Elizabethan Food Did you know that cuisine exploded during the Elizabethan Era? Because of the exploration of the New World, explorers brought many new flavorful foods to England. The Elizabethan Era was the time when Queen Elizabeth I ruled England. Historians often call this time period the Golden Age of English history because it brought great achievements, one of those being food. In this time period, water was not very clean, and people did not have cleaning resources like we do now. Most people drank wine, ale, and many other beverages. Lower classes and upper classes ate very differently. Citizens of lower classes ate poorly, did not get essential vitamins and often did not eat three meals a day. In comparison, Upper class citizens …show more content…
They ate foods such as bread, fish, cheese, beans and drank ale or milk. The average English peasant would consume 2 pounds of bread, 8 ounces of fish or another protein, and 2 pints of beverage per day (Singman). Farmers usually would sell their best products to the market and keep the cheap produce for their families. Meat was very expensive and valued in this time period so eggs and cheese were often substituted for a protein because they were an easy buy (Crouch, Entringer, Frank, Post). On a very rare occasion, they would eat pork, beef, or poultry. Fruits and vegetables were only available if they were in season so citizens of lower classes lacked vitamins these foods have regularly (Singman). However, upper class citizens ate much …show more content…
Even children were allowed to drink at a young age. Many people got tired of drinking ale, so they would come up with creative ways to make it taste different by using spices, berries and sometimes peppers (Mahabal). Upper classes would often make other beverages that were wine based, one being called caudle, a hot drink thickened with eggs and drunk at breakfast or at bedtime (Crouch, Entringer, Frank, Post). Another drink that all classes had was called sack, an alcoholic drink from Spain that is usually sweetened with sugar. One of the most popular drinks, mead, was also drunk by all classes and was made with honey and citrus fruits (Albala