FOOD IN AN ENGLISH MEDIEVAL CASTLE:
IF one was looking to enjoy a fine meal in the medieval world then the best place to find a handsomely laid dinner table was in the local castle. There, in the magnificent Great Hall, feasts were regularly served for the local lord and his entourage of knights and ladies where a hearty appetite was considered a great virtue. The cooks in the castle kitchens could draw on the castle’s own food stores made plentiful with goods either paid in tax by, or commandeered from, the local peasantry or the foodstuffs produced from the castle’s own lands. Supplementing these goodies was anything that the castle residents could bring in from their frequent hunting trips in the local forests. With not much else going on by way of regular entertainment, a good banquet was a highlight of the day and a chance to dress up, try out some exotic foods and be entertained by musicians and poets.
Castles could store plenty of foodstuffs in the basement and ground floor of the tower keep as, without windows (to improve security during a siege), this part of the building was not much good for anything else. In the courtyards of larger castles there were other buildings for brewing beer, making bread, and more storage space such as the buttery which was used to keep a plentiful stock of beer, wine and cider (always useful if the water ran out during a prolonged attack). There might also be a more select stock of spirits such as English mead or French brandy, kept in reserve for the lord and special occasions. In larger castles there was, too, space for keeping livestock, perhaps a dovecote for pigeons, a granary for keeping grain and flour, a pond for fish and a garden for growing herbs, fruit, vines and vegetables.