These double arches were the entry point for all provisions for the palace. The kitchen staff was responsible for providing 600 meals per day when the king was in residence at Hampton Court.
This alleyway was the equivalent of a Tudor refrigerator. The tall walls with the narrow opening at the top meant that little sunlight penetrated to warm the rooms on either side. Fish and grain were stored here.
Although this looks like a mannequin, it is an actual human being. Evidently he was the supervisor of the fellow below. He didn't do anything but answer questions while we were in this room.
This fellow was transforming chunks of beef into the modern day equivalent of hamburger.
He explained that in the Tudor period (and even back to Rome), folks cooked the equivalent of the modern day hamburger--a term that wasn't created until relatively modern times. The Tudors and their predecessors called them . . . "sausages."
Fully 70% of the Tudor diet was meat. The fact that they could afford to be such carnivores illustrated their wealth . . . and if there was one thing that we learned about the Tudors, they loved to illustrate their wealth. They did so by their ability to heat every guest room and by being able to feed everyone meat.
Samples of the type of crockery used during the Tudor period.
This gentleman was making a porridge of wheat flower and water. When I asked what he was making, he pulled out an original recipe that was carved on a wooden plank. He explained that he would thicken this mixture and would add sugar and fruit--dates and plums--to create a dessert for the King.
Note that he is cooking over charcoal. The pot was originally sitting directly in the pit. As it began to boil, he pulled it out and set it close to the edge of the pit so that it continued to get indirect heat as it thickened.
These vegetables--onions, leeks, and cabbages--were real and were being used to create food in the kitchens.
This fellow was in charge of a special dessert for the king.
In this picture, I hope you can see that he is working on a crown. Just before we arrived at this station, someone explained how frequently the Tudors ate meat pies and why. The reason was that the cooks had to create bowls in which to cook the meat. The pastry of the bowls was not eaten in Tudor times, Rather, they knocked the top off the pie and scooped out and ate the meat and vegetables.
Consequently, we assumed that this was a bowl for the king. Turns out that this crown was made of Marzipan and covered with 24 carat gold dust. The king and queen would wear these crowns for pleasure during the meal and eat them later. I suppose you could say that these were the Tudor precursors to edible undergarments.
I wish I had an individual in this picture to give you a sense of the scale of this fireplace for roasting meat. A man can stand within this oven without bowing his head. This fire was the only one in the roasting room, though the guide explained that when the king was in residence, there were as many as six of these fires for roasting meat going at any given time in this particular room. We were standing across the room and felt quite hot from the blaze. Can't imagine the room with six of these fires going at once.
The room containing the pewter plate used by the king and his guests. All of these plates and mugs as well as every item of food was tallied as it left the kitchens for the great halls and as it was returned. The "leftovers" had to be tallied so that the chief clerk would know what food could be reused (transformed into another recipe) and what new provisions needed to be ordered.
Peacock was a delicacy at the Tudor court. Flannery would be appalled!!!
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