Grains and Bread
For all people of the Renaissance times, bread was the mainstay of the diet. Before silverware and even dishes, people used it as a plate or bowl, placing other foods on top of it. The nobility preferred fine white bread made from processed flour, while poorer folk ate less refined brown bread containing more wheat bran.
Coarser bread could also contain barley, rye, or even beans or chestnuts when times were hard.
For the wealthy landowner, wheat was the desired crop for baking into fine bread. But due to the risks of blight or drought, multiple crops were planted: wheat, oats, rye and barley in addition to peas and beans. Barley could be made into both bread and ale, rye into rough bread, either into porridge, and oats made