These days we take so much for granted: bright electric lights that allow us to see what we're doing irrrespective of the time of day or where we are; heat at the flick of a switch, and food that's ready to eat and packed with calories.
I got a glimpse of what life might be like without these things by visiting a Tudor recreation at Kentwell house a month or so weeks ago. If you get the chance you should go - the house and grounds alone are worth it, but with populated by an entire household it's a truly engaging day out.
What struck me most was just how bloody hard life was then. Cooking was over an open fire every meal every day, not just when it seemed a nice idea. The ingredients you had was what you had grown or slaughtered yourself. No shops, no Ocado. Even the cheese had to be made from scratch (and of course from a bit of calves stomach).
So of course, meat was rare (unless you're one of the gentry) and every bit of everything is used. Real nose to tail dining.
Potage was a lot of dried beans and a few veg.
And there was no sugar.
Honey, maybe. Apples and plums for sure.
But none of the white stuff (though Raleigh and the rest of the exploring capitalists would soon be sailing the world and stealing whatever wasn't nailed down).
Beer was thin and weak (no sugar to turn into alcohol) but preferable to the water from the moat! Not quite a modern IPA I can tell you.
The day after, I took part in the round London Sportive. 100 kms round the North Downs and including ZigZag road up Box Hill. And here, energy in the form of gels, drinks or even jelly babies was in abundance. Cheap, plentiful energy whenever you wanted it. And boy, did us middle aged men (for the most part) in frankly unflattering lycra want it. You'd think we hadn't been fed for days as an unruly queue formed at the feeding stations jammed their mouths with brightly coloured sweeties.
Not surprising I guess, given that my Runkeeper log reckons I spent 2,367 calories getting around the course.
Probably not nearly as much as it took to work in the fields in the late 16th century.
I don't really know what I'm trying to say here - except that we should be grateful that we live in a time when we can do things like cycle 100kms just for the hell of it.
I got a glimpse of what life might be like without these things by visiting a Tudor recreation at Kentwell house a month or so weeks ago. If you get the chance you should go - the house and grounds alone are worth it, but with populated by an entire household it's a truly engaging day out.
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| Cheesetastic |
What struck me most was just how bloody hard life was then. Cooking was over an open fire every meal every day, not just when it seemed a nice idea. The ingredients you had was what you had grown or slaughtered yourself. No shops, no Ocado. Even the cheese had to be made from scratch (and of course from a bit of calves stomach).
Potage was a lot of dried beans and a few veg.
And there was no sugar.
Honey, maybe. Apples and plums for sure.
 |
| Chewy beer |
Beer was thin and weak (no sugar to turn into alcohol) but preferable to the water from the moat! Not quite a modern IPA I can tell you.
The day after, I took part in the round London Sportive. 100 kms round the North Downs and including ZigZag road up Box Hill. And here, energy in the form of gels, drinks or even jelly babies was in abundance. Cheap, plentiful energy whenever you wanted it. And boy, did us middle aged men (for the most part) in frankly unflattering lycra want it. You'd think we hadn't been fed for days as an unruly queue formed at the feeding stations jammed their mouths with brightly coloured sweeties.
Not surprising I guess, given that my Runkeeper log reckons I spent 2,367 calories getting around the course.
Probably not nearly as much as it took to work in the fields in the late 16th century.
I don't really know what I'm trying to say here - except that we should be grateful that we live in a time when we can do things like cycle 100kms just for the hell of it.
