When and Why Were There Feasts?
• Held for– Holidays– Births– Marriages
• Often used to– Form alliances– Goodwill
• Three day feasts were common
• Feasts began:– guests gather and wait for
horn to sound– handwashing– pass “door wardens”
• used to stop party crashers
• Proper etiquette was needed
Rituals of Feasts
Drinks and Beverages
• Mead & Ale– made with honey– type of beer
• Wine– for the wealthy– imported
• Fruit Juices
Breads
• Baked in the clay oven daily
• Made from– Rye– Wheat– Oats
• Grinding done with grindstone
• Knead dough– wooden trough– also called
trencher
Fruits and Spices
• Spices– cinnamon– garlic– mace
• May have been imported
• Plums• Cherries• Sloes (shown
here)• Apples
– used for cider
• Grew wheats, oats and barley– oats mainly for animals
• Vegetables closer to wild ancestors
– carrots were smaller– cabbage was tougher
• Sugar was used for medicines
Vegetables
Meats
• When meat is available– Deer: antlers and skin used for shelter– Wild Boar: used tusks– Pigs: important food source because
of large litters– Sheep: also used for wool– Cows: provided milk too
Fish• Types eaten:
– Herring– Pike– Roach– Eel– Salmon
• Shellfish were a big part of diet
• Fish eaten fresh or preserved
Sources
• http://www.regia.org/food.htm• http://www.regia.org/wulfwyn.htm• http://www.woodlands-
junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/saxons/food.htm
• http://www.regia.org/feasting.htm