Master of the Amsterdam Bodegón, ca. 1610–1625 (The Rijksmuseum)
“Now we sit to chat as well as eat.”—The Taming of the Shrew, Act Five, Scene Two
Who needs a knife and fork? Certainly not the ladies and gentlemen of Shakespeare’s time. Feasts in the Elizabethan era were daylong affairs, overflowing with a sumptuous array of fanciful foods. The table manners and dining customs may seem unusual today, but they were once the height of fashion for the well-behaved, well-fed courtier. And as exotic—or even unappetizing—as some of the dishes may sound, the roots of American cooking can be traced back to this period of English cuisine.
Guests might encounter fire-breathing roast peacock; deer-shaped dinner rolls filled with spiced-wine “blood”; enormous savory pies with peacock claws poking through the crust; or “Eggs in Moon Shine,” named for its white sauce. These dishes came from cookbooks that often lacked standardized spelling, clear directions, precise ingredient lists, or exact cooking times, which were sometimes no more precise than “sufficiently bak’t.”
Food historian Francine Segan—author of Shakespeare’s Kitchen—serves up rich tidbits of culinary history, introducing Elizabethan cooks, their recipes, and the extravagant dining customs of 16th- and 17th-century Europe. Along the way, she shares a sampling of the bawdy jokes, puns, and riddles traded between courses and presents the original recipes with their charmingly antiquated spellings and instructions, offering a vivid sense of how meals were prepared and enjoyed in Shakespeare’s time.
Registrants receive a handout of recipes thoughtfully adapted for today’s kitchens, allowing food lovers and Shakespeare enthusiasts alike to explore the tastes and traditions of the Elizabethan table.
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