drink milk

Answer 2

poor people mostly eat veg because they didn't have money to buy meat like the rich so they grow cropss