Medieval Fare

Food and Culture in Medieval Iberia

Häftad, Engelska, 2024

Av Martha M. Daas

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Unique in its cultural and religious makeup, medieval Iberia represented a crossroads of cultures. This crossroads was reflected in large and small ways. On a grand scale, we see the convergence of intellectual ideas and great innovations in agriculture and science. On a more intimate level, we see an intersection of cultures as reflected in habits of consumption. The acts of producing food, cooking, and eating demonstrate the political realities of the land: at times interdependent, and, at times, at odds. Food, as an archeological and anthropological tool, can help us understand a particular moment in time. In considering the nature of consumption, we may arrive at the heart of a culture. In Medieval Fare, the author explores food references found in a number of medieval Iberian texts in order to expand our knowledge of daily life in the Middle Ages. By examining the depiction of food and consumption, this pioneering study provides insight into the cultural, religious, and social complexities of medieval Iberia.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2024-04-15
Mått151 x 228 x 10 mm
Vikt254 g
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor182
FörlagBloomsbury Publishing Plc
ISBN9781498589611

Tillhör följande kategorier

Medeltiden inom Historia och arkeologi
Kulturhistoria inom Historia och arkeologi

In the Middle Ages, the Iberian Peninsula was a cultural intersection, home to Christians, Jews, and Muslims. These religious groups' tastes and restrictions contributed to Iberian foodways, made even more complex by their differences in social class and wealth. Bread and wine were staples of most diets (many Muslims drank wine), although the rich consumed more meat than the poor did. In drawing this picture, Daas employs a variety of sources, including books on cookery, medical texts, agricultural manuals, and literary works. She ties the intersection of diet with health consciousness to the belief that human beings might incline toward one of the four humors, becoming either choleric, sanguine, melancholic, or phlegmatic. A food or drink of one type might counterbalance a natural tendency toward another humor. Five chapters cover meat, bread and grains, vegetables and legumes, fruits and sweets, and wine. Each chapter discusses the three religious communities' cultures and strictures, including inquisitorial inquiries. The prose is clear, and quotations from other languages are translated. Recommended. General readers through faculty.