pickOverall both good and interesting, providing lots of detail I didn't know about medieval eating (primarily on the feast side, but also some differences between scandinavia and continental Europe in everyday eating.) My chief complaint: SO MANY quotes in untranslated Middle English, and each stopped my reading flow. Decipherable, sure, but honestly unnecessary. Should have been left in the footnotes.
"Even the mice in the late fifteenth-century re-telling of an Aesop fable are sufficiently well-bred to wash before their meal, although, not being human, they are excused the prayer"
Ok same book, like three pages on, (new coffee) but this photo was too good not to post. Advent candles lit.
Today's book brunch brought to you by the color yellow and right wrist tendinitis
"Of all Lent's ingredients, the most loathed was the red herring. Very cheap and plentiful, it haunted every menu."
Once again I'm struck by how different continental Europe and Britain was from Scandinavia. I come from a people who survived on turnips - later potatoes - and herring well into the early decades of the 1900s, as the only reliable daily source of protein. Meat was for holidays for the working population.
We don't really celebrate Thanksgiving in this house (although I'll send out a donation to the duwamish tribe as soon as I get my new debit card added to my phone) long weekend brunch is *chef's kiss *. Barely making headway in this which is weird because it's delightful.
Haven't had much time to read this for assorted reason. It's delightful so far, though, although I wish it had fewer direct quotes in Middle English.
Fast and Feast: Food in Medieval Society | 
