Food & ingredients available in Medieval Europe before contact with the Americas

Posted on by The Fake History Hunter

It is sometimes difficult to comprehend that many of our most favourite and common foods and spices were not available to ‘the old world’ till after Europeans found their way to the Americas.
Yes, once upon a time we somehow managed to survive without potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco and many more delicious things.
And yes, till the spice trade started increasing in size, many now common spices were either extreme luxuries or simply unavailable in Europe.
Some people think that because we didn’t have all the ingredients that we have today, that medieval food was bland and boring.
But this is not the case.
I’ve written a little bit about this here in my ‘Medieval Myths Bingo’ article (I’ll write more, one day), but I thought that making a list of every food, herb & spice available in Medieval Europe before Columbus made his trip, would be just as eye opening and also rather handy to have access to.
I hope that seeing all these ingredients will at least show that if people had the means, they could make really rather exciting food.

Livre du roi Modus et de la reine Ratio, 14th century (Bibliothèque nationale)

So here’s my list, it’s a work in progress, I’ll keep adding to it, if you spot any that don’t belong on the list or if you think of some that should be, please let me know.

Important: Everything on this list was available during the middle ages in the region we today call Europe.
However some of the ingredients were expensive, rare or very regional.
So not everything would be available to everyone, keep that in mind.

Special thanks to the incredible Medieval Cookery website that contains an extensive list of ingredients from medieval cooking books and also a ton of recipes (link).

Warning: Don’t go cooking and eating with any of these ingredients without doing a lot of research first, you never know if they’re healthy or perhaps even safe to eat.

Grains & cereals:

Meats:

Dairy & Fats:

Seafood:

Roots & Tubers:

Leafy Greens:

Alliums:

  • Onions
  • Garlic
  • Leeks
  • Shallots
  • Chives
  • Wild Garlic
  • Ramps

Legumes & Pulses:

Other Vegetables:

Fruits:

  • Apples
  • Pears
  • Plums
  • Damsons
  • Cherries
  • Quince
  • Medlars
  • Oranges
  • Lemons
  • Olives

Berries & Small Fruits:

  • Strawberries
  • Raspberries
  • Blackberries
  • Bilberries
  • Elderberries
  • Sloes
  • Currants
  • Gooseberries
  • Sour Cherry
  • Mulberries

Mediterranean/Southern Fruits:

Nuts:

Sweeteners:

  • Honey
  • Sugar (import)
  • Fruit must

Vinegars & Acids

  • Vinegar
  • Verjuice
  • Alecost or Costmary

Spices & Herbs:

  • Thyme
  • Sage
  • Oregano
  • Marjoram
  • Winter savory
  • Summer savory
  • Parsley
  • Dill
  • Lovage
  • Chervil
  • Angelica
  • Mustard seeds
  • Caraway seeds
  • Coriander seeds
  • Coriander leafs
  • Fennel seeds
  • Anise
  • Juniper berries
  • Horseradish
  • Pennyroyal
  • Spearmint
  • Rosemary
  • Bay leaf
  • Galangal/Galingale
  • Long pepper
  • Black or white pepper
  • Cinnamon
  • Ginger
  • Saffron
  • Cloves
  • Nutmeg
  • Grains of paradise
  • Cubeb

Sources;

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