The Medieval Kitchen: A Social History with Recipes

The Medieval Kitchen reveals a world in which food was central to daily life, status and belief. From lavish banquets scented with exotic spices to humble meals of bread, greens and porridge, Hannele Klemettilä paints a vivid picture of how people across Western Europe and Scandinavia prepared, transported and enjoyed food. Richly illustrated and grounded in original sources, the book unveils the surprising sophistication of medieval cooking and dispels long-standing myths about what people ate and why. With more than sixty authentic recipes adapted for the modern kitchen – from hippocras to rose pudding – it offers readers a tangible connection to a bygone era. This is both an inviting culinary guide and a revealing study of how food shaped medieval culture.