What Peasants Ate Every Day

The balance is easy to explain. Grain provided the most energy for the work required and could be stored, while meat meant keeping an animal that was also more valuable alive as a source of milk, wool, or traction.

Historians estimate that bread and porridge made up as much as two-thirds of all calories. That is also why the word "bread" means food in general in many languages.

Another difference from the familiar image concerns variety. Gardens provided cabbage, turnips, onions, and beans, while forests provided mushrooms, berries, and nuts. The diet did not always become monotonous. That happened at the end of winter, when supplies ran out.

That is why the year was divided into a well-fed half and a hungry half. People ate noticeably better in autumn than in spring, and the spring months before the new harvest were the hardest, as sources described them.

Geography also made a major difference. In coastal areas, fish replaced meat and was eaten every day. In mountain regions, dairy products became the staple, while farther south, olive oil and legumes did.

There is also the question of how food was prepared. The oven was not fired every day, so bread was baked once a week or less often, while hot food was cooked in a single pot. That is why stews were so common: it was not a matter of taste, but a way to manage with one pot and one fire.

New foods also changed the picture. The arrival of potatoes in Europe transformed the diets of entire regions within a few generations: they produced more food from the same area and could be stored throughout the winter.