Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-01-28
EATING IN THE OLDEN TIME
FaSorite Dishes Descended from the Mid
die Ages.

GAf ING IN The OlDEN TIME.
Fasorite Dishes Descended from the Mid
die Ages.
A thousand years ago, when the din
ner was ready to be served, the first
thing brought into the great hall was
the table Movable trestles were
brought, on which were placed
boards, and all were carried away
again at the close of the meal Upon
this was laid the tablecloth. which in
some of the old pictures is represented
as having a handsome embroidered
border. There is an old Latin riddle
OF the eighth century in which the ia
bic says: Il feed people with many
kinds of food. First, 1 am a quad
ruped and adorned with handsome
clothing; then l am robbed of my ap-
parel and lose my legs also
The food of the Anglo-Saxon was
largely bread. This is limited in the
fact that domestic was called loaf
eater" and the lady of the house was
the 's1oaf-giver.' The bread was baked
in round, fiat cakes, which the super
stltion of the cook marked with a cross
to preserve them from the perils of the
fire. Milk, butter and cheese were also
eaten. The principal meat was bacon,
as the acorns of the oak forests, which
then covered large part of England,
supported numerous droves of swine.
Our Anglo-Saxon forefathers were
not only hearty eaters, but unfortu-
nately, deep drinkers. The drinking
horns We're at first literally horns, and
so must be Immediately emptied when
filed.
Later, when the primitive horn had
been replaced by glass cup, it retained
tradition of its rude predecessor in its
shape, for it had a fiaring top while
tapering toward the base, SO that it,
too, had to be emptied at draught.
Each guest was furnished with a
spoon, while his knife he always carried
in his belt: as for forks, who dreamed
of them when nature had given man
ten fingers? But you will see why a
servant with a basin of water and a
towel always presented himself to each
guest before dinner was served and
after it was ended. Roasted meat was
served on the spit or rod on which 1t
was cooked, and the guest cut or tore
off a piece to suit himself. Boiled
meat was laid on the cakes of
bread, or, later, on thick slices of
bread called ''trenchers," from q Nor
man word meaning Ito cut" as these
were to carve the meat on, thus preServ-
ing the tablecloth from the knife. At
first the trencher was eaten or thrown
upon the stone floor for the dogs who
crouched at their masters feet. At a
later date it was put into a basket and
given to the poor who gathered at the
manor gate.
During the latter part of the Middle
Ages the most coEspicuout object on
the table was the salt-cellar. This was
generally of silver in the form of a
ship. 1t was placed in the center of the
long table, at which the whole house
hold gathered, my lord and lady, their
family and guests being at one end, and
their retainers and servants at the
other. SO ones position in regard to
the salt was test of rank-the gentle
folk sitting ''above the salt" and the
yeomanry below it. In the house of
the great mobiles dinner was served
with much ceremony. at the
hour a stately procession entered
the hall. First came several must
clans, followed by the steward bearing
his rod of Office, and then came a long
line of servants carrying different
dishes. Some idea of the variety and
profusion may be gained from the pro-
vision made by King Henry III. for his
household at Christmas, 1854 This in
cluded ''thirty-one oxen, one hundred
pigs, three hundred and fiftysix fowls,
twenty-nine hares, fifty-nine rabbits,
nine pheasants, ffty-six cartridges,
sixty-eight woodcock, thirty-nine plov-
ers and three thousand eggs"
Many of our favorite dishes have de-
seconded to US from the Middle Ages.
Macaroons have served as dessert since
the days of Chaucer. Our favorite win
ter breakfast, griddle-cakes, has come
down to us from the PARKWAY Britons
of Wales, while boys have lunched on
gingerbread and girls on pickles and
jellies since the time of Edward H.,
more than five hundred years ago.-S
S, ClaSSmate