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Saxon Suppertime
There were no supermarkets in Anglo-Saxon England and people would only eat the things they
could catch, hunt, gather, grow, rear or trade with their neighbours. Some foods – like meat – would
be too valuable to eat every day and might be saved just for special occasions.
Saxons drank beer and mead which was an alcoholic honey drink. Children drank beer too because it
was safer – water from the well or river might have been contaminated and could make them ill.
Look at the Saxon foods on the picture cards. Which of these foods do you like to eat? Try and
put some of the foods together to make a recipe. For example, the Saxons liked stew – what
vegetables and meat would you put in your stew?
Look at the barley and rye. Do you know what the Saxons made from these? They made bread and
beer from them. How about the oats? These could be turned into porridge. Are there any foods you
don’t recognise or that we don’t eat today? Dripping is made from animal fat and was used a bit like
lard might be used today – as cooking oil or to dip dry bread in. It could also be used to waterproof
Saxon pottery, which was porous when it was made.
The hares are definitely hares, not rabbits, because rabbits weren’t rife in England until after the
Norman conquest in 1066. When archaeologists find small ‘rabbit-like’ bones on Saxon sites, we
know that they must be from hares, not rabbits. Carrots at this time were white or purple. The
orange carrot that we know and love is a relatively recent addition to our dinner tables, having
arrived in Europe some 500 years ago!
The Saxon period is sometimes called the ‘Dark Ages’ because people used to think that the Saxons
were less civilised than the Romans that came before them. This is a bit mean because we know that
the Anglo-Saxon period was alive with myth, magic, folklore, art and culture! Our food cards look a
bit dark though – why not colour them in to bring them to life?
Saxon wooden bowls and tankard