Transcript british_food_powerpointx - British Council Schools Online

The Romans
AD 43 – AD 410
The facts
• The Romans ate a varied diet consisting of vegetables, meat
and fish. The poorest Romans ate quite simple meals, but the
rich were used to eating a wide range of dishes using produce
from all over the Roman Empire.
• Bread was a staple part of the Roman diet. Three grades of
bread were made, and only rich ate refined white bread.
• The Romans kept animals for their meat. The rich ate beef,
pork, wild boar, venison, hare, guinea fowl, pheasant, chicken,
geese, peacock, duck, and even dormice (served with honey)
Roman Food!
The rich ate meat
like venison
The Romans ate
food that they
could grow
themselves such as
vegetables.
They drank
watered
down wine
for every
meal.
Calda was
warm water
and wine
laced with
spices
The Vikings
1016 – 1042
There was salted fish and pork, goat and plenty of fresh bread. For dessert the
Vikings ate fresh fruit and a little honey on buttered bread. Beer was drunk as well
as mead, a beverage made from honey. Horsemeat was spitted and roasted rather
like a kebab.
The Middle Ages
1066 – 1485
The Middle Ages
Most people in Medieval England had to make their own food. Food shops were
found in towns but most people were peasants who lived in villages where these
did not exist.
Drink should have meant water which was free from rivers but usually water was far
too dirty to drink.
Most people in Medieval England ate bread. However, only the richer farmers and
lords in villages were able to grow the wheat needed to make white bread. Wheat
could only be grown in soil that had received generous amounts of manure, so
peasants usually grew rye and barley instead. Rye and barley produced a dark,
heavy bread. Maslin bread was made from a mixture of rye and wheat flour.
After a poor harvest, when grain was in short supply, people were forced to include
beans, peas and even acorns in their bread.
Lords of the manor, did not allow peasants on his land to bake their bread in their
own homes. All peasants had to pay to use the lord’s oven.
There was a big difference between the diet of the rich and the peasants
Peasant Food
Breakfast was eaten at sunrise. It would consist on dark bread
(probably made of rye) with ale to drink.
Lunch was what we would call a “ploughman’s lunch” as it was eaten in the
fields where the peasant was working. He would have dark bread and cheese. If
he was lucky, he might have some meat. He would carry a flask of ale to drink.
He would have this meal at about 11 to 12 o’clock.
Supper would be eaten towards sunset, so this would vary with the seasons. The
main meal was vegetable pottage. Again, if the family was lucky there might be
some meat or fish to go round. Bread would be available and ale.
Rich Food
Breakfast was eaten between 6 and 7 in the morning. It was a leisurely
affair. A lord might have white bread; three meat dishes; three fish
dishes (more fish on a saint’s day) and wine or ale to drink.
Lunch was eaten between 11 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. A lord
would usually have three courses but each course might have between four to
six dishes in it! There would be meat and fish on offer with wine and ale. It is
likely that only small parts from each dish were eaten with the rest meant to be
thrown away – though the lord’s kitchen workers and servants might be able to
help themselves if the lord was not looking!
Supper was eaten between 6 and 7 in the evening. It would be very similar to the
dinner but with slightly more unusual dishes such as pigeon pie, woodcock and
sturgeon. Wine and ale would also be available.
The Tudor Age
1485 – 1603
The Tudors
The Tudor age was similar to the Medieval Age in that there
was a great divide between rich and poor. The poor ate soups
and would be very lucky to even get a scrap of meat.
The rich ate lavishly with all sorts of animal (including seals
and porpoise) being consumed.
Their lunches would take hours.
The rich ate a diet of approximately 80% protein, but the
introduction of salad from Spain meant that more fresh
vegetables were eaten than before. The introduction of
expensive sugar also meant that sugary dishes and desserts
became very popular.
The Industrial Revolution
1780 -1837
The Industrial Revolution
Lots of people moved out of the fields from farming and
started working in factories instead.
Women and children worked there too as there was no
requirement for them to go to school.
They worked all day, from sunrise to sunset, only having 30
minutes to eat quickly – usually porridge or oatcakes as it was
cheap and filling.
They no longer had access to their own fresh food from the
farms and had to start to buy food from shops and bakeries –
therefore they needed wages.
Breakfast : oat cake put into a can with boiled water and milk poured into it
Dinner : potato pie with bits of bacon
Supper : was the same as breakfast
Some common food and drinks were:
Oatcakes
Porridge
Bread and soups
Mutton (cheap meat from old sheep)
Bacon
Potatoes
Gruel (a thin soup made from oats or potatoes mixed
with milk and water it was very cheap and filling)
Apples, pears and berries depending on the season
Beer (even children were allowed to drink it)
Tea
Some less popular food and drinks
were :
Water - it was polluted
Milk and dairy products - expensive
but a shortage led to rickets (It makes
your bones go soft)
The Victorian Era
1837-1901
The Victorians
•
Certain foods were incredibly popular which was partly down to how readily
available they were. These were:
Beef, mutton, pork, bacon, cheese, eggs, bread, potatoes, rice, oatmeal,
milk, vegetables in season, flour, sugar, treacle, jam and tea.
• These foods would form a stable of most diets and would be a basis for most
meals
•
As before there was still a huge gap between the diets of the rich and the poor.
The rich ate well due to the invention of the railways and steam boats as it meant
new food could be imported.
•
Farmers ate well as they had fresh produce and many city dwellers had to go to
shops to buy what they could.
•
The poorest children lived on potato peelings, rotten vegetables and beef fat.
•
Towards the end of this era food from the British Empire was introduced such as
curry from India and spices from the West Indies.
WWII Rationing
1939-1954
WWII Rationing
On 8 January 1940, bacon, butter and sugar were
rationed. This was followed by successive ration
schemes for meat, tea, jam, biscuits, breakfast
cereals, cheese, eggs, lard, milk and canned and
dried fruit. Fresh vegetables and fruit were not
rationed but supplies were limited.
People had to limit what they ate and create new
recipes with the items they had in stock
Modern Era
1954 -
Modern Era
9 years after the war rationing was lifted and food
was in plentiful supply again. The war had meant
that more people had travelled and tried new foods
and immigrants from other Commonweath
countries brought their own dishes.
As fewer people worked on the farms, less fresh
food was available and due to a lack of time in the
full time workers, Britain’s taste started to change
to convenience food and more exotic food…