Monk's Modern Medieval Cuisine

Over the years, in my work as a consultant, I've translated numerous medieval texts about food. So I've decided to add a new page to my website to house these translations. First up is an excerpt about the duties of the master baker at Rochester Priory. #the-cooks-at-rochester-priory-custumale-roffense-folios-13th-century" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">modernmedievalcuisine.com/translations-o…

Just added my translation about the cooks of Rochester Priory, 13th-century. Find out about the 'cooks fees'. modernmedievalcuisine.com/translations-o…

Over the years, in my work as a consultant, I've translated numerous medieval texts about food. So I've decided to add a new page to my website to house these translations. First up is an excerpt about the duties of the master baker at Rochester Priory. #the-cooks-at-rochester-priory-custumale-roffense-folios-13th-century" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">modernmedievalcuisine.com/translations-o…

@NigelSommelier I'm very glad Liz is OK. Scary for you both. 💓 Enjoy your holiday ☺️.

Steak and red wine is served. I am recovering 😊

@CarlBovisNature Wow!

Yellow Wagtail glide! 😍 Taken last week at Westonzoyland airfield in Somerset. 😊🐦

In Rochester today, filming for KMTV's News Nuggets, a children's programme. Will be talking about food in medieval Medway: reading medieval books to find out what the local monks ate; & wandering around the priory ruins/gardens to find out where the food was stored/cooked/eaten.

One of the many crossover dishes in Polish and Ashkenazi Jewish cuisines, it’s known as kogel-mogel in Poland.

We talk about cod alternatives like coley and hake; the loss of the street fishmonger; sustainability; fish farms, and whether they are a good thing; the future of Billingsgate Market; and my old fear of bivalves, amongst many other things.

Subscribers! ICYMI a post just for you popped up on the blog all about hasty pudding (with recipe, natch). Read it here: britishfoodhistory.com/2026/05/02/has… If you'd like to become a subscriber & support my research & content click here!: britishfoodhistory.com/support-the-bl…

'Buttercups, the little children's dower' (Browning) The gold-on-gold beauty of buttercup fields💛 Gerard's Herbal (1597) says buttercups are called 'in Englishe Goldcuppes, Goldknoppes, and Butterflowers'💛

@rockcottagedine One of my sister lives in Mickleover. Birds is still going strong there. There are five of us, all brought up in Littleover. I was the only one who left Derby.

@MonkCuisine Birds must be torture then! I started my life in Mickleover

One of the wildflowers I found in my new garden. Do you know what it is? Clue: it has a pungent smell, somewhat like camphor, and daisy-like flowers from June onwards. Check out my latest blog post 👇 to find out how it was used in medieval England.

@rockcottagedine That must have been exciting!

@MonkCuisine You’ll be amazed how many you can, I was involved in the recreation of a herb garden at Fountains Abbey and the monks there had used his teachings

@rockcottagedine I struggled to grow basil in Manchester for the same reason. I have to just drool at the shop window of Birds now. I can't eat wheat 😩. How great to meet another Derby person!

@MonkCuisine I’ve never been successful with any sort of basil outside but I think the north west is a bit too cold and wet for it, maybe you’ll be more fortunate in the warmer climes of Derby. I hope you’ve visited Birds bakeries! (I’m originally from Derby)

@rockcottagedine I must revisit Strabo's Hortulus to see how many of his herbs I could grow. Also, there's a 14th-century English poem on gardening by a certain Jon Gardener, probably a royal gardener, which has a long list of herbs and plants.

@MonkCuisine Lovely blog post, my herb garden has feverfew as it mixes medicinal and culinary herbs to reflect mine and my wife’s professions as she’s a doctor. Loved the work of Strabo and have his translation which is used in planning it

#OTD 1041 King Harthacnut's tax collectors were murdered by the angry citizens of Worcester. Read about this and other murder stories in my new book: mybook.to/MIASE

Recently, I heard the sad news of the death of Joanna Crosby, specialist in the history of apples and orchards. She came on the podcast to chat with about it me in 2024. I've put out the episode again in case you'd not heard about her great work xx open.spotify.com/episode/7iX6KN…