Middle Ages A rural county, Dorset would have been typical of
England in the Middle Ages, and its population would have eaten similarly to the rest of the country. Bread was the
staple food, and it came in two main categories: white and "other breads". White breads were the finest quality breads and would have been made using wheat and then well-sifted flour; "other breads" were a mixture of breads which also contained wheat (though the flour would not have been sifted as much), husk and other grains. The most commonly eaten bread, called maslin, was of the "other" category and contained wheat and
rye.
Red meats were preferable to
white meats, and amongst the former
beef was the most favoured. Pigs were eaten primarily by the poor, especially during winter, because of their ease in rearing.
Poultry was widely enjoyed, particularly by the clergy, who were permitted to eat "two-legged" but not "four-legged" meat.
17th and 18th centuries While some of the recipes which comprise the traditional cuisine of Dorset originate from the Middle Ages, the majority come from the 17th and 18th centuries. Within the sources in which recipes are recorded (recipe books, diaries), there is considerable bias towards the cooking habits of gentry, even in those of 17th- and 18th-century origin; the upper classes of society were more literate and able to purchase the variety of ingredients which would necessitate a cookery book. Although labourers and their families were the largest section of the population in Dorset (even after
mechanisation in the middle of the 19th century), their low wages could not facilitate elaborate cooking and there was widespread illiteracy. Information on the dietary habits of the
working class during the 17th and 18th centuries is usually gained incidentally, such as in reports on the state of the poor in the county. One of the earliest detailed reports on the diet of a Dorset labourer, by
Sir Frederick Eden in 1795, describes an impoverished position: Such a situation continued until at least as late as 1868, when an inquiry was held into the food of the labourers. In fact, prior to the introduction of the
potato, the diet of the labourers had been less favourable; in 1869, one investigator noted that before this: "the labourers had very little beside bread and cheese and water". As recorded by
John Bright in 1844, many families in the county managed on 10
shillings per week, of which at least half was spent on bread. Despite this, reports of the 18th and 19th century accuse "the poor" of being wasteful: "making
cakes without
yeast, and
broiling or
baking them on a
gridiron, by which means it is said the quantity is lessened." Though the instructions of the
Poor Law Commissioner were to prevent the diet of the workhouse residents from being "superior or equal to the ordinary mode of subsistence of the labouring classes", in 1844 it was complained that "the diet [of our Union] at the present time, [is] somewhat superior to that obtainable by many Independent Labourers". Playwright
John O'Keeffe described his lunch in 1791 at the Red Lion Inn at
West Lulworth, which had its own farm, as: It might be expected that when
King George III spent his summer holidays in
Weymouth, as he did often between 1789 and 1805, the height of cuisine would accompany him. However, by this time suffering from illness, the King ate plainly. Among his favourite foods from the area were
Radipole biscuits,
pudding at the
Portland Arms (which came to be known as "Royal Pudding"), and
Portland sheep (also "Portland
mutton"). ==Notes==