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Middle Ages

Mealtime in the Middle Ages

Mealtime in the Middle Ages
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 6 to 8
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6.38

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    troubadour, minstrel, mutton, medieval, vendors, entertainment, porridge, staple, trencher, hosting, unexpected, lighter, mince, various, lord, barley
     content words:    Middle Ages

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Mealtime in the Middle Ages
By Sharon Fabian 		  
1     "Four and twenty blackbirds, baked in a pie." Did they really serve that at medieval feasts? Well, yes and no - let's come back to that question a little later.
 
2     If you woke up in a medieval castle, you might expect to eat three meals during the day, much like you do now. In the morning there would be breakfast, maybe bread and cheese. Around noon, or maybe a little earlier, you would eat dinner, the heartiest meal of the day, maybe a roast, a stew, or a meat pie. Then, around sunset, you would come to the table again for a light supper, maybe bread and cheese or maybe a stew. Porridge was another food staple, eaten at many meals by peasants and nobles.
 
3     People in the Middle Ages produced most of their own food on farms and in kitchen gardens. They also hunted for wild game. Some "fast food" was available too - for example, small meat pies from vendors on the streets.
 
4     Compared to our diet, the medieval diet was heavier on meat and grains and lighter on fruits and vegetables. It was also much lighter on the junk food.
 
5     The cooking was done in the fireplace. The baking was done in an oven.

Paragraphs 6 to 11:
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