Question by Kellie H:
What was the regional and seasonal nature of renaissance food?
What was the regional and seasonal nature of renaissance food, in the renaissance period?
Best answer:
Answer by Juanaquena
Most food grown, raised, processed during the period of the Renaissance in Europe came from local sources (that is, it was regional.) It was not shipped from long distances as food in many developed countries now is. For example, if a person lived in Scotland during the period of the Renaissance, he/she probably never saw or tasted an orange which was grown in Spain. Scottish salmon never was shipped for consumption in Spain, either, unless is it was heavily salted and shipped there for very wealthy people to consume.
Much of the food grown, raised, processed during the Renaissance also was the food available only during particular times of the year (specific seasons), when it was freshly harvested. For example, lamb, if sheep was raised in the immediate area, was only available to eat in the Spring, when ewes gave birth to lambs. Fresh apples, if there were nearby apple orchards, were only available to eat in late Summer and into the Fall.
There was no refrigeration (let alone freezing, unless it was in the far northern climates outdoors during the dead of winter.) Cured meats, including sausage could be made and kept for longer period of times without refrigeration. Grain could be milled into flour and also kept for longer periods of time without refrigeration, as it is today.
Transportation was mostly by foot (people walking and toting what they could carry), or by cart pulled by oxen or draft horses or even large dogs. There were no airplanes, automobiles or trains to carry food stuffs long distances in short amounts of time. Think of a dairy farmer taking his fresh milk to market in a cart pulled by a large dog. Consider how long it would take for that unrefrigerated milk to spoil on a hot summer day. Think about how far he could take that milk to sell while it was fresh. Not very far. Fresh food just couldn't be transported very far without it spoiling. Often milk was made into cheese which could be kept for longer periods of time.
Foods like potatoes were unheard of until the Spanish invaded the Andes in South America and brought back potatoes in the holds of their boats as ballast. Potatoes were cultivated by the native peoples of the Andes until then.
For the most part, if the food didn't come from near the area where one lived during the time period in which it could be grown and harvested, then people just didn't have it to eat.
This Wikipedia.org article entitled Medieval Cuisine, will help explain how food was regional and seasonal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_cuisine
I realize the period of the Renaissance is later than the Medieval period, but the growing, raising and processing of food didn't change much between those periods in history, except for the availability of expensive spices during the Renaissance (thanks to long, slow trading routes and the products brought back to areas in Europe by the Crusaders.)
If your question is to help with some course work, and you cannot use Wikipedia as a source, then I recommend you visit your local library (public or campus, if you are in college) and ask a reference librarian to help find you books and journal/periodical articles on the subject.
Best wishes
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