Shakespeare’s Kitchen

The feasts of Shakespeare’s day were fanciful daylong events filled with great food, wine, and entertainment.

Dinner guests were treated to concoctions like fire-breathing roast peacock, enormous savory pies with claws poking through the crust, and dinner rolls shaped like deer filled with spiced wine “blood.” Discover the fascinating festivities of Shakespeare’s time and the meaning of food scenes in the Bard’s plays in this hilarious presentation on the fanciful foods, intriguing table manners, and unusual dining customs of the Elizabethan era. Learn the incredible reasons the Elizabethans clinked glasses to make a toast and why, in fact, it was called a “toast.” Learn why gentlemen and ladies refused to eat with forks and why “4 and 20 blackbirds” really were served in a pie! Sprinkled throughout the lecture are samples of the bawdy jokes, puns, and riddles told between courses back then.

Francine Segan is the author of six books including Shakespeare’s Kitchen and Dolci: Italy’s Sweets. Her most recent book is Pasta Modern.