Food, History and Culture in Europe, 100-1600

Catalog description

Before the age of mass transportation, was all food locally sourced? In an era when most medicines were plant based, what did it mean to eat a balanced diet? “Feed a cold, starve a fever.” Why? This course focuses on food, diet, and cuisine in European culture, thought, and society with a focus on the later Middle Ages and Renaissance. In it, we will examine a variety of primary sources ranging from food in art, health handbooks, and cookbooks, some of which we will consult in the original at the Kislak Center at Penn. By the end of the semester, students will understand the roles played by climate, culture, religion, the economy, and medicine in shaping the “foodways” of Europe.