Editing Elizabethan era (section)

===Food===
====Availability====
England's food supply was plentiful throughout most of the reign; there were no famines. Bad harvests caused distress, but they were usually localized. The most widespread came in 1555–57 and 1596–98.<ref>John Guy (1988) ''Tudor England'', Oxford University Press, pp. 30–31 {{ISBN|0192852132}}</ref> In the towns the price of staples was fixed by law; in hard times the size of the loaf of bread sold by the baker was smaller.<ref>{{cite journal |author=R. H. Britnell |title=Price-setting in English borough markets, 1349–1500 |journal=Canadian Journal of History |year=1996 |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=1–15 |doi=10.3138/cjh.31.1.1 |url=https://www.usask.ca/history/cjh/e/iss/text/96/brit_496.shtml |issn=0008-4107 |access-date=18 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100112095605/http://www.usask.ca/history/cjh/e/iss/text/96/brit_496.shtml |archive-date=12 January 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Trade and industry flourished in the 16th century, making England more prosperous and improving the standard of living of the upper and middle classes. However, the lower classes did not benefit much and did not always have enough food. As the English population was fed by its own agricultural produce, a series of bad harvests in the 1590s caused widespread starvation and poverty. The success of the wool trading industry decreased attention on agriculture, resulting in further starvation of the lower classes. Cumbria, the poorest and most isolated part of England, suffered a six-year famine beginning in 1594. Diseases and natural disasters also contributed to the scarce food supply.<ref>Andrew B. Appleby (1978) ''Famine in Tudor and Stuart England''. Stanford University Press.</ref>

In the 17th century, the food supply improved. England had no food crises from 1650 to 1725, a period when France was unusually vulnerable to famines. Historians point out that oat and barley prices in England did not always increase following a failure of the wheat crop, but did do so in France.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Andrew B. Appleby|title=Grain Prices and Subsistence Crises in England and France, 1590–1740|journal=The Journal of Economic History|volume=39|issue=4|pages=865–887|jstor=2120334|doi=10.1017/S002205070009865X|year=1979|s2cid=154494239 }}</ref>

England was exposed to new foods (such as the [[potato]] imported from South America), and developed new tastes during the era. The more prosperous enjoyed a wide variety of food and drink, including exotic new drinks such as tea, coffee, and chocolate. French and Italian chefs appeared in the country houses and palaces bringing new standards of food preparation and taste. For example, the English developed a taste for acidic foods—such as oranges for the upper class—and started to use vinegar heavily. The gentry paid increasing attention to their gardens, with new fruits, vegetables and herbs; pasta, pastries, and dried mustard balls first appeared on the table. The apricot was a special treat at fancy banquets. Roast beef remained a staple for those who could afford it. The rest ate a great deal of bread and fish. Every class had a taste for beer and rum.<ref>Joan Thirsk (2006) ''Food in Early Modern England: Phases, Fads, Fashions 1500–1760'', Continuum, {{ISBN|0826442331}}</ref>

====Diet====
The diet in England during the Elizabethan era depended largely on [[social class]]. [[Bread]] was a staple of the Elizabethan diet, and people of different statuses ate bread of different qualities. The upper classes ate fine white bread called [[manchet]], while the poor ate coarse bread made of [[barley]] or [[rye]].

: '''Diet of the lower class'''
The poorer among the population consumed a diet largely of bread, cheese, milk, and beer, with small portions of meat, fish and vegetables, and occasionally some fruit. Potatoes were just arriving at the end of the period, and became increasingly important. The typical poor farmer sold his best products on the market, keeping the cheap food for the family. Stale bread could be used to make bread puddings, and bread crumbs served to thicken soups, stews, and sauces.<ref>[[F. G. Emmison|Emmison, F. G.]] (1976) ''Elizabethan Life: Home, Work and Land'', Essex Record Office, v. 3, pp. 29–31 {{ISBN|090036047X}}</ref>

: '''Diet of the middle class'''
At a somewhat higher social level families ate an enormous variety of meats, who could choose among [[venison]], [[beef]], [[mutton]], [[veal]], [[pork]], lamb, fowl, [[salmon]], [[eel]], and [[shellfish]]. The holiday goose was a special treat. Rich spices were used by the wealthier people to offset the smells of old salt-preserved meat. Many rural folk and some townspeople tended a small garden which produced vegetables such as asparagus, cucumbers, spinach, lettuce, beans, cabbage, turnips, radishes, carrots, leeks, and peas, as well as medicinal and flavoring herbs. Some grew their own apricots, grapes, berries, apples, pears, plums, strawberries, currants, and cherries. Families without a garden could trade with their neighbors to obtain vegetables and fruits at low cost. Fruits and vegetables were used in desserts such as pastries, tarts, cakes, crystallized fruit, and syrup.<ref>Jeffrey L. Singman (1995) ''Daily Life in Elizabethan England'', Greenwood Publishing Group, pp. 133–36 {{ISBN|031329335X}}</ref><ref>Stephen Mennell (1996) ''All manners of food: eating and taste in England and France from the Middle Ages to the present''. University of Illinois Press.</ref>

: '''Diet of the upper class'''
At the rich end of the scale the manor houses and palaces were awash with large, elaborately prepared meals, usually for many people and often accompanied by entertainment. The upper classes often celebrated religious festivals, weddings, alliances and the whims of the king or queen. Feasts were commonly used to commemorate the "procession" of the crowned heads of state in the summer months, when the king or queen would travel through a circuit of other nobles' lands both to avoid the plague season of London, and alleviate the royal coffers, often drained through the winter to provide for the needs of the royal family and court. This would include a few days or even a week of feasting in each noble's home, who depending on his or her production and display of fashion, generosity and entertainment, could have his way made in court and elevate his or her status for months or even years.

Among the rich private hospitality was an important item in the budget. Entertaining a royal party for a few weeks could be ruinous to a nobleman.  [[Inn]]s existed for travellers, but [[restaurant]]s were not known.

Special courses after a feast or dinner which often involved a special room or outdoor gazebo (sometimes known as a folly) with a central table set with dainties of "medicinal" value to help with digestion. These would include wafers, comfits of sugar-spun anise or other spices, jellies and marmalades (a firmer variety than we are used to, these would be more similar to our gelatin jigglers), candied fruits, spiced nuts and other such niceties. These would be eaten while standing and drinking warm, spiced wines (known as [[hypocras]]) or other drinks known to aid in digestion. Sugar in the Middle Ages or Early Modern Period was often considered medicinal, and used heavily in such things. This was not a course of pleasure, though it could be as everything was a treat, but one of healthful eating and abetting the digestive capabilities of the body. It also, of course, allowed those standing to show off their gorgeous new clothes and the holders of the dinner and banquet to show off the wealth of their estate, what with having a special room just for banqueting.