MEDIEVAL MEAL HOURS

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 102, 26 October 1929, Page 24

MEDIEVAL MEAL HOURS

WHEN: FINGERS WERE FORKS

From a Northumberland household book, dated 1512, wo learn that a wellordered medieval family "rose at six,, breakfasted, at seven, dined at ten, supped at four." Advancing tho dinner hour from ten in tho morning till nine in the evening means that the hour for. the principal meal of the day has in four centuries progressed around almost the entire face of the clock. Procedure at table and man,ner of serving a dinner has also undergone drastic change with the centuries. A French writer describiug the function in 1350, says: "Tho principal guests are put at the head of the table, with the master of the house; none sit down until they have washed their hands. Tho'daughtera and the rest of the family are seated according to their social position. The salt cellars, tho knives and spoons are then put on with the bread, and afterwards meats cooked in different ways are brought. Those who are at table talk to one another and try to amuse themselves in an agreeable manner. Then come the minstrels, with all their instruments, to delight tho company. When the meal ia finished, -water is brought to wash tho hands, the cloth is taken away, the table lowered, the grace is said, and thanks and compliments rendered to the host." It will be noted that no mention is made of forks; these objects did not come into general use until a hundred years later. Spoons were usod sparingly, the same-one often serving half a dozen guests. There was no soup plates. The. diuer, if unable to borrow a spoon, drank from the tureen. ■ A familiar article on the medieval board was the covered serving dish, but its. purpose was radically different from that of to-day. In baronial times peer and lord" lived in constant fear of treachery on the part of retainers aud even kindred. As a consequence all foodstuffs were covered in the kitchen to eliminate danger of poisoning on the way to'the table. A feudal lord's retainers were nearly all delegated to some position connected with the culinary department of the establishment. One was-privileged to preside over the dairy, others over the pantry or bread closet. Some acted as carvers and cup bearers. After dinner the ladies retired to their "bower," a small room adjoining the dining hall. The men remained to' drink and to talk war and conquests. Sitting is to-day regarded ai the natural position while eating, most of us being unacquainted with the fact that this posture is actually a comparatively reeent development of civilisation. In early times, especially in warm climates, man reclined or lay prone on the ground during a repast, raising himself slightly as occasion demanded. Tho Egyptians, Assyrians, and Persians are nowhere mentioned ns having had chairs at tho festivo board. • At grand banquets tho Komans jsed couches. Guests supported themselves on their elbows whilo eating and dippod their fingers into dishes disposed in the centre of the table. As to linger eating, a noted' French writer on etiquette says:—■' "From the creation of the world to the seventeenth century, man ate with his fingers." Tho k'hifo and spoon date' back to pre-historic time, but the practice of giving individual utensils to each diner is a little more than two hundred and fifty years old. Montaigne found tho custom prevalent in Switzerland in 1580, and remarked qu it as .■>. curiosity.