"rustic" Foods, What would they be?

[WizardofOwls]

I love these paintings you see of beautiful thatch-roofed cottages with brooks flowing in front of them, lots of flowers and swans and such. They look very much like something out of the English countryside. I was wondering what sorts of foods the 16th, 17th and 18th century peasants who lived in such cottages ate.

I found a recipe for a Rustic Bread Salad on the lid of a Parmesian cheese box that sounded like it would fit in with the kind of atmosphere I want to capture. What else would they eat?

[EMTQueen]

"Rustic" refers to foods that are homemade and aren't pretty (by that I mean, there's no care how it looks, just as long as it tastes good). It's more of a countryside thing than in cities.

So, it would consist of breads, meat, vegetables, all that good stuff.

*I really want some prime rib right now! Waah! I won't be able to go home for another month and several days!*

[susieq76]

I would think that a lot of chunky stews would be considered rustic. You could serve it in a sourdough bread bowl like my mom used to. She would buy small round loaves of sourdough bread, hollow them out and put the stew in them. Yu-u-u-um-my.......

[Monarchs Own]

Here is the servants meal from one of our Castles in Germany
You can eat this in their famous reenactment meals.
I try my best to translate it as good as possible.
I would say it's a more elaborate meal but maybe some hint of what they ate. Like a lot of fruit and meat, nuts and herbs were always a big issue from what I can tell. I will post also later what the knights liked and the Baron himself.

I. Course
Golden brown backed Ryebread with spiced grease of the sow

2. Course
Tasty Carawaysoup, like the baron preferred it.

3. Course
Sowback in the skin with the finest Castleherbs like the knights preferred carried in by the Castle cooks under drumroll, with a sauce of rennett(-appels), Cabage sprouts and in butter roasted potatoes.

4. Course
Fresh of the oven Strudel of the Boskop (Apple) with nuts and winegrapes carried in.

[Shadows]

This link has the foods eaten in England in the 18th century:

http://www.umich.edu/~ece/student_projects.../food/foods.htm

[Shadows]

Here is another link that might help you see what foods where around and when:

http://www.foodtimeline.org/