What would the revelries and feasts of Medieval Wales have been like? Images of gigantic barons gorging on turkey legs the size of your head spring to mind. However, the reality is that the majority of poor people subsided on a primarily vegetarian diet of grains, bread, and hearty soups.

People of high societal status, nobles primarily, would be luckier and eat meat such as venison and various cheeses. Food in Britain was considered rather unsophisticated until the 11th Century's Norman invasion, which with them brought more cosmopolitan dishes such as pies!

The difference in medieval food consumed between peasants and lords can even be seen in the food vocabulary of English today. The lowered status of the defeated English after the French Norman Conquest of 1066 can be seen clearly in the vocabulary of meat. An Anglophone farmer used plain Saxon words for his livestock: cow, pig, sheep, chicken. Any animal eaten by a peasant had the same word used for whether the animal was alive or cooked.

But when these animals were butchered and found their way onto his Norman master’s plate, they acquired French-derived names: beef, pork, mutton.

Fun fact: did you know that potatoes were only introduced to Britain in the late 1500s?

Check out this recreated medieval feast within the halls of Tretower Court!

We thoroughly recommend the YouTube channel @TastingHistoryWithMaxMiller for loads of great recipes and information on this topic!