With the demise of the Western Roman Empire, wars were raging everywhere and people moved around. For a long time, eating was only a basic need for survival. Moreover, different races crisscross each other in different regions, forming new eating habits and eating culture. But to be honest, people in ancient Egypt and Rome ate quite a lot.

Take the era of Trajan in ancient Rome as an example. It was the most powerful period of the Roman Empire. Although the era of Caesar and Octavian sounds glorious now, it was basically a situation of chaos at that time, which was about 111 AD.

Let's be clear here. The gap between the rich and the poor in the Roman Empire was very large. The poor and the rich ate different things. The staple food that ordinary people often ate was a small round cake made of two grains of wheat (an early awned wheat), which was usually eaten with salt. In the later period, bread made of wheat became the favorite of the Romans. Wheat is increasingly replacing grains previously used in food. Sometimes people dip bread in wine and eat it with olives, cheese or grapes.

However, the painting style in the Middle Ages was not like this at all.

Of course, the staple food of Europeans in the Middle Ages was bread, but the main ingredient of bread was not necessarily wheat. Throughout the Middle Ages, Western Europe was often in a food shortage (starvation of people was not uncommon, and people ate people). The reasons for the crisis came from all sides (war \ cruelty of the ruling class), but one of the main points was the low yield of agriculture. The unit yield of wheat is the lowest among the three major food crops (wheat, rice and corn), and because of the low agricultural level at that time, Europeans mainly planted more barley at that time. Therefore, wheat production was in short supply throughout the Middle Ages. Poor people have long eaten bread with complex ingredients (all kinds of substitutes include barley, oats and rye grains, and sometimes chestnuts and beans are ground to make bread). Because of the complex ingredients, it is particularly difficult to ferment, so it tastes hard. Please see the picture below for the appearance of black bread. This is a picture of Russian black bread found on the Internet, and the medieval black bread, you can probably imagine it as a piece of black limestone.

Let's forget about the delicious food of ancient Rome and Greece. The terrible Middle Ages only had black bread. The only feature of this kind of bread was that it was hard. The weight of a black bread was about 4 .5kg, and its main function was not only eating, but also using it as a weapon. If you travel through a medieval town, the early reader will read the news that happened on the first day, and you are likely to hear the following:

Nicholas's house was robbed by thieves last night, and Nicholas's wife was brave and tenacious. After discovering the thief, she fought fiercely with him. As a result, the thief was slapped on the head by Nicholas's wife with a piece of black bread and died on the spot.

Or: Mr. Sandra died yesterday, unfortunately, because he cheated in marriage and was knocked down by his wife's brown bread on the bed. After being rescued by the doctor, it was ineffective, and he went to heaven to find Lord Jesus without saying a word.

I'm not saying this in vain. That's the real situation.

Bread actually has some other uses. For example, passing knives and forks. Medieval families didn't have a knife and fork for everyone. The whole family only had a knife and fork. I cut the meat before handing it to you. In order to avoid the soup splashing on the knife, everyone conveniently wiped the bread and handed it to the next person. Here, the bread is equivalent to a rag.

For example, there are not enough bowls at home, so people just dig a hole in the bread and pour the soup in. Anyway, they all eat it together and simply use the bread as a plate. This habit is still used today. For example, when you travel to eastern European countries, you will eat a famous dish called gulash beef thick soup. Some shops just serve the soup directly in pumpkin-shaped bread, which is quite distinctive.

Because of the position of bread in daily life, the earliest trade association in the Middle Ages was composed of bakers. In contrast, there are also relevant decrees in various places to control the price of bread. For example, in 1266, Britain had a famous' Bread and ale Act'. It clearly stipulates the quantity of bread and ale that can be bought per penny. If a baker shoddy or deceives consumers, it will be severely punished. So at that time, I would rather give a loaf of bread to my guests, the so-called baker's dozen. At that time, there were 13 loaves.

Black bread as hard as iron can only be broken slowly, and its taste can be imagined when soaked in soup.

actually, there is also white bread. It is much softer and more delicious, but the flour used to make white flour and black bread is exactly the same. The only difference is that the flour of white bread is sieved more times, and the bran and impurities in it are relatively less. But there is no such thing as delicious.

Only the best aristocrats and clergy can eat the best bread-wheat buns. At that time, wheat was considered to be the most advanced of all wheat, with high nutritional value and very expensive price. Most people can't afford it. But no matter what class, or the difference between the poor and the poor, everyone will make bread with broth (otherwise, they can't eat it at all). And this kind of mixed noodles is ruined, and its name is Sop. Yes, this is our predecessor of thick soup in western food now.

In fact, at that time, almost all the ingredients that could be found were put into the thick soup and cooked together. If it was not tasty enough, it was necessary to add more garlic and mint leaves ... Do you feel sick?

Do you want to ask: What about rice? Why not eat rice? Dear, please check the living environment of rice. The annual accumulated temperature is more than 3111, and the precipitation is more than 811 mm ... Well, only Italy can grow some rice. It's not enough to plug the teeth, besides, it's very expensive. Everyone uses it as seasoning. Put some rice in the soup. That's how paella is made. Of course, only by the sea can you have seafood.

In a word: Europe in the Middle Ages was entirely based on local materials and depended on the weather to eat whatever it had. Only later did it form different cuisines in different countries, which we will talk about later.

next preview: chapter of food-the battle between bread warrior and steamed bread childe