Helen Peacocke explains how food was presented in Shakespeare’s time

For several years members of the Enstone History Society have staged events that bring history to life through food. This year they decided to hold a scrumptious Tudor feast to celebrate William Shakespeare’s 450th birthday year. Pat Atkins from the Shakespeare Trust talked us through the menu and Professor David Woodfine served the food.

Whilst they didn’t serve roasted peacock with flaming gilded beaks, roasted swans or decorated boar’s heads, caterer Steve Ramli-Davies managed to fill the tables with a multitude of colour-ful dishes that would have been eaten and enjoyed by the Bard and his guests, colourful being the operative word as not only did the Elizabethans have hearty appetites they loved bright colours too.

Those rich enough to eat well during the Tudor period decorated their food such that it looked as attractive as the glorious gowns they wore. Food was visual. Pastry pie cases named coffins were highly decorated, puffed, slashed and shaped. The golden colour of whipped egg yolks adding a touch of gold to the finished dish to satisfy alchemists. Steve prepared the food as if we were Tudors with splendid appetites. It was suggested that to get into the mood we take the comments in Antony and Cleopatra seriously: “Eight wild boars roasted whole at breakfast but twelve persons there.” There were more than 30 of us attending the meal. We made much of the spicy flavours and the attractive array of dishes set before us.

For a theatrical effect live birds such as blackbirds were sometimes inserted inside a pie at the last moment to be released as the pie was presented to the guests, hence “Sing a song of sixpence.” Pies were sometimes fashioned in a manner that would make the guests laugh by decorating them with protruding hen’s legs sticking out of the pastry case. Pork meat balls studied with almonds, coloured with vegetable dye to resemble spines, were also served to amuse. These would be presented alongside the dishes overflowing with roasted game birds. Only vegetables of the season were served and then sparingly as fruit and vegetables were not as popular as meat or fish dishes; besides, there were few ways they could be preserved during the winter months.

The poor, of course, were not so lucky. Their food was not served to entertain. They would live mainly on pottages and bread and any wild creatures they could catch. When a banquet was in progress they could be found hovering at the gates of the large house in hope that leftovers would be thrown to them as well as the dogs.

The Enstone History Societies meal did not boast whole roasted swans or large ornate pies, nor were the leftovers thrown to the poor waiting at the gate, but it did prove a well-balanced meal representing dishes that would have been served to both the rich and the poor. The pottage (soup), which was served at the beginning of the meal, was seen as a health-giving substance, as was the winter sallet. The sallet (salad) is created from a mix of raw winter vegetables, decorated with seasonal flower heads during the spring. As the Tudor dinner took place just before the primroses had begun to bloom, the chef made much of colours found in grated carrots, red onions and olives.

Tarts of spinach were served too. Spin-ach originated from Iran and was eaten as a fruit mixed with white wine, rose-water and herbs. It was also mixed with eggs and served in a pastry shell. It was delicious and went perfectly with the casseroled chicken cooked with ground almonds garlic and spices. We were not, however, invited to take pot luck as was the case in Tudor times when guests placed their spoon or fingers in the pot to remove a portion. The fork which we use now did not come into general use until the mid-1600s and is said to have been brought to the British Isles by Thomas Coryat, a traveller in 1611.

At first, forks were considered pitchforks of the devil and banned from use by the church, but gradually they became beautiful bejewelled objects which were used to spear food and save the fingers from becoming sticky.

Because the Elizabethans were very fond of sweetmeats, the Enstone dinner was concluded with bite-sized pieces of marchpane (marzipan) gilded with gold leaf and painted with vegetable dyes so that they doubled as a table decoration. In keeping with the theme of the dinner, the guests were reminded that a servant clearing the Capulets’ banquet in Romeo and Juliet pleads: “Save me a piece of marchpane.”

What a great way to finish a dinner.