An Anglo-Saxon diet was extremely different to what most people in England consume today: what was eaten was tied to seasons, climate and what could be effectively preserved. Most people would have been almost entirely vegetarian, eating meat a handful of times in a year, although rearing livestock for eggs, milk and wool was still relatively common.
How did Anglo-Saxons cook?
Food would largely have been boiled or roasted over an open fire: in the summer months, cooking would have taken place outside over an open fire, whereas in the winter, people would pack into smoky rooms to keep warm and cook over fires inside. Clay ovens were used for bread-baking and occasionally an early version of a skillet would have been perched over an open fire to fry things.
A replica of an Anglo Saxon house at West Stow. Houses were largely made of wood, so cooking inside over an open fire could be potentially fatal.
Image Credit: Midnightblueowl / CC
People would have eaten with a knife and potentially spoon – hygiene was poor, and eating was much more visceral and messy than it is today. War and disease were all potentially fatal threats to food production and growth in Anglo-Saxon England, and periods of extreme hunger were not unusual, particularly for the poorest in society.
What animals did the Anglo-Saxons eat?
Pigs were plentiful and the only animal the Anglo-Saxons used solely for eating. As they produce large groups of offspring who mature quickly, these animals were the most efficient form of meat production.
Anglo-Saxons also ate beef, chicken, mutton and goat from time to time. Beef was usually reserved for the richer tables and many herds of cattle were looked after predominantly for their milk, a very useful resource, and their hides would have been turned into leather. The Saxons also preserved goats for their milk production, while they kept chickens for their eggs and sheep for their wool. These animals were usually only slaughtered when they became lame, unproductive, old or for special occasions.
Wealthy Anglo Saxons also ate game, including deer, wild boar and wild birds. Hunting for sport – or for food – wasn’t common practice, but the elites would have done so from time to time.
A 1908 illustration of Beowulf at a banquet.
Image Credit: Public Domain
Fish
Fish was consumed by many, particularly those who lived by the sea. Shellfish too, like oysters, cockles, eel, lobster and crab were eaten. Fish were a valuable commodity as they could be smoked or salted and stored for winter when other food was scarce. Salted fish was thought to have been imported from Scandinavia.
Vegetables in early medieval England
Salt was mined in Worcestershire and the Anglo-Saxons used it both for preserving food and for flavouring blander dishes like stew. Vegetables including onions, garlic, cabbage, turnips, mushrooms, beetroot, parsnips, carrots (which were white or purple at the time), peas and beans formed the basis of many Anglo-Saxons’ diets. It’s unclear how much was cultivated and how much was foraged from wild.
Vegetables were also used to flavour meals as at that time the Saxons used herbs solely for medicinal purposes. Spices like pepper, coriander, cinnamon and ginger were used very occasionally in wealthy households, but most Anglo-Saxons would not have ever tasted these spices.
Fruit eaten by the Anglo-Saxons
Fruit was relatively plentiful in the summer. Cherries, berries of all kinds, apples, pears and plums were eaten by many, cooked with, and were often made into alcohol.
The only other sweet food available was honey and bee hives were cultivated in many towns and villages. Honey was also turned into an alcoholic drink, mead, which was also known as honey wine and would have been drunk at banquets and feasts as well as in more everyday settings.
Listen NowGrain
Barley – and later wheat – were staples of the Anglo-Saxon diet. They would have been dried and milled into flour: bread was served with almost every meal and remained a core part of diets in England until the arrival and subsequent cultivation of the potato in the 16th century. Barley was also used to make pottage (known as briw to the Anglo-Saxons), which was a thick stew of grains boiled with vegetables like peas or beans that featured heavily in the diets of ordinary people.
Barley was also fermented to brew ale, which was drunk by people of all ages and classes – it was more commonly drunk than water.
What did the Anglo-Saxons drink?
Ale in different variations was the drink of choice for most of the population. Water in many places, particularly river water, was often polluted as most used rivers for waste disposal. For both adults and children therefore, ale was their main source of hydration. Children were given weak, diluted ale and, if they lived in the right place, spring water. Cider was also made in the autumn and consumed by a large proportion of the population.
In the richer and safer kingdoms like Wessex, food was usually available. Still, this was a period of continual warfare and the winter months were harsh – especially for those not under the protection of a lord. If a harvest failed, food wasn’t stored properly, or a marauding army burnt the crops and stole the livestock, then for many surviving the winter became a challenge.
