Fast and Feast: Food in Medieval Society - Paperback

by Bridget Ann Henisch (Author)

Engagingly written and fully illustrated, Fast and Feast explores the medieval approach to food, its preparation, and its presentation. Since attitudes toward food were shaped by the religious and social ideas of the period, the medieval perspective is clearly developed for the modern reader and, in turn, sheds light on the character of life in the Middle Ages. The subject is examined from the varied points of view of all concerned: host, guest, cook, and servant.

Bridget Ann Henisch draws her material from a wide range of primary sources: devotional literature, sermons, courtesy books, recipe collections, household accounts, chronicles, and romances. Most of these works were written in England during the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, but Henisch also makes reference to texts from other periods and countries. Readers with an interest in food will find her important study both informative and entertaining.

Back Jacket

'A fascinating narrative of food and life five centuries ago... this book is highly recommended to dietitians, nutritionists, lovers of food history, and students of medieval life and literature.'-Journal of the American Dietetic Association

Author Biography

Bridget Ann Henisch is author of Medieval Armchair Travels and Cakes and Characters, and coauthor of The Photographic Experience, 1839-1914 (Penn State, 1994).