History never tasted so good

HISTORY

Upon hearing this word, many people think:"rich old white men who drank too much," "politics," "war," "economics," and the tedious memorization of "important" dates. For awhile, I also believed that history was about being able to remember the details of important events and the people [mostly men] that made them happened. Then I started studying history at university and I realized that women [!] actually contributed to the past and so did "poor" people.

The study of history could be divided geographically and could focus on the social, political, or economical elements of that nation during a particular time.In undergrad I quickly became interested in British history, especially examining the lives of female monarchs. Recently I became interested in the history of fashion [in related news, I really want to go to New York to check out this exhibit]. Over the holiday break I found a new historical passion: FOOD.

I discovered this fascinating subject area while watching A Tudor Feast at Christmas, a show my dad PVRed knowing my love of all things Tudor [except the actual show The Tudors].

It was an entertaining and educational show. It followed around a team of British historians and archaeologists as they attempted to prepare a Christmas feast in a castle without electricity replicating the Tudor style. The scholars went boar hunting, fishing, kept the fires going, prepared an elaborate peacock dish, spent hours, even days, making pastries and breads, prepared countless meat dishes, arranged the dining hall, and served the guests.

The meal was prepared for a wealthy and prominent Tudor family, so the feast depicted would not be what a typical person of the time would have consumed. However, the three main hosts, acting as servants, made an effort to explain their role and point out any historical discrepancies in what they were doing. For example, some of the ingredients used in the pastries were too expensive to trust with a servant and in many cases, the responsibility of preparing certain dishes which utilized these prized ingredients fell to the lady of the household.

Unfortunately, the audience never got to hear how the food tasted. Personally, I've never feasted upon peacock and I wonder if it tastes like chicken...