Dining as in a Medieval Castle 🏰

This generous appetizer corresponds to the servizio di credenza (pantry service), the opening stage of the banquet, when cold or lightly warmed foods were served to stimulate the appetite and display abundance and prestige. The fresh and dried fruit recalls the light beginnings of medieval feasts and the strong seasonality of medieval diets; the vegetable crudités reinterpret the raw herb salads recommended by contemporary dietary theory to “prepare the stomach.”

Pork cured meats, and especially those made from game animals (wild boar, deer, and fallow deer), evoke the central role of hunting in aristocratic culture. The aim is not to reproduce medieval techniques exactly, but to evoke, through products familiar today, a noble and distinctive repertoire of meats. The pairing of cheese and honey is firmly grounded in historical practice: in the Middle Ages, cheeses could appear both at the beginning and at the end of a meal, accompanied by honey, dried fruit, or candied fruit, in a culinary world where sweet and savoury flavours were not yet clearly separated. The woodcock crostini, featuring a highly prized game bird, further enhances the courtly character of the service.

The ravioli introduce the servizio di cucina (kitchen service), dedicated to hot and more elaborate preparations. The choice of a green sauce made with herbs, bread soaked in vinegar, garlic, hard-boiled egg, and nuts refers to a family of recipes well documented in late medieval Italian cookbooks, from the Liber de Coquina of the Angevin Kingdom of Naples to the Tuscan Libro della Cucina, the Anonimo Veneziano, and Maestro Martino's Libro de Arte Coquinaria.

These sauces were pounded in a mortar and served cold, aromatic, and moderately acidic, designed to accompany meats, fish, or other dishes. The version offered here, served cold and prepared with a restrained use of olive oil, is particularly suited to a summer dinner and faithfully recreates the combination of herbs, vinegar, and bread characteristic of many 14th- and 15th-century savore verde sauces.

The central meat course fulfills the role of the medieval meat service, the moment of greatest culinary and symbolic importance in the banquet. Pork was one of the most common meats in the medieval European diet, and preparing it in stewed morsels or rich sauces was considered a prestigious culinary technique. Here, however, it is reinterpreted through the modern use of beer.

The accompaniment of Swiss chard and almonds strengthens the historical authenticity of the dish. Cooked vegetables frequently appeared as side dishes or ingredients in composite preparations, while almonds—in the form of almond milk, flour, or chopped nuts—were among the most characteristic elements of high-status cuisine, used to thicken, bind, and enrich dishes. The result is a course that reflects the grammar of medieval taste (meat, herbs, sweet and rich notes from nuts) while remaining fully appealing to the modern diner.

The conclusion of the banquet is inspired by the deserte, the final service before the table was “deserted,” that is, left by the guests. At this stage, cheeses, dried or candied fruit, small pastries, fritters, and simple sweets could be served, often accompanied by sweet or spiced wines.

The apple tart, though modern in form, recalls the long tradition of fruit pies and baked sweets. The biscuits belong to the family of dry confectionery traditionally kept in the pantry, suitable both for ending a meal and for storage and travel. Here too, the objective is not the literal reproduction of a specific recipe but overall historical coherence: a well-attested fruit, a sliced sweet, a dry biscuit, and a gradual conclusion to the banquet.