The Well Stocked Kitchen Summary

For this assignment I have chosen to examine a piece by Joachim Beuckelaer. Beukelaer was a Flemish painter who famous for his illustration of food and accompanying household equipment during the Medieval era. Beukelaer is best known for his illustrations of female peasants immersed in kitchen or market type settings with a variety of foodstuffs. The particular painting I decided to analyze is called “The Well-Stocked Kitchen” as shown below.
I believe it is important to discuss certain foods associated with a particular class during the medieval time period in order to understand and analyze the food behavior of this era. The food consumed by the people of the medieval period was undoubtedly linked to their class. There are stark differences when examining the food behavior and consumption of medieval peasants and medieval nobility. Food during this era was quite scarce and as a result too expensive for peasant consumption. The peasant diet consisted of assorted meats, breads, fruits and vegetables. The meat consumed by the peasant class was mostly pork as it was the most prominent and
Excessive eating was characteristic of the noble class and could be described as gluttonous. Although the noble class diet also included assorted bread, meats, fruits and vegetables, they are considered more elaborate foodstuffs that the peasant class could not afford. The noble class consumed white bread made from sifted flour, their meat choices varied from beef, chicken, fish, rabbit, venison, lamb, and pork. Additionally, the noble class did not eat fresh fruits like the peasant class but instead their fruit class consisted of figs, raisins, currants, and dates. The noble class did not readily consume vegetables because they assumed they had no nutritional value. It is due to this assumption that much of the noble class suffered from major health issues and