[Sca-cooks] Sumptuary laws on food

[Huette von Ahrens]

--- Micheal <dmreid at hfx.eastlink.ca> wrote:

>  Preliminary look found this by looking for
> Sumptuary laws. Sorry not much 
> really but does point towards Sumptuary food
> laws.
> 
>
http://www.yesnet.yk.ca/schools/projects/middleages/sumptuary/sumptuary.html
> 
> In those day when you had company over for a
> meal you had to serve a 
> specified number of courses depending on their
> class in the feudal system. 
> If you were inviting a high church official to
> dinner, such as a cardinal, 
> you would have to serve 9 courses. For guests
> such as bishops, archbishops, 
> or counts you had to serve 7 courses. An
> ordinary government official would 
> have just 6 courses.
> 
>  So if this is correct a great pie would get
> around this in that it has 
> several full course`s within one.
> 
>  Da

It might if you are thinking nutritionally.
However, if you were noble enough to be
entertaining a cardinal, I doubt if you would
want to cut corners like that.  Churchmen were
usually very conscious of their position and 
might take offence if you offered only 6 or 7
courses when they were deserving of 9.  Offending
churchmen meant that you might not get that
dispensation that you were looking for.
This kind of sumptuary law, if it is correct,
appears to be aimed at the nobility and not the
lower classes, IMHO.

Huette

=====
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for 
they shall never cease to be amused.


		
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