At risk of going on about being a re-enactor at Kentwell Hall, I have another photo to share with you. As I mentioned before, participants in this Tudor era Living History experience had to look and sound authentic, and their utensils and tools had to be authentic too.

Of course, we all needed to eat, whether there were visitors or schoolchildren present or not. No sandwiches, baked potatoes or tomatoes for the Tudors! They weren’t introduced until the late Sixteenth Century.

Mostly we ate pottage, a kind of bean stew to which you can add whatever you can get your hands on that won’t poison you! Everyone had their own bowl and wooden spoon, or a pewter spoon if you were gentry level or noble. Or just stinking rich. I still have my horn beaker, spoons, and wooden bowl, as well as my eating knife- a modern replica of a genuine Elizabethan knife dug up on an archaeological site in London.

The paintings of Pieter Breughel are a very good reference source for Tudor era clothing, accessories, and eating utensils.

This photo shows my personal eating implements. My latten (pewter) spoon and knife were hung from my belt so they were always to hand. And when I worked in the Tudor kitchen, I had a cutting knife too.