Medieval food wasn't completely different of what we eat today, they also ate stews, pies, bread, pork, and other types of food that are still popular. There was also a stark variation between different social classes, nobles had a much richer and more complete diet than the peasants. Nevertheless there were some odd foods that most people would not consider eating nowadays.
1. Roast Cat
Nowadays cats are popular pets, but during the Middle Ages, they served as a meal. The Catalan chef Robert de Nola wrote in his cookbook Llibre de Coch on 1529 (translation by R. Carroll-Mann):
You will take a cat that is fat, and decapitate it. And after it is dead, cut off the head and throw it away because it is not for eating, for they say that eating the brains will cause him who eats them to lose his senses and judgment. Then flay it very cleanly, and open it and clean it well, and then wrap it in a cloth of clean linen. And bury it beneath the ground where it must be for a day and a night; and then take it out of there and set it to roast on a spit. And roast it over the fire. And when beginning to roast it, grease it with good garlic and oil. And when you finish greasing it, whip it well with a green twig, and this must be done before it is well-roasted, greasing it and whipping it. And when it is roasted, cut it as if it were a rabbit or a kid and put it on a big plate; and take garlic and oil blended with good broth in such a manner that it is well-thinned. And cast it over the cat. And you may eat of it because it is very good food.
2. Squirrel
Nobles determined what kind of animals peasants were allowed to hunt, squirrels were one of these animals; therefore they were a popular source of protein. Le Ménagier de Paris, a medieval French guidebook written in 1393, includes a squirrel recipe (translation by J Hinson):
Squirrels are singed, gutted, trussed like rabbits, roasted or put in pastry: eat with cameline sauce or in pastry with wild duck sauce.
3. Hedgehog
Another animal peasants were allowed to hunt were hedgehogs. Le Ménagier de Paris also has a recipe for hedgehog:
Hedgehog should have its throat cut, be singed and gutted, then trussed like a pullet, then pressed in a towel until very dry; and then roast it and eat with cameline sauce, or in pastry with wild duck sauce. Note that if the hedgehog refuses to unroll, put it in hot water, and then it will straighten itself.
4. Sheep Penis
An odd dish that is still eaten in some parts of the world to this day. A medieval Dutch culinary manuscript has the following recipe (translation by C. Muusers):
Wash it well and turn them inside out. Then take ground saffron, the yolks of ten eggs and a spoonfull of milk. Temper with fat and stuff the penises, but take care that it is not overstuffed. Blanch them, then roast them. Sprinkle with powder of ginger, cinnamon and a little pepper.
5. Pigeon
Pigeon meat was sometimes eaten on its own or used as a filling. Le Ménagier de Paris describes how pigeon meat could be used in pastry:
Pigeons in pastry, heads and feet cut off, and two slices of bacon on top: or roast, and lard them.
6. Garbage
This is the name given to a chicken stew. The stew includes parts of chicken that are usually thrown away: heads, feet, livers and gizzards. This recipe is from the Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books, and is in Middle English:
Take fayre garbagys of chykonys, as the hed, the fete, the lyuerys, an the gysowrys; washe hem clene, an caste hem in a fayre potte, an caste ther-to freysshe brothe of Beef or ellys of moton, an let it boyle; an a-lye it wyth brede, an ley on Pepir an Safroun, Maces, Clowys, an a lytil verious an salt, an serue forth in the maner as a Sewe.
7. Frog
This is another recipe from Le Ménagier de Paris, it describes not only how to prepare the frog, but also how to catch it:
To take them, have a line and a hook and bait of meat or red cloth, and having taken the frogs, cut them across the body near the thighs and empty out what is near the back end, and take the two thighs of these same frogs, cut off the feet, and skin the thighs raw, then have cold water and wash them; and if the thighs stay overnight in cold water, they will be better and more tender. And after thus rinsing them, they should be washed in warm water, then take and dry in a cloth; the thighs, thus washed and dried, should be rolled in flour, that is floured, and then fried in oil, fat or other liquid, and put in a bowl and powdered spices on them.
8. Porpoise Porrige
This recipe comes from one of the oldest cookery manuscripts in English. The Forme of Cury was written by the master-cooks of Richard II, during the late 14th century. The recipe is in Middle English:
Take clene whete and bete it small in a morter and fanne out clene the dust. Waisthe it and boile it tyl it be tendre. Take the mylk of Almonds & boile them. Take up the porpays out of the Furmente & leshe hem in a dishe with hot water.
9. Lamprey
Lampreys were a popular treat among nobles, and they could be prepared in different ways. They could be boiled, roasted and were even served with hot sauce. One of the lamprey recipes in Le Ménagier de Paris is the following:
It is understood that some bleed the lamprey before they skin it, and some skin it before they bleed or scald it. To bleed it, first wash your hands thoroughly, then split the jaw through the chin, that is at the juncture with the lower lip, and stick your finger inside and pull out the tongue, and let the lamprey bleed into a dish, and stick a little skewer in the mouth to make it bleed better. And if your fingers or your hands are blood-stained, wash them, and the wound also, with vinegar, and let it flow into the dish, and keep this blood, for it is to make the sauce.
10. Sea Otter
Sea Otters were considered to be seafood during the Middle Ages, and this allowed people to eat them on Fridays (the Catholic Church restricted the consumption of meat on Fridays). This is one sea otter recipe from the French cookbook La Varenne's Cookery (translation by T. Scully):
Dress the sea-otter and roast it. When it is done, make whatever sauce you like for it, provided it tastes strong and, because those large chunks don't readily take on a flavoring, split it or slice it on top. Simmer it in its sauce until it has soaked up almost all of it. Then serve it, garnished with whatever you have on hand.
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