Medieval Feasts and Banquets: Food, Drink, and Celebration in the Middle Ages

by Tehmina Bhote

The class system during the Middle Ages dictated how people dressed, where they lived, and even what they ate. This book discusses not only the feasts and banquets of the time but also the story of how people produced the food they would eat, how they spiced food to preserve it, and how it was cooked. It even tells us which social classes ate what. Lively and profusely illustrated with illuminated manuscripts, this volume details a piece of everyday medieval life.

64 pages, Library Binding

First published September 1, 2003

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Medieval Feasts and Banquets:
Food, Drink, and Celebration in the Middle Ages
By Tehmina Bhote
Reviewed December 1, 2023

Although this book is not cataloged as such, it has the look and feel of one whose target audience is school-aged children. It is short in length, only 64 pages, with the text written in an easy to read style and printed in a large font, again something often seen in books published for grade schoolers.

All that aside, this is a good book for someone who wants a basic overview of, as the subtitle says, food, drink, and celebrations during the Middle Ages. It is divided into four chapters: “The Production and Distribution of Food,” “Food, Famine, and Cooking,” “Eating and Drinking,” and “Ceremony and Entertainment”. At the back of the book is a small glossary, a list of websites and addresses “For More Information,” a list of “For Further Reading,” followed by a Bibliography and an Index.

It is embellished with reproductions of Medieval paintings and drawings, and while I enjoyed the pictures I was disappointed in the quality of the graphics, which reminded me of pictures that have been enlarged to the point where they have lost their sharpness.

All in all, a decent enough book on the subject and a good starting point for someone interested in only the basics, or if you want to introduce your children or grandchildren to this aspect of Medieval life, but if you want something more in depth, you might want to pass.

[Nabil Astaib]

This book is a nonfiction book. The book is about what Europeans ate and drank during the Medieval times it gives a description of the ceremonies like feasts and banquets that were enjoyed by all classes from peasants to kings.

I learned from this book that famine causes a shortage of food which made merchants sell food with high prices and it pushed poor people to ate bad food like animal food, and black bread which lead them to illness and death in most cases.
Only wealthy people like nobles, lords and kings managed best the famine. Monasteries and Hospitals helped a few people by giving them food. I learned from this book that rich people preserve their food by salting or smoking them and they stocked it in a cold room under their houses. They often kept cats in their pantries to chase away rats and mice. I learned from this book that hunting was complicated during this time and only nobles and wealthy people can hunt animals in the woods and fish in the rivers. If peasants try to hunt they will be punished. I also learned that feasts were celebrated in banquets which are a luxurious place were high-class people like kings and lords gather, ate and drank expensive and exotic food. I learned from this book that historians and archaeologists continue to piece together about this evidence to help us learn more about medieval eating, drinking, feasts and banquets.


My favorite illustration is in (page 25) because it shows the contrast between the magnificence of the luxurious castle and the poor life of peasants who were working in the fields.

[Jade Cropley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book for some basics, I am considering adding it to my permanent lending library.
Has a lot of sources in the back too.
Also has some bride info.