During the Medieval Ages it was believed there was a divine right of the nobility to have better, more refined, food than their social inferiors. Food was a social marker. Not only were certain foods unavailable to the peasantry and middle classes, but "sumptuary laws" dictated who could publicly partake of foods considered for the wealthy. Food choices and food availability, not just money and ancestry, separated the Nobility from the working class who were not nobility, but also separated the working class from the peasantry.
Food in medieval times was quite literally "feast or famine" for most of Europe. The medieval period or Middle Ages spans a period of approximately 1000 years of European history between the age of Antiquity, the Fifth Century, and the Renaissance in the Sixteenth Century. Food during this time tended to be feast for the royal class who controlled the land and famine for the peasants who eked out whatever existence they could. Availability of food often became a line of demarcation between the wealthy and the poor. The quality of food in medieval times contributed to poor health, scurvy, tooth decay, skin eruptions, infections and digestive disease, and death.
The diet of the Lords, Ladies, nobility and landowners differed greatly from the peasants. For the wealthy there was a surfeit of food, depending on the season. During the spring and summer meat was plentiful, cooked over open fires, served with an ample supply of ales and wines. During winter months meat was served dried, salted, or pickled in vinegars and brines since wild game was scarce in winter. Pigeons were raised as a meat supply for winter and served roasted, baked, broiled and stewed. Exotic game and fowl were served at sumptuous banquets. Castle ponds were stocked during spring and summer to provide fish for winter months. The nobleman who also had an amply stocked "spicery" was indeed wealthy for the variety spices offered to recipes.
Because of the variety of food options and cooking styles available to modern society medieval food by comparison would be unappealing to us today. Crude cooking mechanisms and limited choices restricted what could be done with food. Medieval diets were unbalanced both for the poor as well as for the nobility. The lavish banquet-style meals of the wealthy were high in fat, giving rise to gout, which eventually became known as the "rich man's disease." Because only the wealthy could afford to eat the high fatty content that caused gout, peasants rarely suffered from it. Most middle ages food lacked essential vitamins and was extremely high in calories as well as carbohydrates. The drinking of ale as a dietary supplement became not merely a pastime, but a dietary requirement to stave off illness.
For the "royalty" at the top of the feudal pyramid, meals were generally taken three times a day, much as we do now. A small breakfast of cheese and breads began the day, followed by a noon meal. The main meal of the day was the evening meal, which was served around some type of entertainment, banquet style. Evening meals offered relief from the harsh realities of life in medieval times. For the wealthy, the "landed gentry" the evening meal was generally a feast and entertainment. During spring and summer meat was plentiful and served roasted with seasonal vegetables. Wild game, included geese, starling, peacock, stags, and sea animals for those near the coast. During winter months fish, preserved meats, and pigeon comprised the main course. Fruits, vegetables, and herbs were in abundance in the manor houses; however, tradition of the day taught that raw fruits and vegetables were unhealthful and should not be consumed unless cooked.
Peasants, who rarely benefited from the bounty of the land, tended the fields. The poor usually did not have meat on their tables, getting by with pottage, a soup dish made from available vegetables and grains. Barley and rye, baked into breads, pancakes, porridge, and soup was a constant item on the peasant menu during the middle ages. The poor grew vegetables in back yard gardens to add as a stretcher to their barley soup. Peasants generally owned a cow as a source of dairy for butter, milk and cheese. Homemade cheese complimented the barley diet of the peasantry. Like the diet of the Nobility, the peasants' diet also was unbalanced and lacking in essential vitamins. As a result, plague and death were common in the Medieval Ages. Even the peasantry consumed large quantities of ales to ward off scurvy and digestive disease associated with medieval food.
Even for the wealthy during the medieval ages, food was not always plentiful. Transportation prevented trade over long-distance requiring them to make do with what was available locally. Food preservation techniques were limited to drying, salting, and pickling processes. Spices were considered an extreme luxury, often valued more than gold. Famine was common and those with food or the ability to procure food were elevated in social status.