The Arizona sentinel., 1877-12-15
English Food of the 1Gth Century.
(ET''t c's from q pdD'r confr1bufed 10 c I1di
 ctHb by ihe Et7itOr's lNOtherD


 civilzati' IS, naturally, refinement of foo, and it more than keeps pace with the aC
 vance of general refinement, until it bt
 comes of gr>at importance. All publi f acts, even tue cOnsecratiOn of churche:
 ded;cations of public buildings, installation
 of high di~niiaries, both of church an,
 state, have, from time immemoriul, hal
 their banquets.
 The Angl".Saxons had mean dwelling
 with great feastirgs, while the Nol maj s though they ate more moderately, eXhib ited more refinement in their shelter, build ing better houses. In old Saxon, food ol l provision was expressed by the word fe. ome or fearme, ard from this word, througl different renderings, comes that of farmer provider. This is d title which has been cons.dere-. of honor in all ages d. d was adopted as a surname by several families i Arm Farmer, daug' ter of Richard Farmer married William Lucy ard was the mother Of Sir Thomas Lucy, knighted by Queen Elizabeth, who was the magistrate before whom, as Landon tells us, Shakespea. e was tried for poachirg.
 In the Anglo-Sayon days, when the great hall was ;he house, with its fire in the cen ter thereof, and the eating there also, the foOd-1iesh of animals, wild and dumesti- cated, and bread of barley or oats-seems to have been cooked before the eyes of the hungry people gathc ed about it. From the bread being always in little flat cakes, 1t would appear that as yet they had no ovens for baking or other means of cooking than upon or before this great hall fire. The meat was spittcd upon huge iron prongs and when roasted or toasted suf1i- cientIy, was handed to the guests, as we now say, piping hot"
 With the advent of the Normans, great improvements and changes were intro duced. The tables continued the same, boards laid u!On trestles, even up to the middle of the 16th century, though they lLen began to evnce a better arrange memt; cloth was spread and some dis ! tinction of rank or social position ob- ! served. The salt-cellar had now d prom nent place on inc tahle-lbe family aud i guests sat above this, while the retainerS md servants were "below the salt"
 The art of cooking, the quality of the nod and the manner Of serving, advanced with rapid strides; meats were ufteler ,oiled ai.d eaten with suit, and other dish s were devised, as also cakes of wheaton 'read
 Both Saxons and Normans had used as the Aorns of animals; in the .th ccltLry tle. L; d wot dcn boMl-sl al | Vessels; then, among the wealthy, csse!s of glass came into use, which must ave Gcen imported q, probably from italy, i
 
 cen brought into England from France 0 tally as il.e 1th ccntLIy (G74) and, also, $ nat of making rlate-glass, discovered by I cident in tLe 18th century Q164), glass c as Cnly used for making into bottles even $ ) late as tie mitdl,- of i'he 18th century V 557l. the year before Queen Elizabcth's < .cCSsOn. Their dlil.k seems to have been II e, beer, wines and mead, for making II nich last great quantities of honey were e ,nsumed and bees early brought under lltivation. f, Among their dishes at this early date Q as roast goose stuffed with garlic, Il sh still most appetising in those coun III ies where the savOury bulb is grown and M daily use. Whether that famous dainty, ar a day not so very long ago, "Lamb sa lffrd with assafGtida shall be consid- in ed among the indications of progress m co fiiza;iun. from goose and garlic, may be G | an ol cn question. Sa From the 5th to the 18th century the eli UT of dinner or the principal meal 0i the y was at nine in the morning, the sup r Ohey had but two meaIs) being at six W; the afternoon. From the I2ih to the az Il century we trace the ove of eating on ru , increase, though the latter :'art of the alb h it began 10 decline, until, at the time til the establishment Ofthe Commonwealth tw 49), 1t lad become d rlainer and simpler II, tter. In the latter half Of the l4th cen th, y they began 10 have receipts and th Dks of cooking that uui,e eclipse the va sine Of the modern hotel. From the p.l nes, and the ingredients composing CO se,we See that they had largely borrow mc from the French ard Italians, and must WI 0 have employed cooks from both of tre SC countries. These receipts and books ma rc in manuscript, as the art of printing at not brought to England until cen pal y later by William CaXton, mercer, in ne, l. neI t the close of the 14th century the size on he hall began to diminish, other rooms but