What kinds of foods did the nobles eat in the middle ages?

Answer 1

They ate lambs, pork, chiken, turkey, and many other meats, that were cooked with spiced and salts (sometihng the lower class did not have acces too) they ate fruit that was in season, and breads made fresh, with spices and sugers (again, not available to the lower class) they drank fermented ale, jice (on special occasions only) and had wines.

Answer 2

Members of the nobility and other wealthy people at similar things though the wealthy who were not nobility depended on what could be found in the markets, but the members of the nobility had estates from which they could get their food. All wealthy people had important exotic additions to their diets, including imported foods and wine, along with seasonings that came from as far away as China. Breads were important for the wealthy, just as they were for serfs. But the breads the wealthy ate were of finer production and more expensive. The finer breads were white and made from wheat.

For the wealthy, root vegetables were important, but not to the degree they were for serfs. Obviously, they did not eat potatoes, sweet potatoes, or yams, as these had not been introduced.

They ate greens, lettuce, cabbage, kale, chard, beet greens, turnip greens, and so on.

Wealthy people were far more likely than peasants to eat salads.

They ate peas, lentils, and fava beans, but other beans, like the potatoes, had not been introduced.

In much of Europe, vegetables of whatever sort were pickled, and pickles were important for food, especially as they were more nutritious in many ways than fresh vegetables (something largely lost in modern times because of processing for market).

The wealthy people ate fish, but were less likely than peasants to eat it salted and more likely to eat it fresh.

Cheese was widely used, and the wealthy had finer types than peasants.

Wealthy people ate the best cuts of meat, and were more likely than peasants to eat beef. The nobles ate better than rich common people, because in many places, sumptuary laws allowed only the nobility to eat the best cuts. They ate roasts, and often these were from game they hunted in their own hunting parks.

Eggs were commonly used by all classes, but more commonly by peasants.

Wine was the table drink for nearly everyone in southern places. In the north, peasants drank ale, but the nobles drank wine, imported from wine growing regions of France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. The wealthy drank beer and cider, just like everyone else, but were far more likely than poor people to drink mead.

Fruit was whatever happened to be local. Almonds were in great demand, especially because almond milk could be used for a thickener.

Rich people and the nobility ate desserts, which poor people usually did not, and ate such confections as marzipan and various fruits and nuts with honey.

At some times of the Middle Ages, members of the nobility shunned breakfast as a meal for laborers.

• rye bread
• oats
• barley bread/soups
• eels
• fish
• deer
• various birds
• hare
• rabbitt
• chicken
• vegetables
• apples
• honey to sweeten
• beef
• lamb
• mutton
• pork
• boar

Rich people ate a diet richer in protein and sweets that poor people, and the protein was more likely to include beef, which was expensive to raise. Rich people were also able to eat better cuts of meat. And rich people had professional cooks. Members of the nobility ate game that was not available to others, so there were variations between what the nobility ate and what people who were merely rich ate.

The diet consisted of bread, greens, root vegetables, fruit, nuts, meat, fish, eggs, cheese and other dairy products, sweets. Beer, wine, cider, and mead were all available. Rich people were much more likely to drink mead or wine than poor people were, because both were more expensive than beer or cider.

Foods were preserved by drying, salting, curing, smoking, and pickling. Salt fish was brought in from many days away, and pickles were made from all sorts of vegetables. Medieval pickles were more nutritious than the foods they were made from, unlike most pickles of today, which are much less nutritious.

Answer 3

Mainly meats: venison, pheasant, chicken, lamb, pigeons etc. The wealthier the person, the more meat consumed. They also had elaborate desserts and ate whatever exotic fruits they could get. Generally, they didn't eat a lot of vegetables or grains. Those foods were for the peasantry.

Answer 4

Meat. Lots of meat: venison, duck, squab, chickens, geese, swans... pretty much any kind of meat they could get. Also, bread and assorted sweets. Healthy items, such as coarse flour breads and vegetables were left for the peasant classes.

Answer 5

Mostly simple foods like vegetables, meat, fruit, cheese and they drank wine.