Food, Drink, and Feasting in the Hanseatic Cities
The food, drink, and feasts of the Hanseatic cities were a reflection of the cities’ commercial wealth. The merchants of the League were among the wealthiest people in medieval Europe, and the merchants ate well. The daily diet of the merchant class included meat, fish, bread, cheese, butter, eggs, vegetables, and fruit, and the merchant’s table was laden with the goods of the Baltic, the North Sea, and the Mediterranean. The merchant’s cellar was well stocked with beer, wine, and spirits, and the merchant’s guests were entertained with elaborate feasts.
This article describes the food, drink, and feasts of the Hanseatic cities, beginning with the daily diet, continuing with the great feasts, the Lenten fast, the brewing of beer, the trade in wine, and the trade in spices, and ending with the cuisine of the modern Hanseatic cities.
The daily diet
The daily diet of the merchants of the Hanseatic cities was, by the standards of the time, varied and nutritious. The principal foods were bread, porridge, meat, fish, cheese, butter, eggs, vegetables, and fruit. The bread was made from rye, wheat, or barley, and the bread was a staple of the diet. The porridge was made from oats or barley, and the porridge was a common breakfast. The meat was principally pork, beef, and mutton, and the meat was preserved by salting, smoking, or drying. The fish was principally herring, cod, and eel, and the fish was preserved by salting or smoking. The cheese was made from cow’s milk or sheep’s milk, and the cheese was a staple of the diet. The butter was made from cow’s milk, and the butter was used for cooking and for spreading on bread. The eggs were from chickens, ducks, or geese, and the eggs were a staple of the diet. The vegetables were principally cabbages, turnips, onions, peas, and beans. The fruit was principally apples, pears, plums, and berries.
The daily diet of the merchants was supplemented by the great feasts of the year, and the great feasts were an important part of the social life of the cities. The great feasts were held on the saints’ days, on the feast days of the city, and on the occasions of important family events. The great feasts were the principal social events of the year, and the great feasts were the principal occasions for the display of wealth and status.
The great feasts
The great feasts of the Hanseatic cities were the principal social events of the year. The great feasts were held on the saints’ days, on the feast days of the city, and on the occasions of important family events. The great feasts were the principal occasions for the display of wealth and status, and the great feasts were the principal occasions for the entertainment of guests.
The most important of the great feasts was the feast of Christmas, the feast of the birth of Christ. The feast of Christmas was a time of feasting and gift-giving, and the merchants’ halls were the scene of great banquets. The feast of Christmas was preceded by Advent, a time of fasting and preparation, and the feast of Christmas was followed by the feast of Epiphany, a time of feasting and celebration.
The second most important of the great feasts was the feast of Easter, the feast of the resurrection. The feast of Easter was preceded by Lent, a forty-day fast during which meat was forbidden, and the feast of Easter was a time of feasting and celebration. The principal food of the feast of Easter was lamb, and the principal drink was beer.
The third most important of the great feasts was the feast of Pentecost, the feast of the coming of the Holy Spirit. The feast of Pentecost was a time of feasting and celebration, and the principal food was roast lamb or roast pork. The feast of Pentecost was also a time of confirmation, and the merchants’ sons and daughters were often confirmed at Pentecost.
Other important feasts included the feast of the patron saint of the city, the feast of the patron saint of the guild, and the feasts of the family. The feast of the patron saint of the city was the most important feast of the city, and the feast was a time of public celebration.
The Lenten fast
The Lenten fast was, in many ways, the most distinctive feature of the Hanseatic food year. The fast, which lasted for forty days before Easter, required the faithful to abstain from meat, and the fast required the merchants of the League to find alternatives to meat. The principal alternative was fish, and the herring of the Sound was the principal fish of the Lenten fast.
The herring trade of the Sound was, in large part, a Lenten trade, and the herring merchants of the League grew rich on the demand for herring during Lent. The herring was eaten fresh, salted, smoked, or pickled, and the herring was prepared in a great variety of ways. The principal preparations were Bückling (smoked herring), Matjes (pickled herring), Rollmops (rolled pickled herring), and Bratheringe (fried herring).
The Lenten fast was not, of course, uniformly observed. The wealthy merchants could afford to eat fish, which was often more expensive than meat, and the wealthy merchants often had a more varied diet during Lent than during the rest of the year. The poorer citizens, who could not afford fish, had a more restricted diet during Lent, and the poorer citizens often suffered from malnutrition during the fast.
The brewing of beer
Beer was the principal drink of the Hanseatic cities, and the brewing of beer was an important industry. The principal cities for the brewing of beer were Lübeck, Hamburg, and Wismar, and the breweries of these cities were famous throughout northern Europe. The Hanseatic cities used a variety of brewing techniques: traditional gruit (a mixture of herbs and spices that flavoured the beer and acted as a preservative) was used in some cities, while others used hopped beer imported or developed in the late Middle Ages. The hopped beer gradually replaced the gruit in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
The brewing of beer was, in the first instance, a domestic industry, and the households of the cities brewed their own beer. The brewing of beer gradually became a commercial industry, and the breweries of the cities produced beer for sale to the citizens and for export to the surrounding region. The breweries were regulated by the guilds, and the guilds set the quality standards, the prices, and the rights of the brewers.
The trade in wine
Wine was the principal luxury drink of the Hanseatic cities, and the trade in wine was an important part of the League’s commerce. The principal sources of wine were the Rhineland, France, and Italy, and the wine was carried to the Baltic by the trade routes of the League. The principal type of wine was red wine, and the red wine was preferred to the white wine of the time.
The wine trade was, in the first instance, a wholesale trade, and the wine merchants of the League imported wine in large quantities and sold it to the retailers. The wine was stored in the warehouses of the merchants, and the wine was sold from the warehouses to the retailers, who sold the wine to the consumers. The wine was a substantial investment, and the wine merchants of the League were among the wealthiest in the cities.
The trade in spices
Spices were the principal luxury foods of the Hanseatic cities, and the trade in spices was an important part of the League’s commerce. The principal spices were pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger, and the spices were imported from the Levant, India, and Southeast Asia. The principal sources of the spices were the Italian and Byzantine merchants, who brought the spices to the great fairs of the West.
The spice trade was, in the first instance, a luxury trade, and the spices were used principally by the wealthy merchants, the guild masters, and the clergy. The spices were used to flavour the food, to preserve the meat, and to make medicines, and the spices were an important part of the diet of the wealthy. The principal spice was pepper, which was used in almost every dish, and the pepper was a substantial expense for the wealthy.
The spice trade was transformed in the late fifteenth century by the voyages of discovery. The Portuguese, who had found a sea route to India, gradually took over the spice trade, and the Italian and Byzantine merchants were displaced. The spice trade was further transformed in the sixteenth century by the voyages of the Dutch and English, and the spice trade became one of the principal trades of the early modern period.
The cuisine of the modern Hanseatic cities
The cuisine of the modern Hanseatic cities is, in many ways, a continuation of the cuisine of the medieval cities. The principal dishes of the modern cities include the Marzipan of Lübeck, the Bremen Klaben of Bremen, the Labskaus of Hamburg, the Bückling of the Baltic cities, and the Rote Grütze of the North German cities. The dishes are a reminder of the commercial heritage of the cities, and the dishes are an important part of the modern identity of the Hanseatic cities.