Jim Chevallier

Feasting with the Franks

When is "medieval food" not medieval food? When it means (as it usually does) the food of a few centuries out of a millenium - from the thirteenth to the fifteenth (and sometimes even beyond). But the Middle Ages began in the fifth century; what happened to all the food BEFORE the thirteenth century? If you're wondering, this is the book for you. "Feasting with the Franks" takes a detailed look at the food of the Franks; that is, the Merovingians and the Carolingians, the first medieval dynasties in France. It surveys the food and drink available during these early centuries in France, then shows how particular groups selected their diets from it, going on to take a look at how food was prepared and served, and at the tableware (made from pottery, glass, marble, silver, gold). Beyond this, the book explores the personnel and entertainments around dining, the structures built to store, produce, cook and bake food, the surviving cities and infrastructure which helped provide it, the role it played in religion and finally how it was viewed by medicine then but also through today's nutritional ideas. A closing chapter compares this food to the more familiar medieval food of later centuries. As a bonus, an appendix explains how to actually MAKE some of these dishes. Whether you study the Middle Ages in general or like exploring historical food, this is a whole new view of the era and its food, and fills a long ignored gap.