What was medieval monastic food?

Answer 1

Monks lived according to the Regula Sancti Benedicti (the Rule of St Benedict) which banned the eating of meat from four-legged animals. Fish and fowl (swan, pigeon, peacock, goose and other birds), fruit, vegetables, herbs and cereal and dairy products formed the major part of the diet.

One 12th century writer recorded a huge omelette prepared for the Prior's table at Canterbury in 1179, made with 16 eggs, chopped dittany, rue, tansy, mint, sage, marjoram, fennel, parsley, beets, violet leaves, spinach, lettuce and pounded ginger.

Fish were raised in fish-breeding ponds within or near the monastic precinct; these often involved very elaborate water management systems.

The Benedictines permitted the use of fat in the diet, since it was not mentioned in the Rule so they assumed it was not banned. The Cistercians took the opposite view: animal fats were not mentioned so they were automatically banned. Benedictines consequently had pastries and pies made with fats - the Cistercians did not.

Meals would generally be very similar, with bread, cheese, vegetable dishes and fish; fruit would be available only in season. Herbs were the main flavouring and condiment.

One of the major causes of complaint in English monasteries was the boring and repetitive diet.

Answer 2

Medieval monastic food was fairly simple, and consisted largely of the same sorts of things common people ate, bread, stews, and porridge. But they were prepared on a grand scale. There are some interesting extant recipes from monasteries with such things in the list of ingredients as "two bushels of carrots," "a bushel of onions," "300 quarts of beef liquor," and "three ox heads, all cut in pieces."

Secular clerics, which included priests, deacons, and bishops, might or might not have been associated with monasteries or convents. Their food would have been similar to that of the class of people they were serving, simple for those who were among common people, and much richer for those among the wealthy.

Answer 3

Diet consisted mainly of vegetables, dairy products, fish and poultry. The writer Gerald of Wales recorded some of the dishes served at the table of the Prior of Canterbury in 1179; these included many "dishes contrived with eggs and pepper by dexterous cooks, so many flavourings and condiments." An omelette aux fines herbes used 16 eggs flavoured with chopped dittany, rue, tansy, mint, sage, marjoram, fennel, parsley, beet, violet, spinach, lettuce and pounded ginger.

Benedictine monasteries permitted animal fats to be used in cooking, permitting pastries and pies to be be served; the Cistercians did not allow fats in their diet.

The Rule of St Benedict was the governing regulation for all monks in medieval Western Europe and this forbade the eating of the flesh of four-footed animals; poultry was allowed because birds only have two legs.

Fish was always a significant part of monastic diet and most monasteries had their own fish-farms attached or nearby. At Canterbury the monks of the Cathedral Priory and at nearby St Augustine's Abbey were served not only by a very large series of freshwater fishpools at "Fishpool Bottom" outside the city, but also with huge quantities of sea fish from the port of Sandwich, which was owned by the archbishop.

A study of the records of the Dorset Abbey of Milton includes the many "visitations" by Church officials to look for any evidence of corruption, ensure that rules were strictly observed and note any complaints; the major reason for dissatisfaction was always the boring diet and lack of meat. These officials were naturally unable to change the rules.