Let’s go on a time travelling journey back to the 16th century, where food wasn’t just about nourishment—it was a reflection of your bank balance. In a society that was very unequal, what you ate and drank depended very much on how well off you were.

So let’s have a look at what was cooking in the pots of the poor, the middling, and the high rollers.

The Peasant’s Pantry:

If you’re a peasant in the 1500s, life’s no buffet. Basically you’re living on bread – but not the fluffy, white kind we are used to today. Back then the staple fare was coarse brown bread made from rye or barley. For breakfast you might have it with some butter and sage. For dinner, you might have some pottage (a thick soup made with whatever veggies – cabbage, onions, turnips – are in season), more bread, and that’s it. Maybe a bit of cheese or salted fish if you’re feeling fancy, and eggs if the chickens are laying.

Meat is a real treat, something for celebrations unless you’re a master hunter; mind you, hunting laws were pretty strict, and you didn’t want to end up in the stocks for poaching. Small game like rabbit made it to the table on rare occasions.

Whether you lived in the country or in the towns and cities, your diet was very much influenced by the seasons. Unless food could be preserved by pickling, boiling or drying, it went off quickly in the absence of refrigeration, so you had to consume it immediately. So whatever was in season was what you ate.

Usually, farmers lacked sufficient feed to keep their livestock over winter, so the majority were slaughtered – traditionally on Martinmas (11 November), and as much of the meat as possible was preserved. But even so, eking out the meat of a single pig through the whole winter with a few onions and leeks must have been a hard task.

When it came to drink, water was fine if you knew it came from a good well or a reliable spring. But particularly in the cities, the water supply was often pretty suspect, and so people took to drinking beer or ale, often in astonishing quantities; very likely most of the population of London spent most of their days at least slightly tipsy.

The Merchant’s Mealtime:

Now, meet the middle class—the upwardly mobile of the 16th century. The better sort of tradesmen – like Will Shakespeare’s dad, John – and successful merchants and bankers earned enough money to be able to afford a more varied and interesting diet.

Bread’s still a staple, but it’s a notch fancier, made from refined wheat. Meat’s on the menu, too—beef, pork, mutton—you name it! But not every day; Fridays and Saturdays were fasting days, when you were prohibited from eating meat. Fish was OK, though, and you could tuck into your cod, bass, mullet or perch without getting into trouble.

With a bit more money available, the mercantile housewife could afford to buy herbs and expensive imported spices. As well as jazzing up dinner, spices often disguised the smell and taste of rancid meat.

Of course vegetables were still a mainstay of the meal, and they were much the same varieties as were consumed in poorer households. Pottage was as common in a middle class household as in a poor one, but a merchant’s pottage might be improved with almonds, ginger or saffron. And interesting new vegetable types such as potatoes and tomatoes were also starting to appear, exotic imports from the new world.

Middle class households might also drink modest amounts of wine to complement their beer or ale, though wine was quite expensive and often not of good quality.

It’s also interesting to note that many urban houses also had substantial plots of land attached to them, where the owners could grow their own vegetables, keep a cow or two, and run some chickens. The house might also have its own brew-house to make ale, and a dairy to make butter and milk. Except in really big cities like London, the middle classes were quite self-sufficient.

The Lordly Feast:

Now, let’s crash the high rollers’ party—the aristocrats and the wealthy. These folks lived like every day was a banquet. Meat galore! Venison, beef, swan (yes, swan!)—they weren’t counting calories. In fact, it has been estimated that the Tudor nobility’s diet was 80% protein, which must have been a challenge for their digestive systems.

Not that they didn’t eat any vegetables. Salads were popular, comprising a mixture of cooked and raw ingredients and including green vegetables such as leeks, onions, radishes and cabbage, as well as lettuce, chives, boiled carrots, flowers and herbs. They were dressed with oil, vinegar, and sometimes sugar. And fruit – pears, cherries, apples and apricots – were enjoyed whenever they were in season.

And spices? Go crazy! Sugar was a luxury back then, but it was used lavishly in rich households, even in savory dishes (a popular breakfast among the rich was a sweet omelette made of eggs, butter, sugar and currants). In fact, imported goods and exotic flavours were all the rage.

And needless to say your average Elizabethan noble would much rather drink fine wines imported from the continent than homely local ale.

But even the rich couldn’t change the seasons. True, they could hunt game on their large estates in the country, and they could afford to feed livestock over the winter, which they could slaughter as needed. Still, no strawberries in winter; you had to wait for summer – though when they came, it was a feast.

Unlike the poorest and most of the mercantile middle class, wealthy and noble households also had to pay attention to the sumptuary laws. These regulated how you dressed and what you ate, and they were in part designed to keep extravagance in check. The rules depended very much on your station in life, and were both detailed and complex.

For example the laws in force in Tudor England dictated the number of dishes you could serve per meal: a cardinal could serve nine dishes, while dukes, marquises, bishops and earls could serve seven. Lower-ranking lords were permitted to serve only six, and the gentry class, with an income of £40–100 per annum, could serve three.

Of course, you wouldn’t want a duke to feel deprived if he went to dinner with, say, a knight; in that case the host could serve the number of dishes and food appropriate to the highest-ranking guest. Oh, and weddings were exempt from the rules.

Luckily enforcement was often lax – but you still had to be a bit careful not to go too far over the top when staging your grand feasts and entertainments.

Food is an endlessly fascinating subject whether we are talking about our own time, or about the past. If your curiosity is piqued on the subject of food in the 16th century, have a look at this link to one of the many articles that I’ve found useful in my research.