The Battle of Marengo was a close call. Napoleon, over extending his forces, tries to defeat the Austrians but almost gets defeated were it not for General Desaix literally coming into the battlefield at the last minute.

With a lucky vixtory, Napoleon asks for a meal from his cook. With the supply train far away, his cook goes to town and scavenged what he can. He procured a chicken that would be sauteed in butter with olive oil and garlic and garnished with a fried egg and crayfish.

Napoleon loved the dish so much that he had it served to him after every battle. Reportedly he refused it when his cook tried to change the recipe, Napoleon refused on the case that it might give him bad luck.

Here's a fun one for you: the daily ration in the British navy around say 1800 or so would consist of a pound of bread or biscuit, a pound of vegetables (usually dried and reconstituted peas, if fresh stuff were not at hand), 8 ounces of salt meat (usually pork or beef) or duff (pudding), and a gallon of beer. Ships would re-vicutal at foreign ports or simply at the seashore.

There are some fun quotes from Drake's time about English seamen's experience with odd foods:

In the Magellan straits, "we found great store of strange birds which could not fly at all, nor yet run so fast that they could escape us with their lives ... their feeding and provision to live on is in the sea, where they swim in such sort, as nature may seem to have granted them no small prerogative in swiftness ... they are a very good and wholesome victual."

In 1587, Thomas Cavendish victualled in the Azores with "corn as much as we would have, and as many hogs as we had salt to powder them withall, and great store of hens, with a number of bogs of potato roots, and about 500 dried dogfishes and Guinea wheat which is called maize." Regarding the potatoes, he wrote "these potatoes be the most delicate root that may be eaten, and do far exceed our parsnips or carrots."

Drake and Hawkins' last voyage featured "a certain victual in the form of hollow pipes ... called by the name of macaroni among the Italians."

(quoted from Rodger, Safeguard of the Sea pp. 318-19.)

The year is 1846, you're a young English man aged twenty five and have been sentenced to six months in the county town's prison, doing hard labour. It's got to be better than a workhouse, at least, and you'll get a place to sleep, which is certainly more than you had growing up, right? Your clothes have been burnt, and you bought them off an old clothes seller down at the market for a pretty penny so that annoyed you, although by now they were pretty ragged and smelled of stale sweat, horse and alcohol. Instead, you've got your uniform- and it's an ugly old thing to. You're pretty sure someone has died in the stockings, or they smell that way at least.

The first weeks are hellish. You're the new boy, you're poor, you've got nothing to bribe anyone with and the guards don't take kindly to your attitude, so you've ended up being beaten, multiple times too. You were wrong. The work house would be better. Hard labour? More like back breaking, soul destroying labour. You're not sure how you're meant to deal with six months of this. Your cell is freezing cold, it's pitch black, poorly ventilated and you piss in a pot, which you scrub out every morning. You're not meant to speak but everyone does anyway and gets punished for it. You thank your lucky stars that you didn't get sent to Pentonville, where you would be made to eat and work in your cell all day, in a policy of enforced separation, although doing this with those working hard labour was more difficult.

Early in the morning, you get up, 6am. You work for an hour and a half. If you weren't sentenced to hard labour, you'd probably be picking oakum in your cell, but you weren't that lucky, unfortunately. You work until you're exhausted, after scrubbing out the pot that is. Finally, finally, that's over, for a small time, because now, at least, it's breakfast. You're given a hunk of bread, ten ounces, and some gruel. The gruel is thin, and although it's supposed to contain a bit of meat, some leek, some oatmeal and some seasoning, you're pretty sure they skipped most of that. But it's better than nothing and you dip your bread in it.

By the time it's lunch, you're tired and grimey, just as you always are. You're almost glad it's lunch because at least there's a break in the routine. Today, you might get some soup, a bit of bread (the same amount as you had for breakfast) and, depending on the season, potatoes. Or perhaps you'll instead a nice thick cut of cheese to go with your bread. And sometimes, you might even get a small bit of cooked meat- oh, not quality meat, but frankly when would you have ever eaten that before? The bread is always the same and you doubt you'll be able to eat bread again by the time this is done.

Supper is much the same as breakfast. Again, you're dirty, exhausted and now you've got a cell to sleep in after, but you've been out to the Airing Yard, where you were locked outside in the biting cold of November, supposedly for exercise, under the watchful eye of the guard. At least you get some light, and you can choose what to do, whether it's walking around or looking at the far wall or the wall closest to you. That's good enough for you. Finally, it's supper, and you're happy, for once. You get a bit more bread than before and also some gruel- and they might have used meat leftovers from lunch in it, so at least there's a higher chance of getting some cooked meat- which, although not appetising, at least fills you up for a short time.

In 1794, the township of Kendal-Kirkland in England had a population of around 8100.

According to the excise books, that year they drank 225,080 gallons of ale (4.62L/ale gal).

That's to say nothing of the malt liquor.

In a chapter of the book Moctezuma's Table, Timothy Knab discusses how Moctezuma sent sorcerers to try and test or harm Cortes and his men. The sorcerers first tried to give Cortes and his men blood splattered food, which they rejected. They then gave them tortillas, fruits, and other foods some of which would cause gastrointestinal distress. Moctezuma basically sent food ninjas after Cortes.

Moctezuma has already been mentioned, but only in relation to what kinds of food he was sending out to Cortes and the conquistadors. Jacques Soustelle gives a nice example of a typical meal that Moctezuma would have enjoyed in 'Daily Life of the Aztecs On the Eve of the Spanish Conquest':

Every day more than three hundred [varied dishes of food] were prepared for Motecuhzoma, and a thousand for the inhabitants of the palace. Before eating, the emperor chose whatever pleased him among the day's dishes - turkeys, pheasants, partridges, crows, wild or tame ducks, deer, wild boars, pigeons, hares, rabbits. Then he sat down, alone, on an icpalli^1, and a low table was put in front of him, with a white tablecloth and white napkins.

'Four very handsome, very clean women gave him water for his hands in the deep finger-bowls that are called xicales (calabashes); other plate-like vessels were held under his hands, and they gave him towels; then two other women brought maize-cakes.'^2 From time to time the sovereign was pleased to honour one of the dignitaries of his suite by giving him one of the dishes that he liked. When he had finished the first and chief course they brought him fruit 'of all the kinds that grow in the country; but he only ate a very little fruit, and that at long intervals.'^3 After this he drank cocoa and washed his hands as he had at the beginning of the meal. Dwarf or hunchbacked buffoons produced their tricks and their jokes: Motecuhzoma took one of the painted, gilded pipes that had been placed within his reach, smoked for a short while, and went to sleep.

^1 An icpalli is a seat typically made of woven reeds, but Moctezuma's was probably made of painted wood or stone, possibly inlaid with gold and precious gems.

^2 Diaz del Castillo

^3 Ibid

After Moctezuma had eaten, the other residents of the palace were then provided with food from his kitchens. These residents included visiting lords and ambassadors, palace guards, priests, singers and servants working in the palace, as well as artisans such as goldsmiths, feather-workers, lapidaries, shoemakers, and hairdressers. All of these servants were also given cocoa, of which a variety of preparations existed.

Soustelle also writes:

Among the dishes that the rulers particularly liked may be mentioned tamales stuffed with meat, snails, or fruit - the last being served with clear poultry soup; frogs with pimento sauce; white fish (iztac michi) with red pepper and tomatoes; axolotls, a kind of newt peculiar to Mexico and considered a great delicacy, with yellow peppers; fish served with a sauce made of crushed calabash-seeds; other fish with a sharp fruit not unlike our cherries; winged ants; agave worms (meocuilin); maize and huauhtli pottages, salted or sugared, with pimento or honey; French beans (exotl); and various kinds of roots, including the camotli, or sweet potato.

Living in a region without large domesticable animals, the Mexica were resourceful and took full advantage of their bountiful lake system, which teemed with protein-rich waterfowl, amphibian, crustacean, and insect life.

This willingness to experiment with variety and preparation of food led to some innovations that impressed the Spanish when they arrived at the massive markets of the Nahua, the largest being the market of Tlatelolco. In the section of these markets dedicated to food, one could purchase typical foodstuff and seasoning such as peppers, beans, squash, and maize, frequently prepared on grills by the women selling from their stands. However, there were also delicacies both domestic and exotic for sale as well--cocoa sweetened with honey and vanilla, large pieces of honeycomb cut from cultivated beehives, and snow run down from the mountains and sweetened with honey and fruit. There were also cheap and filling cakes of algae for sale, pressed and dried in the sun; the Spanish described them as tasting similar to cheese (further description of the markets can be found in Bernal Diaz del Castillo's 'An Account of the Conquest of New Spain').

Edited for some proofreading mistakes that I made!

I have been reading up quite a bit on the subject and found an excellent example of a banquet for a guest in the home of "Franklin," a medieval British gentry from the book of nurture in my trusty food in medieval times book. It is called "A feast for Franklin."

Russell’s frst course consists of brawn (boar’s fesh or pork) served with mus

This may be a slightly unrelated question(?) but has there ever been evidence of food packaging earlier than modern times? By way of not only to preserve food longer, but also to entice consumers?

It has been a turbulent few years for you as an Englishman. Ever since your last king, the redoubtable and most favored warrior Henry V died unexpectedly while overseas, the crown has rested on his young son, Henry VI. Becoming king before his first birthday, power has truly rested with a regency council, made up of grasping nobles who fight amongst themselves with ever-increasing fury over who gets to influence the growing child, and who are charged with only the most basic of powers. Not only that, but the child is also the right king of France, having inherited that title as well upon the death of Charles VI, but Charles VI’s son, the Dauphin also named Charles, is contesting that claim and you fear England may not be able to hold on to its hard-won territories if something isn’t done.

Recently, that scheming dauphin had himself crowned King of France as Charles VII, and that just won’t do! In return, a coronation has been planned for England’s Henry VI and today, November 6th 1429, is a day for celebration – the child king will be crowned at Westminster Abbey! You find yourself invited to the coronation banquet (you must be an aristocrat!), and what a banquet it is! Not just copious amounts of food, but pure food artistry, with decorations and accompanying versus read out to the assembled!

The first course comes out with the heaviest foods… A thick stew, or frumenty, with venison. A sweet jelly decorated with lozenges made of gold. Gold-decorated castles made out of pastry, with cooked boars’ heads inside. Beef, mutton, and swan in great quantities. Heron stewed with capons, and a large pike fish also appear. A sliced red jelly dish appears, upon which white lions have been carved by the chefs. A large pastry, with a golden leopard sitting atop it, is followed by a fritter shaped like the sun, bearing the image of the fleur de lis – a sign of your king’s claim to France. Then, borne in by the servants comes an entire scene built out of confections, showing the young king wearing his coat of arms, led by saints Edward and Louis. As this arrives, the heralds call out:

“Lo, here two kings right perfect and right good

Holy Saint Edward and Saint Louis

And see the branch born of their blessed blood

Live, among Christians, most sovereign of princes

Inheritor of the fleur de lis!

God grant he may, through help of Jesus Christ

This sixth Henry to reign and be as wise

And resemble them in knighthood and virtue”

And that’s just the first course!

Next in come impressive works of culinary art – white meats covered in gold, multi-colored jellies sculpted to spell out the Latin phrase “Te Deum Laudamus” – “God, we praise you.” Roasted and glazed pigs and chickens arrive, along with crane, bittern, and rabbits. One of the true centerpiece dishes also is born out to great applause – a roasted peacock, served with its full plumage on display! Large bream fish are served, along with a savory sliced jelly of fruits, meats, and white sauce bearing a carving of a red antelope wearing a golden crown upon a gold chain around its neck. A pork pie arrives, decorated with golden leopards and more fleurs de lis. It is followed by a fritter bearing a leopard standing atop ostrich feathers, a symbol that recalls Edward, the Black Prince, hero against the French at Crecy. This course too is followed by a confectionary sculpture, this one showing the young king kneeling before his father Henry V and the Holy Roman Emperor, both of whom wear their coats of arms and their mantles of the Order of the Garter, the highest order of English Chivalry. Another verse is called out:

“Against miscreants the emperor Sigismund

Has showed his might, which is imperial;

Since Henry the Fifth was found to be so noble a knight

For Christ’s cause in acts martial;

Cherishing the church, Lollards had a fall

To give example to kings that succeed

And to his branch in especial

While he doth reign, to love and dread God”

Finally, a third course of incredible food is presented, this time more delicate flavors, to close the meal. It starts with a dish of chopped eels and fish, served white, with gilt quatrefoils upon it. Roasted venison follows, along with egrets, curlews, cocks, plovers, quails, snipes, great birds, larks, carp, and crabs. Three colors of jellies come out, as does a cold baked meat pie shaped like a shield, quartered red and white, and set with gilt lozenges and starflowers. Crisp fritters arrive, leading in the final carved confection, a religious scene of the Madonna sitting with child in her lap, crown in hand, flanked by the kneeling figures of Saint George and Saint Denis (the patron saints of England and France) who are presenting the kneeling king to the lady. A final verse is recited for all to hear:

“O blessed Lady, Christ’s mother dear

And you Saint George, that is called her knight;

Holy saint Denis, O martyr most entire

The sixth Henry here present in your sight

Shower grace on him with your heavenly light

His tender youth with virtue does advance

Born of descent and by title of right

Justly to reign in England and in France”

The meal done at last, you stagger home – it is something you will never forget, nor likely ever experience again. God save the king!

I have a request! What would a Danish Jarl eat at home in Denmark during the reign of Alfred the Great?

Can anyone provide some accounts of foods that no longer exist today, such as meals with aurochs, dodos, or any other such animal or plant?

There is a swedish tv show dedicated to this topic called "Historieätarna"(Historical Eaters?)
There are no english subtitles I'm afraid.. But you get to see what type of food would be aeaten around the different time periods.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ualADPgmk (1500-1600)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsdRtyCqsVI (1600-1700)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ-FHiZJAlk (1700-1800)

Welcome to French Indochina in the late 19th Century, where colonizers legitimately still believed that without European food they would risk the fate of "going native". Now Indochina is a fair way from France at this point, with only steamers to rely on, so fresh European food is costly. As a middle class colonizer what do you sit down to? A good can of butter, a can of what was once green peas and maybe a side of botulism or lead soldering. Of course this was all served atop the typical French baguette, possibly cut with rice flour and the simple ancestor of what would eventually become the Bánh mì.

Meanwhile, if you're Vietnamese and not terribly poor you might be having rice, veg, mangoes and fish sauce in a good year whereas someone without your luck might be dining on millet and foraged greens because the twit eating the baguette has exported the rice you farmed to China at rock bottom prices.

Sources: André Joyeux "La Vie Large aux Colonies"

Andrée Viollis "SOS Indochine"

Erica Peters "Appetites and Aspiration in Vietnam"

H.C. “M. Darles Rentre en France pour Vulgariser la Consomation du Riz” L’Éveil Économique de l’Indochine, Numéro 564, Dimanche 8 Avril 1928. 4-5.

British Naval Grog.

How do I make it?

Dyets Dry Dinner (1599) by Henry Buttes is a menu for a feast, that also reads like a herbal or a cookbook, written by a Master of Arts at Corpus Christie College at Cambridge, England.

It is unusual because his courses are:

• Fruits
• Herbs
• Flesh
• Fish
• White Meat (Milk products)
• Spice
• Sauce
• Tobacco

With Tobacco being the only drink 'A dry drink'

Buttes claims that his idea for the feast follows the evolution of human food, from simple to complex.

Its an interesting book because it has so many vegetable and simple comfort foods.

This is a rather bitter meal eaten by Pepin the Short, but not because the food was particularly bitter.

In 751, as a prelude to events that would lead his son Charles (Called "The Great" or Le Magne, AKA Charlemagne) to seize the Iron Crown of Lombardy, Pepin was called to the rescue of Pope Stephen II, who had been abandoned by his traditional protector the Byzantine Empire. The Papacy was losing ground rapidly to the advance of King Aistulf of the Lombards. It would seem that the century-long conflict between the Byzantium and Lombard Italy would finally be resolved.

But alas, Pepin would descend into Italy at the behest of the Pope and defeat Aistulf; seizing the Pentapolis on the behalf of the Pope. It would seem, however, that Pepin got carried away, and looked to take all former Byzantine land in the name of the Pope. So it came to pass that he not only seized the Pentapolis south of the River Po, but also moved into the lagoons immediately to the north, which hadn't been conquered by the Lombards, but most certainly weren't under the authority of the Byzantine Emperor —or at least not anymore—. Although the communities of Chioggia south of the lagoon, and Jesolo north of it fell to the Emperor, the island of Malamocco did not.

With wooden stakes driven into the narrow channel dividing Malamocco from the occupied island of Pellestrina, the inhabitants of the Lagoon pelted King Pepin with arrows if he came to close to the narrow channel. The women and children were evacuated to the islands of the Rio Alto (or "High Banks"; sandbanks sand in the dead center of the lagoon on which stood a motte and bailey castle).

Legend has it that on learning that Pepin had decided to starve them out, the inhabitants of the Lagoon resolved to pelt him with bread.

Soon afterwards, Pepin withdrew. The lands he would donate to the Pope would have the River Po as their northern border, and go no farther. The inhabitants of the Lagoon had provided him with a bitter meal indeed.