This is medieval peasant food @chalkehistoryfestival

"Hot is healthy" is honestly a pretty good mantra to live by before refrigeration was invented, it would have saved them from things like most foodborne illnesses

My 92 year old neighbor Mr. Ken used to make a soup like this at the end of the week he called it "Garbage Soup" lmao. He normally bought a rotisserie chicken once a week and at the end of the week he'd pick it clean (put the meat to the side) and boil the carcass (sometimes it was ribs, it could be anything) with onions skins, carrot ends or peels, cabbage ends, lemon rinds, ginger, pepper bits, literally any scraps he cooked with or ate that week, plus salt/ pepper/ spices. Boil that for an hour or two to make the stock. Strain it, put the meat back in it and then all the vegetables, beans, rice whatever he had in the fridge or on the counter (onions, garlic, shallots, potatoes). Boil that for about 30 minutes or so and serve his wife and himself, well and me that one time lol. Garbage Soup! There you go. Rest easy Mr. Ken, I'm honored to have met you sir! (he past a few years ago at the age of 96...)

Peasants perhaps didn’t have fancy meals but I think what they were able to create would have been very good. This soupy concoction looks tasty 😂. I’m hungry. I also think it’s interesting that the Romans brought about all of those spices from foreign lands but their cuisines of today don’t rely on too much. Fascinating.

Imagine coming in from a grueling, frigid medieval workday and ladling out this concoction into a wooden bowl, sitting in your favorite (only) chair in front of the fire and blowing on a spoonful until finally taking your first bite. Hot, savory, spicy, rich, filling. Dunk some crusty bread into it. I don't care if it looks like slop, that's instant happiness.

Pottage recipe Take whatever foods you have on hand and cook together in a pot with water so as to not burn. Eat when done salt and spices to taste. Keep hot on low heat/fire overnight as you have no refrigeration. Stir often add water as needed. Next day add whatever else you have, meat(including bones)vegetables wild herbs and continue cooking with water and salt/spices to taste. Eat when done. Keep over fire again at night. Next day repeat. Ingredients will change as seasons change and availability of ingredients change . You continue to keep it hot as this prevents spoilage and add more ingredients each day. Never remove from fire Never let fire go out or it will spoil. Filling nutritious and hearty Tastes as good as the cook makes it Cooking makes it thick Heat makes it never spoil Don’t forget to Add water and stir often. Pottage is spoken of in the bible.

Im telling you, soups and stews literally made humanity. You can just take stuff and put it in a big pot with some water and you can fucking feed so many people so well. Superfood right there!

We all want to know more about which specific spices they would use please

I think what's funny is that for all the advancements in 'food technology' in the 20th century and the rise of fast food, it turns out in the end that probably the healthiest food to eat most often was just such peasant food!

Soup 🍲 is SO underrated, it's cheap healthy (if homemade) & hydrating plus there are so many variations. It's protein & processed foods that seem to cost more

I kept waiting to hear about specific spice combos favored by people back then because the way things are flavored in ancient recipes is always so different and interesting

I’d eat that, looks healthy. 😊

Where I grew up in Soviet Union we did this after a week of camping. It was actually my favorite (anything is tasty enough when you are really hungry).

So European Gumbo.... everyone is doing the same thing in different places.... whatever they have goes in the dish.

And then you look at the British food today meme 😂😂😂

So glad I wasn’t the only one who thought this looked really good especially seasoned. It was probably much healthier than what the elite of the time would eat too which is beautiful.

Yum! It looks and sounds delicious to me. It also seems like a very good way to feed more people without wasting food.

Glad I am not the only one to think this looks absolutely scrumptious.

I always joke that I was a peasant in another life because I LOVE soup like this I’ll throw whatever in and it’s all delicious to me

A big part of the history of civilization is the establishment of mutually beneficial trade routes that last through time. It's pretty amazing what shaking hands and sharing your stuff have done to propel civilization forward.

That peasant food actually looks delicious