Plenti and Grase by Mark Dawson

Earlier this week, I finished one of my vacation purchases - Plenti and Grase: Food and Drink in a Sixteenth Century Household by Mark Dawson. This was a book that I'd been eyeing for some time, but hadn't bought because the price was a bit steep for the size, and I'd wanted to see if the price would come down. Of course, it didn't, so I bought a copy when I went to David Brown Books.

I'm happy (and a bit surprised) to say that I think it was worth every penny. The book looks at the detailed accounts kept by a family of fairly  wealthy landowners for a period of 80 years. While these records aren't perfect (and the author takes a lot of pains to discuss the gaps), they do provide an excellent look at how a large estate was run. The emphasis, of course, is on what was eaten and when, where it came from, how often things were purchased and what they cost. But the book also discusses the layouts of these large estates, the people in the household and what offices they performed (and how much they were paid), the functions of the various rooms in the manors, etc.. It's really an excellent book, and chock full of little details about the period. For example, while I knew that venison was eaten mostly by the wealthy, I hadn't known that it was illegal to sell venison in England.

I really enjoyed it, and I would recommend it for anyone who's interested in 16th century foodways or persona development.

Next up to finish: The Building of the Green Valley by Stuart Peachey. Boy, does he sound like quite a character....