Daily life during the medieval age develops funny images in people in minds about their lives from the wretch to the rich. People have funny opinions about the kind of meals they consumed. Methods and types of food have been discussed under two myths to show the medieval diet. They both reflect the fallacy that people have about the medieval lives of the Europeans. People believe that the Europeans used spices to dispel the rotten smell of rotten meat. It also improved the flavor of the meat because it was the favorite meal of the Europeans. This myth only displays that the Europeans did not the know-how of preserving meat and they often consumed spoiled meat (Newman Paul, p. 3).
The other myth suggests that the Europeans were on poor diet. They hardly took vegetables. This was the case for both the poor and the rich. They justified their survival on meals without vegetables by claiming that they have some unhealthy effects to the body. This information was conveyed to the public through church sermons and medical data.
The myth about of use of spices to freshen meat is wrongly interpreted. These Europeans are human beings and they are vulnerable to death due to consumption of poisonous meat. There is no amount of spice could make the meat consumable for a human being. The Europeans used the spices to add flavor to fresh cooked meat. This is reasonable because they also had taste buds just like the modern human being.
The Europeans also used the spices to prepare food that had been preserved. This is because preserved meat was prone to losing its taste. They also boiled and soaked meat in order to make it consumable especially for one that had been preserved by dehydrating. Freezing was also another method used for preservation. Unlike the modern use of refrigerators today, the Europeans relied on winter periods in order to preserve their meat and fish. However, this method was in limited use among the Europeans. Other techniques like drying, packing in oil, and smoking were also in use in the medieval period (Newman Paul, p. 4).
Later in the years better methods of preservation were invented. This was greatly beneficial for the Europeans and as time went by, the methods were highly improved. They include canning and packing foodstuffs in containers. This has created a great chance of conserving numerous selections of fruits and vegetables. The Europeans also catered for the sanitation of the water that they used. They preferred water from the ground that generated from springs and running streams (Newman Paul, p.19).
The Europeans also kept livestock and this was quite expensive to rear animals. During winter one was compelled into purchasing a lot of fodder and store. People were not able to raise these resources and so opted to keep pigs since they could easily be maintained. Pigs could easily maneuver their way out into finding food. The poor hardly had meat to consume and so they relied on the infrequent shares from neighbors. They also relied on proteins from the legumes. Still, they also acquired proteins from chicken eggs. Poultry was easily maintainable by all the social classes (Newman Paul, p. 22).
Buildings were eventually brought up and the Europeans started building kitchens. They ceased cooking from fire pits that had been located at the middle of the serving halls. This was very risky and so the constructers were compelled to build kitchens as separate buildings. Further, chimneys were erected on the external wall of the building to facilitate aeration. Feasting halls were also constructed and they were used for meetings by the noble. Servants also used them as sleeping bays (Newman Paul, p. 27).
Work cited
Newman Paul, Daily life in the Middle Ages. Europe: McFarland, 2001.
