[Sca-cooks] Structure of an Elizabethan Feast?

[Terry Decker]

I assume this response is about my comments concerning "above the salt" and 
"below the salt."  My objection is not to the idea that different classes 
were fed different dishes or that seating at the meal reflected social 
status or that the grooms may have been fed in the back of the hall or in 
the stable (they were an unruly lot in most cases and their treatment varied 
between households).  My objection is to the historical accuracy of the 
status at table being divided by the position of the saler or nef.  I can 
find actual first hand references to the other practices.  I have yet to 
find a provably period reference to "above/below the salt."  Where the 
references do appear suggests that the practice is a Victorian creation.

Bear


I don't have the book in hard, but Peter Brears lists various dishes
available to the different ranks of household staff.

Katheirne