Two foods that surprise many people are kebabs and pasta. Both have deep roots in history, and versions of them appeared in medieval kitchens, enjoyed by nobles and commoners alike, albeit in forms often quite different from today’s. In fact, there are a number of medieval dishes that might astonish modern diners. Here are five fascinating foods from the Middle Ages that you might not realize were already popular centuries ago.
Kebabs: Grilled Meats on Skewers in the Medieval World
When you hear “kebab,” you probably think of Ottoman Turks or modern Middle Eastern street food. But skewered and grilled meats have an ancient pedigree and were known in Europe and the Near East during the Middle Ages.
- Origins and spread:
Grilling meat over open flame on skewers likely originated wherever people had fire. Archaeological finds of skewers go back thousands of years. By the early Middle Ages, the practice of seasoning and skewering meats had been refined by Arabic and Persian cooks. Recipes for spiced meat skewers appear in medieval Arabic cookbooks, such as the 10th-century Kitab al-Tabikh by Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq. As Islamic influence spread into Spain (al-Andalus) and Sicily, these techniques came with them.
- In medieval Europe:
In Norman Sicily, cookbooks from the 12th century show that local Christians adopted Muslim styles of cooking. The Norman court, ruling over a mixed population of Greeks, Arabs, and Latins, enjoyed spiced meats, often skewered and grilled. There is also indirect evidence that crusaders encountered kebab-style dishes in the Levant and brought home the taste for them.
- What were they like?
Unlike today’s döner or shish kebabs, medieval skewered meats were often cut larger, sometimes interspersed with onions or fruits. Spices like cinnamon, cumin, and coriander were popular, reflecting Arab culinary influence. shutdown123