Dinner Was Disgusting

Medieval food would horrify a modern stomach. Trenchers were stale bread slabs used as plates, then fed to dogs or beggars. The wealthy flavored their food with heavy doses of pepper and cinnamon — spices worth more than gold, used to show off riches and impress guests, not to hide spoilage. People drank weak "small" beer throughout the day because it was cheap, filling, and packed with calories — a nutritious everyday drink rather than a substitute for water, which people drank too.

Peasants ate to fuel hard physical labor, so meals were built for calories, not pleasure. Eels and organ meats were staples, often boiled into a grey mush. Only the nobility ate what we'd call real meals, and even those were bland by today's standards.