Guest Author - Helen B. Wharton

When I began researching food of the Renaissance I was vaguely aware that some of the food we take for granted today was unavailable in Renaissance Europe. Some food items were just being introduced in European trading centers and were not yet widely accepted and a few were available but not considered edible.

To begin we'll look at a list of food items that were either not available or just not eaten.
Coffee
Tea
Molasses
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Corn
All tropical fruits such as bananas, pineapples, papayas and guavas.
Peppers such as bell peppers, banana peppers and hot peppers. Black and white pepper is a spice from a tree, is unrelated to peppers, and was available.
Beans
Peanuts
Gourds such as squash and pumpkins
Vanilla
Cocoa
Turkeys

Here is a partial list of foods that were available and eaten.
Beef and Veal
Pork in all it's forms, including bacon
Mutton and Lamb
Chicken
geese
Ducks
Game Birds This category includes birds that are eaten today as well as some we probably wouldn't consider and includes pheasants, peacocks, quail, woodcock, thrush, herons, cranes, curlews, larks and robins.
Eggs
Root vegetables such as turnips and carrots
Onions
Cabbage and Lettuce
Herbs such as borage, sorrel, savory, thyme and endive.
Spices such as cinnamon, cloves and mace.
Fruits such as apples, oranges, lemons, grapes, currants and plums; most of these were dried to preserve them and used in recipes in their dried form.

Grains were very common and used for porridge and bread. Meats were usually either boiled or roasted and were commonly cooked with fruits and spices which we would consider as sweet spices today.

Many recipes called for the meat to be boiled with onions, herbs and spices. When they had cooked together then the vegetables were added and cooked until the vegetables were tender. To serve the food it was placed on sops, also called a trencher, which was a platter fashioned from the bottom of a loaf of bread; and was also eaten.