Uploaded January 2021 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Bring the past to life through food. Historic Cooking is a bi-monthly show where we recreate dishes from history and reimagine them with a modern twist.
Episode 1 🍲 Medieval Beef Stew (Beef y-stywyd)
In this episode we recreate an English beef stew from 1420. The original recipe was taken from 'Two fifteenth-century cookery-books : Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430), & Harl. MS. 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1439, Laud MS. 553, & Douce MS. 55' / edited by Thomas Austin.
The original source can be accessed online: bit.ly/HCbeefystywyd
Our Chef and host, Tom has produced some easy to follow recipes for the medieval stew in addition to the modern version. Grab them here and start cooking: culturespacecoventry.com/historic-cooking
🥘 Medieval Cooking 🥘
Cooking in medieval Britain was very different depending on how wealthy the family was. It was mostly done by women, although wealthy families would have servants to do the physical work. We know that the Carmelites at Whitefriars in Coventry did their own cooking as they were paid by some of the Coventry guilds to provide their annual feast and entertainment!
Cooking was done on a central hearth using a large iron pot to boil meat and vegetables. Apart from the very poor, most people had a reasonable diet. This might include brown bread, beans, chicken, beef, pork, herrings, salted cod and vegetables such as turnips, onions and cabbage.
A variety of implements were used in cooking. For example, flat, slotted skimmers removed the unwanted ‘scum’ at the top of stews. Strainers would be used to remove meat and vegetables so the remaining liquid could be made into broth.
Salt was important for preserving meat and fish and flavouring food at the table. Did you know that people only used knives and spoons to eat? Forks became more popular in the late 1500s.
Check out some medieval cooking objects from the Herbert's collection: culturespacecoventry.com/historic-cooking
Follow Tom on Instagram: instagram.com/knitslips
#HistoricCooking
This video was filmed during coronavirus restrictions. All three staff involved were in a support bubble together and treated as a single household.
Bring the past to life through food. Historic Cooking is a bi-monthly show where we recreate dishes from history and reimagine them with a modern twist.
Episode 1 🍲 Medieval Beef Stew (Beef y-stywyd)
In this episode we recreate an English beef stew from 1420. The original recipe was taken from 'Two fifteenth-century cookery-books : Harleian MS. 279 (ab 1430), & Harl. MS. 4016 (ab. 1450), with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1439, Laud MS. 553, & Douce MS. 55' / edited by Thomas Austin.
The original source can be accessed online: bit.ly/HCbeefystywyd
Our Chef and host, Tom has produced some easy to follow recipes for the medieval stew in addition to the modern version. Grab them here and start cooking: culturespacecoventry.com/historic-cooking
🥘 Medieval Cooking 🥘
Cooking in medieval Britain was very different depending on how wealthy the family was. It was mostly done by women, although wealthy families would have servants to do the physical work. We know that the Carmelites at Whitefriars in Coventry did their own cooking as they were paid by some of the Coventry guilds to provide their annual feast and entertainment!
Cooking was done on a central hearth using a large iron pot to boil meat and vegetables. Apart from the very poor, most people had a reasonable diet. This might include brown bread, beans, chicken, beef, pork, herrings, salted cod and vegetables such as turnips, onions and cabbage.
A variety of implements were used in cooking. For example, flat, slotted skimmers removed the unwanted ‘scum’ at the top of stews. Strainers would be used to remove meat and vegetables so the remaining liquid could be made into broth.
Salt was important for preserving meat and fish and flavouring food at the table. Did you know that people only used knives and spoons to eat? Forks became more popular in the late 1500s.
Check out some medieval cooking objects from the Herbert's collection: culturespacecoventry.com/historic-cooking
Follow Tom on Instagram: instagram.com/knitslips
#HistoricCooking
This video was filmed during coronavirus restrictions. All three staff involved were in a support bubble together and treated as a single household.
