Anyone Try Themed Meals?

some time back I had an interest in monastery life in the middle ages. one night I decided to emulate their eating so I made my own monastery-type meal.
fish (cod)
pulse (split peas or beans, don't remember which)
dark bread
cheese
pickles
wine (well, grape juice).

anyone else ever do this?

lots of Youtube ambient stuff for backgrounds.

originally posted by: ElGoobero
some time back I had an interest in monastery life in the middle ages. one night I decided to emulate their eating so I made my own monastery-type meal.

anyone else ever do this?

Oh, yes! I was reading The Pillars Of The Earth, by Ken Follett (I highly recommend the book!!!) It's set in the Middle Ages and it described what peasants ate. Two specific dishes were lamb stew and "pottage." I tried making both dishes to experience what it must have been like to live back then. Both were tasty dishes and I felt like I had a connection to those people and times by having made them myself.


TCB

a reply to: ElGoobero

Back when my friends and I were in the food industry we all had Mondays off.

Many of them were chefs, and a few brothers. The siblings’ parents had a cabin up on the mountain, and every Monday there was an open invitation feast.

Each Monday was a different theme. Sometimes it would just be the ‘core’ ten people, sometimes over a hundred.

There was no cell reception, no cable, just breaking bread and conversation. Many were bohemian and protesters of the pipeline, many more conservative farmers and the likes.

There was no shortage of liquid courage laced passionate debate, but always a firm respect for one another as we were all ultimately part of the same community.

We’ve since all gotten “real” jobs and haven’t had one in years. Boy I miss those days.

originally posted by: TrulyColorBlind

originally posted by: ElGoobero
some time back I had an interest in monastery life in the middle ages. one night I decided to emulate their eating so I made my own monastery-type meal.

anyone else ever do this?

Oh, yes! I was reading The Pillars Of The Earth, by Ken Follett (I highly recommend the book!!!) It's set in the Middle Ages and it described what peasants ate. Two specific dishes were lamb stew and "pottage." I tried making both dishes to experience what it must have been like to live back then. Both were tasty dishes and I felt like I had a connection to those people and times by having made them myself.


TCB

Awesome! I’m gonna do the same thing. Now let’s see…I’m reading Soylent Green…

I find myself too busy pulling off recipes, And don't get much guests though so no on any themed anything.
I make a mean Pepper Steak too, depending on what steak I use also.

a reply to: ElGoobero
And any dark bread like pumpernickel always go good with mostly any meal and fresh churned butter makes it so much more enjoyable too.

originally posted by: ElGoobero
some time back I had an interest in monastery life in the middle ages. one night I decided to emulate their eating so I made my own monastery-type meal.
fish (cod)
pulse (split peas or beans, don't remember which)
dark bread
cheese
pickles
wine (well, grape juice).

anyone else ever do this?

lots of Youtube ambient stuff for backgrounds.

When living in Europe I stayed in a monastery and what you described was exactly what we were served, minus the fish.
That was the first time I had split pea soup and it was absolutely delicious. We were not allowed to talk while eating.
I have no idea why a bunch of military kids were invited but thinking back, something was off.


I remember we had a dance competition (yes at the monastery) and one of the organizers was pressuring me to dance and I refused. The girl that “won” was able to do the splits…. Tell me that’s not weird…

Sunday is big dinner day, monday is leftover day plus I usually make a big pot of soup, tuesday is ethnic day ( Italian, hispanic, Oriental, scandinavian, etc...), Wednesday is leftover day, Thursday is breakfast for supper, Friday is fish day, Saturday is anything day.

We have been doing this for years. I do not know if that is the same thing as themed meals, but we keep track of our food written on a calendar on the table for the whole year, and we have a list of a lot of foods to design our weekly menu off of. When you stock quantities of meats and do not have a microwave because two caught fire in the past, you need to have a weekly menu and plan for thawing stuff.

We take care of the great grandkids and can't exactly keep the menu and rotation on track because of them disliking some stuff, but we try to balance the diet regularly, and by doing so we seem to be healthier.

Is this Similar to a themed meals plan?

a reply to: Ilikesecrets

I think…yea…it is the Cheesecake Factory! You like dark bread, they have all the free dark bread you can eat with your meals and with a little sweet butter it is heaven on earth. Sheesh, I’m gonna have to order a kids meal with extra bread tomorrow and a red velvet cheesecake. Thanks for the reminder!

a reply to: JAGStorm

Don’t know if you’ve watched Chefs Table on Netflix, but it’s a pretty refreshing cooking show. They focus more on the Chef than the food, though the latter is still obviously relevant.

But season 3 episode 1 is a female Korean Monk. She’s revered by Michelin Chefs world wide.

It’s a really pretty episode, I bet you’d like it.

a reply to: TrulyColorBlind
Also made into an excellent TV series.
The BBC ran a series a few years back where 2 presenters (one was a comedienne, Sue 'something', I think) re-lived different periods in history and what people ate etc. The Medieval/Tudor period was hysterical! I remember 'Sue' waking up one morning with a stonking hangover as all they had to drink was mead!!!
Rainbows
Jane

in some ways people in the past ate better than we. local ground wheat, barnyard butter and cheese, microbrews

then in April they'd be eating ergot-spiked bread and six-month-old beans

a reply to: ElGoobero

My ex did. Every night she created a theme attempt called "dinner".....🤣

originally posted by: CriticalStinker
a reply to: JAGStorm

Don’t know if you’ve watched Chefs Table on Netflix, but it’s a pretty refreshing cooking show. They focus more on the Chef than the food, though the latter is still obviously relevant.

But season 3 episode 1 is a female Korean Monk. She’s revered by Michelin Chefs world wide.

It’s a really pretty episode, I bet you’d like it.

YES loved it!

Also if anyone really wants to try themed food!!!!!!Please visit Colonial Williamsburg Virginia.

I had the pleasure of eating at some of the establishments and a lot of the foods are recreated from the time of George Washington. (Some of the restaurants actually served him) The food is fantastic, complex flavors and interesting mixes.
It makes me wonder why some of them aren’t still popular today.

We think old timey food is simple food, but that really isn’t true in a lot of cases!

I didn't know it was made into a series. Thanks angelchemuel.

originally posted by: JAGStorm

originally posted by: ElGoobero
some time back I had an interest in monastery life in the middle ages. one night I decided to emulate their eating so I made my own monastery-type meal.
fish (cod)
pulse (split peas or beans, don't remember which)
dark bread
cheese
pickles
wine (well, grape juice).

anyone else ever do this?

lots of Youtube ambient stuff for backgrounds.

When living in Europe I stayed in a monastery and what you described was exactly what we were served, minus the fish.
That was the first time I had split pea soup and it was absolutely delicious. We were not allowed to talk while eating.
I have no idea why a bunch of military kids were invited but thinking back, something was off.


I remember we had a dance competition (yes at the monastery) and one of the organizers was pressuring me to dance and I refused. The girl that “won” was able to do the splits…. Tell me that’s not weird…

A dancer that’s also flexible winning a local contest? Probably deserves it’s own thread so we can get to the bottom of this.

a reply to: ITSALIVE

A dancer that’s also flexible winning a local contest? Probably deserves it’s own thread so we can get to the bottom of this.

No nothing unusual about that EXCEPT it was at a monastery!!!
So sacred we couldn’t talk at dinner, but ok for teens to do the splits, ok..

Closest I've come to themed dinner is I made some jollof rice and a few other Nigerian dishes to watch Ted Lasso with pops.

Tomorrow I'm trying a lamb version with the fresh habanero peppers and san marzano tomatoes from the garden.

Old America had some weird food too, healthier for sure. I recommend the Townsends channel on YT if you like that kinda thing JAG

a reply to: ElGoobero
Your meal of fish (cod), pulses (split peas or beans), dark bread, cheese, pickles, and wine (grape juice) is indeed reminiscent of what monks might have consumed during that time. It's a unique way to connect with culture.