Repent and trust in Jesus. He's the only way. We deserve Hell because we've sinned. Lied, lusted stolen, etc. But God sent his son to die on the cross and rise out of the grave. We can receive forgiveness from Jesus. Repent and put your trust in him. John 3:16 Romans 3:23❤😊❤❤
Just watching this in 2024. Lol, catching up. Know this was early days for you Max. The only thing missing was seeing the trencher used. Did they remove some of the bread to make an edge?? Or just leave it cut in half? After cutting did they leave out longer to harden more?? Did they reuse the trenchers, digging out the soaked parts down to fresh bread until gone?? I used to read alot of historical fiction and trenchers brought up alot and you get a picture in your head. I was also a part of SCA during the day. We used pewter too but would have been prob more historically accurate to use this. Your answers may change my view. Lol. The trencher idea was great. Your food is not going to slide around making it easier to pierce with your eating knife, etc. But I guess if you like sauces, you would not be lapping that up unless you ate "your table". Lol Also one last thing, isn't it funny that "bread bowls" have become popular. Panera bread a good example. Thank you for your channel. I've been binge watching the last few weeks since I camd across it!! Yes. And I was sooooo very disappointed in Midevil Times as well. Excepf for the horses as I owned an Arabian mare at the time and would wear historical costumes for the Arabian horse clubs in parades. They did have some magnificent horses and riders.
I find it incredibly fascinating that the food considered “garbage” in their time is high-priced “health food” in ours, while food that we denigrate, like processed flour, would be considered inconceivably luxurious in the medieval era.
its really weird, tho in norway the fine bread and coarse bread isnt that much different price wise so i think its more of where you are in the world, maybe there are places where fine flour is still considered expensive?
And much more recently. In apartheid South Africa wholemeal bread was given to black people. Indeed, my white family was thrown out of the country in the 70s for objecting to the regime, came to Europe and the things that had been cheap (meat and fresh fruit) were incredibly expensive (and terrible quality) and the things that had been expensive (mayonnaise, processed foods, salami etc) were the reverse.
@@patrickglaser1560 na, but don't think it was for historical accuracy. Made proper loaves a few weeks prior and many a yeast was yeeted via eyeballing salt
Good video mate, actually made my own version of trenchers a fair few times because I was reading some old book and heard of them and thought they'd go great with something like sausage and gravy. Turns out they do. Gone are the days of using bread to mop up the gravy in my bowl, now I just eat the bowel. I guess I'm a peasant, but hey, sue me, it's delicious. Also don't wait for it to go stale, just used a load with a thick crust and stuck it in the oven to crisp and stiffen it a bit before eating.
To be fair, everything goes great with sausage and gravy. 😂 And I think, if it's not stale, then why wouldn't you eat it. Clam Chowder in a bread bowl is great but the best part is the bowl.
Heard "trencher" so many times in books, didn't realize it was stale bread. Assumed it was some kind of wooden dish shaped like a trench. Imagining some peasant looking forward to some stale bread soaked in stew from a feast adds a weird amount of depth to history... it's like working at a restaurant as a broke student
I meant to mention it at the end of the video but clearly forgot. I used these trenchers under a recipe called Sweet Measure. It’s capon in milk and honey and is fantastic. It will be the next episode in a few days. Thank you for the feedback; I really appreciate it.
I kinda cheat and take Red River cereal (we're in Canada) it has all the grains in it that would pretty much equate to what the Romans would have used for their bread once its ground. I grind my grain in our coffee grinder lol and et voila Roman flour 😁
@@dmacisaac9382 that's actually genius! I'd have never thought to use cereal as flour, but it stands to reason that it would work since it's the same thing in a different form. Now when my grocery store's out of flour because of this pandemic, I'll have a substitute. Thanks!
You asked for requests or recommendations. I live on a boat. I can tell you, from experience, cooking is a challenge, from limited space to safely chopping vegetables in rough seas. So much of human history involves boat travel, from the vikings, to the Spanish Armada, to the Titanic... have you found any sea-worthy recipes?
*Townsend walks in:* "I noticed you didn't mention anything about NUTMEG." *Smiles, eyes begin shining bright red* "Savor the FLAVOR OF THE 18TH CENTURY!"
I used this video to make trenchers for a two person feast slash date night with my husband, and I was shocked how well they worked. Ours were wholemeal wheat, barley and rye flour, and we let them stale for three days. They work so well as plates that after pouring juices from a roast and a bunch of gravy all over them, they weren't even soaked to the middle. They also tasted pretty good, although it took a steak knife and a lot of arm work to cut them into reasonable bites. Thank you so much for the educational video and the fun experience!
What fun. Probably because I've been following Townsends for ages, TH-cam sent me here. I was a favoured bread baker in the SCA. We did a sweet trencher that was actually edible. So yes, a touch of salt, some honey, lots of whole wheat, and bread flour. And yes, instant yeast, barm is hard to come by, and it is actually pretty close to modern liquid yeast, if you can find that. Kneading is the big trick. Whole Wheat Bread must be kneaded until STIFF. You can start in a stand mixer, but it must be finished by hand. If you do that, the center is edible and you can enjoy the juices of whatever it was. And if you brush the outside with water, you get more of a supportive crust (think French bread). Very much like the modern soup in a bread, only whole wheat instead of San Francisco Sour Dough. Yes, if you think about it, we still use trenchers.
This reminds me of an Italian rusk bread called friselle. It is a hardened disk of very strong wheat that is almost impossible to eat until it absorbs the juices of other foods. We usually ate it with tomato salad on top, giving the juices time to absorb. I also just used to put butter on it and dunk it in coffee. It was very hard to gnaw on but I liked to try!
They do something like this in Crete, where there was heavy Italian influence. The bread is from rye, and very hard. They’ll sometimes run it quickly under water, then build the salad on top of it. It’s called “dakos.”
@@sazji - Typing from the future.....I foresee a future episode where Mr Miller makes pirate foods - steamed whale? Noo...it is coming clearer - HARDTACK! And is it hard, VERY hard. I further see (if I squint really hard) that hardtack joke will become a long-running "Tasting History" meme over which viewers will roll on the floor in laughter with every appearance!!!! Or something.
@Fred Smith Barm, in a historical setting, was a byproduct of brewing beer. It literally came from the beer vats, and would have trace amounts of beer in it, because it literally as something fished out of the beer and it's brewing vessels. Butter milk used to literally be the whey left over from making butter that was allowed to ferment. Soured milk is what people used to call skim milk that was inoculated with bacteria and allowed to start fermenting a little before turning to yogurt. Today, inoculated and partly fermented skim milk is sold as buttermilk. Name for things and what's in things change over time.
@Fred Smith Except protein and solids get removed from the cream and ends up as milk solids in the butter. "Levain," which is different then Baum, and that is what is reserved by bakers.
I concur! 😝 I’ve only been doing it for about 6 weeks, so I’m definitely still in the learning stage. I’d rather make my mistakes for a smaller audience.
Thank you! Curious, was it your TH-cam feed I showed up on? Or Reddit. Also, that is an amazing compliment! I love Alton Brown. Maybe I’ll have to give the food network a ring. 🤣
TastingHistory for me, it was my yt feed after discovering that bardcore was a thing. I’m surprised it took so long to recommend you, as I’ve been watching historical cooking shows on here for a long time now.
As a Re-enactor, I'm seriously hooked on this channel. I try to emulate the old recipes from my time period and it takes a huge deal of research, so this content I REALLY can appreciate! Keep up the good work !
@@TastingHistory as of now I re-enact 1900-1920 imperial russia and imperial germany in the same period. But I have a huge soft spot for ancient egypt and early to middle middleages.
@@ragnkja yeah probably true, i suppose it helps that it's been sauced up with use but yeah it would need to be further prepared to be very edible lol maybe turned into croutons or something
I might be a middle class guy but i still eat like a medieval peasant. my favorite foods are mostly things you'd find on a medieval peasants plate: alot of whole grains, cabbage, garlic, onions, dairy, and fatty meats like pork belly. My favorite meats are things like pork belly, liver, salmon, and preserved meats. The only thing separating me from the peasants are that I eat spicy foods.
@@killerkraut9179 - "Metal" in English. Where are you writing from? Were peasants also able to invest in metal plates or did they continue to use trenchers?
There was such a huge amount of labor that went into farming grains used in that time period: no tractors, no chemical fertilizers, no bug or weed sprays. Few oxen or horses. No effective plow. Most of the labor force in the day worked on farms. Then along comes this idea of Trenchers that would seem to be an extraordinary extravagance; essentially making disposable plates out of food rather than paper or deciding to wash wooden plates.
It was definitely a way to show your wealth to have them made expressly for the purpose of not eating. Though even then, they were eaten, just by the poor or animals; nothing ever went to waste. And while I don't go into detail, these were the trenchers of the wealthy (because that's who we know the most about), but the poor used trenchers too. They were just stale or moldy bread that had originally been meant to eat. Also bakers, using large wood fired ovens, would have a lot of under baked or over baked bread. It would be sold at a fraction of the cost for use as trenchers or in porridges.
That is also a thing. People don't appreciate the insanity of the post industrialized world. To making a bowl/plate/cup was a big investment of time, tools, and resources. If you could make those they (your lords) would want you to do important things. Like shoe horses, or make trade goods that would be more valuable/profitable than silverware.
@@thepenguin11 yes you can. However, why would you ever make a bowl with that time and equipment? I think the most important thing to grasp for is the concept of free time, and needs. Everyone would have a cup of some kind. It is unique what it does and if you cup also hold wine, ale and occasionally water you got a good one. If you do have woodworking skills you probably made your one cup, *or* you made something to bator for a cup. If you had the ability to make a cup with hand tools what could you also make with those tools, and time? Let's say you spend a couple of hours and use your hand tools to make IDK... A couple hundred shingles. If you, or your lord/master can get more value out of that those shingles why would you/they want you to waste your time with doing stuff less profitable? Which kind of dovetails into our modern sense of free time. It is kind of an aberration in a historical context. Especially if you were a surf. You telling me you used your lord's wood, their tools, and "your time" to make something for yourself? Generally that cup will be seen as the estates priority. Depending on time, region, and rights. So maybe you make cups for everyone to have one though your lord might just buy a dozen ceramic ones with the prosperous amount of shingles you've made of the few weeks. Bowls are kind of niche. Would they have bowls? Of course. Bread making, and mixing bowls at least. Will every family have those bowls? Maybe. What you consider bowls in your cabinet would exist. But not everyone would probably have them. As food was a lot more different back then. There is a lot to say I am cutting my self now because I feel like I am rambling.
Hmmm, this has me thinking about a _trencher_ like device to serve under a nice grilled steak. All that juice from the steak and beans, washed down with a nice Cabernet.... Yep, Sunday supper.
I just made bread bowls from scratch for a stew and I was like, this feels like medieval...i wonder if this was something they did back then. And Bam! your videos the first one that comes up. I love this so much.
I think the weight & coinage sounds really convenient. The coins were the weights, they were made by the king's mint, so it made it really hard for merchants to tamper with the weights because you have a pocket full of weights.
I love breads. This is one that I would love to try. I do not care what they did back then with it. I would use it as a bread bowl for a stew and then eat it. 😋
The one time I went to a medieval themed restaurant, which was in England in an old house that at least looked the part, one of the courses was a baked potato and coleslaw. My reaction was "You're doing this on purpose to piss me off". My dog would love this recipe, although it might be disappointed to see me eat the bread too. This "bread you do not eat" looks exactly like the bread they want $6 a loaf for at the farmer's market.
It's not very often you find a youtuber channel under 2k subscribers and just know that it's going to be a big success. So excited to see what this charnel becomes.
@@TastingHistory believe me the UK needs to appreciate history much much more! But maybe we take it for granted because it surrounds us everywhere we go to some degree.
@@pandorassocks7996 Which is why it's my favorite place to visit. I often travel alone when I go to England because nobody else can get so excited about the ruins of the 26th abbey we've seen in as many days.
@@TastingHistory has your path ever taken you into the depths of Colchester by chance? That's where I'm from - if you ever come here I can give you the grand Roman tour!
Jein, der Vorgang des aufschneidens ist ja tranchieren. Hat also mit der Unterlage nichts zu tun. Es gibt aber eine altmodische Bezeichnung für Stück oder Scheibe, nennt sich Tranche. Sagt man aber kaum noch.
This episode brought back memories of when I took a class on the Middle Ages in college. We drew straws for our final paper subject and I got Medieval food. It was definitely one of my favorite classes.
If you haven't discovered Townsends by now you need to take a peek. This channel is nice but Townsends is something beyond believing. You have to see their stuff to believe it. That channel has even built a period 1770s kitchen to cook in....
There is an old fashioned windmill near me that you can buy real stone ground flour from (as well as having a look round, a small museum and there's a gift shop, pretty good afternoon distraction for kids) as soon as I can safely go out again (I'm classed as vulnerable so not supposed to go out yet) I'm gonna get some and make this.
They still do something similar in italy: there are some soups they serve in bread instead of a bowl! I'm looking forward to a trencher recipe with sourdough
Americans will definitely serve soup and dips in bread bowls on occasion. And we'll do what I can only assume to be Americanized Mexican style cuisine, by forming a tortilla into the shape of a bowl and mixing taco ingredients with a lot of lettuce to put inside. The concept of trenchers certainly lives on.
You remind me of Matt Mercer a great deal and boy do I have a boycrush on that man. Watching your videos feels very much like watching his GM tips videos and now I'll never be able to stop describing the dishes of a medieval fantasy setting to my players. Hopefully some of them will try their hands at making some, after I try my own of course.
Self-proclaimed peasant here. Your channel has captured my heart, and I applaud you most heartily. My wyf will soon be subscribing to you as well, once I've introduced her to this magnificence. Thank you, sir, from the very bottom of my peasant heart.
This is fascinating and educational and I don't think I can bring myself to make bread I won't eat. I just love eating bread too much and I know I would embarrass myself by gnawing on the tableware. But since you emphasized how desperate that would look, you've saved me from the temptation. Thank you.
In my next video, I do. Though even then, you don't see me eating (I'm a bone head). I'm still working on my format and only recently have realized that people want to see me taste the food... Tasting History should have clued me in. 😂 After the next video, I'll always make sure I do. I really appreciate the feedback by the way; it's how I'm going to improve.
I just stumbled across your channel and omg I am in love with you haha I am sure my "medieval" Flammkuchen recipe I just uploaded would make you flip a table in rage of the inaccuracies 😀
So I watch a few food related channels. And I watch a bunch of history related channels. So YT said... hey.. look at this guy, he combines both ty youtube, ty. Watched a few of your videos now. I like what I see. Interesting subjects, nice recipes, brought with humor. Subbed obviously.
Yup, two vids in, a 3rd cue'd up, and sub'd. Popped up on my TH-cam suggestions and as both a cook and a dungeon master, I can verify the algerithum worked today.
You’re the 3rd DM to mention that. I love it! It never occurred to me that this would be good for world building but it so is! So glad you’re enjoying!
@@TastingHistory I'm definitely going to keep looking for more from you. Your sense of humor matches my own. "You wont hold using active dry yeast against me right?" Whilst nervously clutching a glass of wine Your video quality, presentation, and depth of knowledge are truly fantastic. With your knowledge I'd really love to see some videos on 'typical meals' for both peasent and noble alike through different time periods and locations, along with the recipes.
I've watched a few of your videos now, and I find them entertaining, informative, and well presented. It's so good to finally get to see what used only to be words in old stories, histories and novels. And to learn about their origins. (And of course, I've subscribed)
If you brew homemade beer, you can recover the yeast residue from empty bottles and use it to make an overnight poolish, then use the poolish as your leavener. Works like a charm and makes great dark, sour, savoury bread. It's as close to ale barm as you can get at home.
This video inspired me to make bread for the first time in my life. When you explained that bread was made from any old thing that might work, I decided on a whim to make a loaf from the stuff in my pantry. So I paused the video and made it immediately. It isn't historically accurate trencher bread, but it IS bread. Porridge soda bread to be exact. And it is yummy. So that is something. Thanks Max!
Something akin to a trencher is still used in much of East Africa, though those are soft flatbreads that you actually use to eat the food, ripping off pieces and wrapping them around the food. And you can totally eat the trencher! It gets quite soft once it's been suffused with food juices. Unleash your inner peasant!!!! EAT DA TRENCHER!
Not too long ago, I made a really interesting loaf of bread that I used a combination of white flour, whole wheat flour and corn meal. The cornmeal made it extremely dense... it was super heavy, but very tasty when warmed up and buttered. Would love to see what else you can do with corn meal.
I just came across your channel and I've binged every episode! I love history and baking/cooking so this is perfect. Thanks for your work on these videos.
Always been a fan of creamy New England clam chowder or thick Irish lamb stew served up in a stout bread bowl. Trenchers take that concept to a whole new level though, and I imagine doing the dishes afterward was a dog's delight. Very interesting, thank you for sharing this curious slice of history!
I find myself wanting to give multiple likes on all your movies! Double clicking the like button like a fool... I just can’t stop watching. I just Love you! It. I said it. I love IT!
This is awesome! I'm glad to have discovered you on a random reddit thread! I just recently got into bread making and historical recipes are amazing! I'm going to give this recipe a try! I'm looking forward to more videos!
I just realized what this show reminds me of. It's like a PBS documentary, instructional, educational, commentary. Plus the audio (soft, smooth vocals and background music) video (clear, decent quality with soft lighting) and graphics (simple, but informative or historical). This seriously feels like an actual, broadcast show, in the best ways. Keep up the good work!
I love that you actually take your time to research everything. As a Medieval and Renaissance historian, your videos are very enjoyable. This also enables me to understand the cultures of the periods that I study. I look forward to new videos
Fun fact: in germany we just combine different types of flour as we please. There is no rule or guideline, just combinations that are more common in different regions and additional ingredients that are common here or there. I adore potato buns and bread with beer in it. Others love bread with different types of seeds and nuts or dried tomatoes or carrots or browned onions or whatever. Germans are far more flexible when it comes to bread.
In the US, those things are also quite common (or at least where I live; the US is roughly the size of Europe, so things vary from place to place), but are usually much more expensive than the "normal" loaves of white and whole wheat bread. My favorite is a dark beer bread made (partially) from spent beer grains that is absolutely amazing. My area (West Michigan) is known for having an inordinate number of micro-breweries, who usually also produce specialty breads as a side hustle. We have quite the selection of these in our grocery stores as a result, although the bread companies also make a number of different weird breads that are also good. One of the more interesting breads I occasionally get has 13 different types of grain in it, as well as some kind of nuts. It's pretty good.
Looking forward to barm bread! I’m often brewing beer/gruits pre-Reinheitsgebot style, and have had varying successes in using leftover barm and sediments for bread. Quick flatbreads are easy, but haven’t yet made a good loaf with it. Great content!
Check out these other interesting Medieval recipes:
Medieval Tournaments: th-cam.com/video/wxypUB5K0KE/w-d-xo.html
Peasant Food: th-cam.com/video/zKa5GRu4LwE/w-d-xo.html
Medieval Outlaws: th-cam.com/video/IfcQcAPt5vk/w-d-xo.html
Medieval Saint Diet: th-cam.com/video/jBRVvMm3xv0/w-d-xo.html
Medieval Monks: th-cam.com/video/zz0y1d6IIpY/w-d-xo.html
Repent and trust in Jesus. He's the only way. We deserve Hell because we've sinned. Lied, lusted stolen, etc. But God sent his son to die on the cross and rise out of the grave. We can receive forgiveness from Jesus. Repent and put your trust in him.
John 3:16
Romans 3:23❤😊❤❤
@@christianweatherbroadcasting um, what? How is this comment remotely relevant to anything said? No need for judgement BTW.
Just watching this in 2024. Lol, catching up. Know this was early days for you Max. The only thing missing was seeing the trencher used. Did they remove some of the bread to make an edge?? Or just leave it cut in half? After cutting did they leave out longer to harden more?? Did they reuse the trenchers, digging out the soaked parts down to fresh bread until gone?? I used to read alot of historical fiction and trenchers brought up alot and you get a picture in your head. I was also a part of SCA during the day. We used pewter too but would have been prob more historically accurate to use this. Your answers may change my view. Lol. The trencher idea was great. Your food is not going to slide around making it easier to pierce with your eating knife, etc. But I guess if you like sauces, you would not be lapping that up unless you ate "your table". Lol Also one last thing, isn't it funny that "bread bowls" have become popular. Panera bread a good example.
Thank you for your channel. I've been binge watching the last few weeks since I camd across it!!
Yes. And I was sooooo very disappointed in Midevil Times as well. Excepf for the horses as I owned an Arabian mare at the time and would wear historical costumes for the Arabian horse clubs in parades. They did have some magnificent horses and riders.
I find it incredibly fascinating that the food considered “garbage” in their time is high-priced “health food” in ours, while food that we denigrate, like processed flour, would be considered inconceivably luxurious in the medieval era.
its really weird, tho in norway the fine bread and coarse bread isnt that much different price wise so i think its more of where you are in the world, maybe there are places where fine flour is still considered expensive?
And much more recently. In apartheid South Africa wholemeal bread was given to black people. Indeed, my white family was thrown out of the country in the 70s for objecting to the regime, came to Europe and the things that had been cheap (meat and fresh fruit) were incredibly expensive (and terrible quality) and the things that had been expensive (mayonnaise, processed foods, salami etc) were the reverse.
well at least these disposable "garbage" dinner plates are biodegradable. I think Mother Nature would prefer us to go back to this concept.
@@rdiddyspace1708 Paper plates
I realize this is a very old comment, but if my time machine ever comes to fruition i am going to take processed flour back to medieval times
You know you're from rural Northern England when the bread recipe you were taught in school is on TH-cam as a medieval recipe :(
@@patrickglaser1560 na, but don't think it was for historical accuracy. Made proper loaves a few weeks prior and many a yeast was yeeted via eyeballing salt
I gotta be honest that’s kinda hype that your school taught you recipes
@@spunkynuggs7173 don't American schools teach food tech?
Lol. We weren't taught bread but I've seen the baked apple recipe we were taught on a historical baking show before.
@@violetskies14 If you take an elective, sure. I guess I just had it in my head that they taught you recipes as part of a core curriculum or something
Good video mate, actually made my own version of trenchers a fair few times because I was reading some old book and heard of them and thought they'd go great with something like sausage and gravy. Turns out they do. Gone are the days of using bread to mop up the gravy in my bowl, now I just eat the bowel. I guess I'm a peasant, but hey, sue me, it's delicious. Also don't wait for it to go stale, just used a load with a thick crust and stuck it in the oven to crisp and stiffen it a bit before eating.
To be fair, everything goes great with sausage and gravy. 😂 And I think, if it's not stale, then why wouldn't you eat it. Clam Chowder in a bread bowl is great but the best part is the bowl.
I never expected RIMMY of all people to BAKE BREAD.
Strange, you started talking about using bread as a bowl but ended up talking about eating ass.
"Gone are the days of using bread to mop up the gravy in my bowl, now I just eat the bowel."
And how does it taste?
How in the hell is Rimmy in the comments here. These are two interests I did not think would coencide
Heard "trencher" so many times in books, didn't realize it was stale bread. Assumed it was some kind of wooden dish shaped like a trench. Imagining some peasant looking forward to some stale bread soaked in stew from a feast adds a weird amount of depth to history... it's like working at a restaurant as a broke student
Same!
Perhaps a follow-up on whatever foods you might seen eaten on a trencher?
I meant to mention it at the end of the video but clearly forgot. I used these trenchers under a recipe called Sweet Measure. It’s capon in milk and honey and is fantastic. It will be the next episode in a few days. Thank you for the feedback; I really appreciate it.
While I'd be super down for that if you can't wait Shadiversity has a couple of videos that go into the food of the trencher period.
@@Junkuza SHADIVERSITY!! I cannot stress how much I adore his videos. His personality is so fun. MACHICOLATIONS!!
I kinda cheat and take Red River cereal (we're in Canada) it has all the grains in it that would pretty much equate to what the Romans would have used for their bread once its ground. I grind my grain in our coffee grinder lol and et voila Roman flour 😁
@@dmacisaac9382 that's actually genius! I'd have never thought to use cereal as flour, but it stands to reason that it would work since it's the same thing in a different form. Now when my grocery store's out of flour because of this pandemic, I'll have a substitute. Thanks!
You asked for requests or recommendations. I live on a boat. I can tell you, from experience, cooking is a challenge, from limited space to safely chopping vegetables in rough seas. So much of human history involves boat travel, from the vikings, to the Spanish Armada, to the Titanic... have you found any sea-worthy recipes?
Raw fish and ships biscuits I suspect.
That would give him yet another excuse to play the bang the hardtack together clip again.
@@MrYfrank14 I love the hardtack clip!
This has no right to be as good as it is.
Ha! Well, I suppose I’ll take that as a compliment. 🤣 Hopefully they just get better from here. By my 20th video, I hope to have it down pat.
@@TastingHistory congrats on 100k, man, you totally deserve it.
My goodness. 200K subs in half a year? This is Amazing. Please do an episode with The history guy. That would be Epic! WWII eatings
@@TastingHistory I could be wrong after my knowledge in the late or end of the midieval there existed silver trencher (methal plates)
*Townsend walks in:* "I noticed you didn't mention anything about NUTMEG." *Smiles, eyes begin shining bright red* "Savor the FLAVOR OF THE 18TH CENTURY!"
🤣 love him
This comment wins!
Yeah there is something very familiar about him...
Then they have a duel…2 hours later they’re still arguing about the shade of brown of the scabbards
@@etownsend9116 He looks like Les Stroud?
I used this video to make trenchers for a two person feast slash date night with my husband, and I was shocked how well they worked. Ours were wholemeal wheat, barley and rye flour, and we let them stale for three days. They work so well as plates that after pouring juices from a roast and a bunch of gravy all over them, they weren't even soaked to the middle. They also tasted pretty good, although it took a steak knife and a lot of arm work to cut them into reasonable bites. Thank you so much for the educational video and the fun experience!
What fun. Probably because I've been following Townsends for ages, TH-cam sent me here.
I was a favoured bread baker in the SCA. We did a sweet trencher that was actually edible. So yes, a touch of salt, some honey, lots of whole wheat, and bread flour. And yes, instant yeast, barm is hard to come by, and it is actually pretty close to modern liquid yeast, if you can find that.
Kneading is the big trick. Whole Wheat Bread must be kneaded until STIFF. You can start in a stand mixer, but it must be finished by hand.
If you do that, the center is edible and you can enjoy the juices of whatever it was.
And if you brush the outside with water, you get more of a supportive crust (think French bread). Very much like the modern soup in a bread, only whole wheat instead of San Francisco Sour Dough. Yes, if you think about it, we still use trenchers.
Came looking for SCAdians and you’re the first one I’ve found! Greetings from Gleann Abhann!
¹
This reminds me of an Italian rusk bread called friselle. It is a hardened disk of very strong wheat that is almost impossible to eat until it absorbs the juices of other foods. We usually ate it with tomato salad on top, giving the juices time to absorb. I also just used to put butter on it and dunk it in coffee. It was very hard to gnaw on but I liked to try!
They do something like this in Crete, where there was heavy Italian influence. The bread is from rye, and very hard. They’ll sometimes run it quickly under water, then build the salad on top of it. It’s called “dakos.”
@@sazji - Typing from the future.....I foresee a future episode where Mr Miller makes pirate foods - steamed whale? Noo...it is coming clearer - HARDTACK! And is it hard, VERY hard. I further see (if I squint really hard) that hardtack joke will become a long-running "Tasting History" meme over which viewers will roll on the floor in laughter with every appearance!!!! Or something.
I'm quite happy you used monty python and the holy grail clips for the peasants, earned my thumbs up
THE LARCH! THE LARCH! - MONTY PYTHON..
James Townsend and son found a cheap way to make a barm stand in.
A little beer, flour, and active dry yeast, and let it sit.
messman10 He actually did that about a month ago :)
When he made Rastons on this channel
@@heididavison816 Darn, I guess I missed it in his catalog!
@Fred Smith Barm, in a historical setting, was a byproduct of brewing beer.
It literally came from the beer vats, and would have trace amounts of beer in it, because it literally as something fished out of the beer and it's brewing vessels.
Butter milk used to literally be the whey left over from making butter that was allowed to ferment. Soured milk is what people used to call skim milk that was inoculated with bacteria and allowed to start fermenting a little before turning to yogurt.
Today, inoculated and partly fermented skim milk is sold as buttermilk.
Name for things and what's in things change over time.
@Fred Smith Except protein and solids get removed from the cream and ends up as milk solids in the butter.
"Levain," which is different then Baum, and that is what is reserved by bakers.
Your subscriber count is criminally small for how good this channel is, I'm excited to see it blow up!
I concur! 😝 I’ve only been doing it for about 6 weeks, so I’m definitely still in the learning stage. I’d rather make my mistakes for a smaller audience.
And blow up it did
@@blahthebiste7924 Damn right it did man!
yup
Oh, how things have changed... !
I have NO IDEA how you showed up on my feed of suggestions, however you earned a new subscriber. You remind me of Alton Brown's old show.
Thank you! Curious, was it your TH-cam feed I showed up on? Or Reddit.
Also, that is an amazing compliment! I love Alton Brown. Maybe I’ll have to give the food network a ring. 🤣
🤣 Np! showed up on reddit. Kind of out of the blue though as the subreddits I follow are either fitness or graffiti related lol.
Ditto. Just showed up on my YT feed one day and now I’m hooked and subscribed!! Maybe because I’m subscribed to Townsends and several history feeds.
TastingHistory for me, it was my yt feed after discovering that bardcore was a thing. I’m surprised it took so long to recommend you, as I’ve been watching historical cooking shows on here for a long time now.
That's exactly how I discovered Max!
Hay!! You're supposed to be Tasting that bit of history!!
As a Re-enactor, I'm seriously hooked on this channel. I try to emulate the old recipes from my time period and it takes a huge deal of research, so this content I REALLY can appreciate! Keep up the good work !
What do you re-enact? I have a special place in my heart for re-enactors.
@@TastingHistory as of now I re-enact 1900-1920 imperial russia and imperial germany in the same period. But I have a huge soft spot for ancient egypt and early to middle middleages.
Can we please be friends?
@@TastingHistory yeah sure!
Just for your attitude alone, this should be a channel with at least 1 million subs. Instant subscription!
Well thank you for helping me get there 😁
This has aged not terribly, I must say.
i might just be a peasant at heart but that does look pretty tasty and it looks healthy too
If you’re going to eat it like regular bread, you’re going to want to add salt.
@@ragnkja yeah probably true, i suppose it helps that it's been sauced up with use but yeah it would need to be further prepared to be very edible lol maybe turned into croutons or something
I seriously feel the same. Add salt, eat it fresh.
I might be a middle class guy but i still eat like a medieval peasant. my favorite foods are mostly things you'd find on a medieval peasants plate: alot of whole grains, cabbage, garlic, onions, dairy, and fatty meats like pork belly. My favorite meats are things like pork belly, liver, salmon, and preserved meats. The only thing separating me from the peasants are that I eat spicy foods.
@Aleph-Noll - WHY do Americans insist on adding so much salt to foods? Foods naturally have salt. Ewww! >_
As an ardent student of medieval history, I am so impressed that you made your own trencher! It was really awesome to watch.
i could be wrong but ,after my knowledge in the end of the medival there existed methal trencher (methal Plates)
@@killerkraut9179 - "Metal" in English. Where are you writing from? Were peasants also able to invest in metal plates or did they continue to use trenchers?
@@MossyMozart about the peasants is usually not much known!
Come for historical cooking, stay for the personality! Your content is excellent and I'm so glad I found you.
There was such a huge amount of labor that went into farming grains used in that time period: no tractors, no chemical fertilizers, no bug or weed sprays. Few oxen or horses. No effective plow. Most of the labor force in the day worked on farms. Then along comes this idea of Trenchers that would seem to be an extraordinary extravagance; essentially making disposable plates out of food rather than paper or deciding to wash wooden plates.
It was definitely a way to show your wealth to have them made expressly for the purpose of not eating. Though even then, they were eaten, just by the poor or animals; nothing ever went to waste.
And while I don't go into detail, these were the trenchers of the wealthy (because that's who we know the most about), but the poor used trenchers too. They were just stale or moldy bread that had originally been meant to eat. Also bakers, using large wood fired ovens, would have a lot of under baked or over baked bread. It would be sold at a fraction of the cost for use as trenchers or in porridges.
TastingHistory are you sure you’re not a food historian? Well said.
That is also a thing.
People don't appreciate the insanity of the post industrialized world.
To making a bowl/plate/cup was a big investment of time, tools, and resources.
If you could make those they (your lords) would want you to do important things.
Like shoe horses, or make trade goods that would be more valuable/profitable than silverware.
@@Giganfan2k1 you can make a basic bowl with a knife and in some cases spoon carver. 2 tools, and takes couple hours. I mean Vikings used them.
@@thepenguin11 yes you can.
However, why would you ever make a bowl with that time and equipment?
I think the most important thing to grasp for is the concept of free time, and needs.
Everyone would have a cup of some kind. It is unique what it does and if you cup also hold wine, ale and occasionally water you got a good one.
If you do have woodworking skills you probably made your one cup, *or* you made something to bator for a cup.
If you had the ability to make a cup with hand tools what could you also make with those tools, and time?
Let's say you spend a couple of hours and use your hand tools to make IDK... A couple hundred shingles.
If you, or your lord/master can get more value out of that those shingles why would you/they want you to waste your time with doing stuff less profitable?
Which kind of dovetails into our modern sense of free time. It is kind of an aberration in a historical context. Especially if you were a surf.
You telling me you used your lord's wood, their tools, and "your time" to make something for yourself?
Generally that cup will be seen as the estates priority. Depending on time, region, and rights. So maybe you make cups for everyone to have one though your lord might just buy a dozen ceramic ones with the prosperous amount of shingles you've made of the few weeks. Bowls are kind of niche. Would they have bowls? Of course. Bread making, and mixing bowls at least. Will every family have those bowls? Maybe.
What you consider bowls in your cabinet would exist. But not everyone would probably have them. As food was a lot more different back then.
There is a lot to say I am cutting my self now because I feel like I am rambling.
This channel scratches a few itches of mine. Cooking, history and a bit of humor. Well done! I'm looking forward to future videos from you.
Very well said!
Hmmm, this has me thinking about a _trencher_ like device to serve under a nice grilled steak. All that juice from the steak and beans, washed down with a nice Cabernet....
Yep, Sunday supper.
@CanadianCamper Why?
@CanadianCamper No, you're just pretentious.
@CanadianCamper As long as you don't combine fava beans and Chianti ...
Sounds like an open-faced steak sandwich to me.
@@kevskevs Why not? It goes so well with liver...
Anybody else getting mad extremely-cute-but-guilty puppy vibes when Max looks to the side because he was using active dry yeast? No? Just me, then?
Oh yes, he was quite adorable there. Especially when he followed it up with hiding behind his wine glass. ^_^
He did look kind of cute then
Totes
He is absolutely adorable
I just made bread bowls from scratch for a stew and I was like, this feels like medieval...i wonder if this was something they did back then. And Bam! your videos the first one that comes up. I love this so much.
I also had no clue about the window pane aspect of dough making. My god... I'm a peasant.
I think the weight & coinage sounds really convenient. The coins were the weights, they were made by the king's mint, so it made it really hard for merchants to tamper with the weights because you have a pocket full of weights.
I love breads. This is one that I would love to try. I do not care what they did back then with it. I would use it as a bread bowl for a stew and then eat it. 😋
The one time I went to a medieval themed restaurant, which was in England in an old house that at least looked the part, one of the courses was a baked potato and coleslaw. My reaction was "You're doing this on purpose to piss me off".
My dog would love this recipe, although it might be disappointed to see me eat the bread too. This "bread you do not eat" looks exactly like the bread they want $6 a loaf for at the farmer's market.
You could have a TV show... seriously, you are so articulate and fun to watch and listen to! Love your channel. hahahaha the TAR - GET lady from SNL!
It's not very often you find a youtuber channel under 2k subscribers and just know that it's going to be a big success.
So excited to see what this charnel becomes.
I'm so flattered. Thank you so much. Until yesterday, I only had 350 subscribers, so I'm excited to see that people are enjoying the content.
Laughed at the table flipping over pewter and dry yeast. Subscribed! Also love food history and history in general.
Who is this guy and why is he so good at TH-cam?!?!
From the UK - BRAVO GOOD SIR. YOU'VE GAINED A SUBSCRIBER.
Thank you! I feel like there's an appreciation of history in the UK that is often lacking here, so thank you.
@@TastingHistory believe me the UK needs to appreciate history much much more! But maybe we take it for granted because it surrounds us everywhere we go to some degree.
@@pandorassocks7996 Which is why it's my favorite place to visit. I often travel alone when I go to England because nobody else can get so excited about the ruins of the 26th abbey we've seen in as many days.
@@TastingHistory has your path ever taken you into the depths of Colchester by chance? That's where I'm from - if you ever come here I can give you the grand Roman tour!
@@pandorassocks7996 I've not been. It's on my list of places for next time. I hope to visit again next spring.
4:16 so that's why we say "tranchieren" in German for carving a roast or turkey or goose etc
Jein, der Vorgang des aufschneidens ist ja tranchieren. Hat also mit der Unterlage nichts zu tun. Es gibt aber eine altmodische Bezeichnung für Stück oder Scheibe, nennt sich Tranche. Sagt man aber kaum noch.
@@Schulzffw Chemiker hier. Wenn man seine Produkte nicht als Batch oder Fertigungslos klassiert, ist Tranche durchaus üblich. Im B2B zumindest.
This episode brought back memories of when I took a class on the Middle Ages in college. We drew straws for our final paper subject and I got Medieval food. It was definitely one of my favorite classes.
This is officially the best content on TH-cam! I’m so excited to find this channel 👑
This makes my night! Encourages me to keep it up!
TastingHistory Yay! Thank you for saying that!
If you haven't discovered Townsends by now you need to take a peek. This channel is nice but Townsends is something beyond believing. You have to see their stuff to believe it. That channel has even built a period 1770s kitchen to cook in....
Thanks to you i no longer have to watch old How Its Made videos whenever im bored and should be sleeping, this is such a great channel!
I hope this channel blows up.
Me too! 😀
There is an old fashioned windmill near me that you can buy real stone ground flour from (as well as having a look round, a small museum and there's a gift shop, pretty good afternoon distraction for kids) as soon as I can safely go out again (I'm classed as vulnerable so not supposed to go out yet) I'm gonna get some and make this.
This is perfection! Historical pedantry, drama, food, accuracy. Subbed!
Thank you! I hope to just improve from here.
Omg.its BABY max. Good episode too
They still do something similar in italy: there are some soups they serve in bread instead of a bowl! I'm looking forward to a trencher recipe with sourdough
Americans will definitely serve soup and dips in bread bowls on occasion. And we'll do what I can only assume to be Americanized Mexican style cuisine, by forming a tortilla into the shape of a bowl and mixing taco ingredients with a lot of lettuce to put inside. The concept of trenchers certainly lives on.
Some parts of central/eastern Europe (Hungary, Czechia) have that as well
The bread we serve soup in is usually a sourdough bowl. Perhaps inspired by the trencher, but infinitely more edible.
New England does this too! I've heard people say clam chowder is better in a bread bowl!
@@talosheeg Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl was served everywhere on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco when I lived there. Sooo good!!
You remind me of Matt Mercer a great deal and boy do I have a boycrush on that man. Watching your videos feels very much like watching his GM tips videos and now I'll never be able to stop describing the dishes of a medieval fantasy setting to my players. Hopefully some of them will try their hands at making some, after I try my own of course.
I love the format for these videos. The history elements are very well implemented and very interesting.
Dude you are so funny! I love listening to you!
Ya'know, I really like that he reminds us in a friendly way to like the video, because I always just overlook the like button.
Self-proclaimed peasant here. Your channel has captured my heart, and I applaud you most heartily. My wyf will soon be subscribing to you as well, once I've introduced her to this magnificence. Thank you, sir, from the very bottom of my peasant heart.
What a beautiful, fun, informative channel hosted by a beautiful, fun, informative person! Thank you for starting this and being so amazing at it!
Max! I was reading a book and they talked about eating food on trenchers and I was like "hey I know what that is because of Tasting History!"
😁
Funny and educational... I'm a nerd and I loved it
Thank you! I suppose I’m a nerd too if I’m making the videos. I wear the badge proudly.
This is fascinating and educational and I don't think I can bring myself to make bread I won't eat. I just love eating bread too much and I know I would embarrass myself by gnawing on the tableware. But since you emphasized how desperate that would look, you've saved me from the temptation. Thank you.
I was hoping to see what you might eat out of a trencher!
In my next video, I do. Though even then, you don't see me eating (I'm a bone head). I'm still working on my format and only recently have realized that people want to see me taste the food... Tasting History should have clued me in. 😂 After the next video, I'll always make sure I do. I really appreciate the feedback by the way; it's how I'm going to improve.
This channel has quickly become one of my favorites.
I just stumbled across your channel and omg I am in love with you haha I am sure my "medieval" Flammkuchen recipe I just uploaded would make you flip a table in rage of the inaccuracies 😀
Thank you! I do love flammkuchen, though I don’t know the history of it so you get a pass this time 😆
So I watch a few food related channels. And I watch a bunch of history related channels. So YT said... hey.. look at this guy, he combines both
ty youtube, ty.
Watched a few of your videos now. I like what I see. Interesting subjects, nice recipes, brought with humor. Subbed obviously.
Thank you for giving Terry Jones a tiny cameo in this!!!
Yup, two vids in, a 3rd cue'd up, and sub'd. Popped up on my TH-cam suggestions and as both a cook and a dungeon master, I can verify the algerithum worked today.
You’re the 3rd DM to mention that. I love it! It never occurred to me that this would be good for world building but it so is! So glad you’re enjoying!
@@TastingHistory I'm definitely going to keep looking for more from you. Your sense of humor matches my own. "You wont hold using active dry yeast against me right?" Whilst nervously clutching a glass of wine
Your video quality, presentation, and depth of knowledge are truly fantastic. With your knowledge I'd really love to see some videos on 'typical meals' for both peasent and noble alike through different time periods and locations, along with the recipes.
I've watched a few of your videos now, and I find them entertaining, informative, and well presented.
It's so good to finally get to see what used only to be words in old stories, histories and novels. And to learn about their origins.
(And of course, I've subscribed)
Good lord this is such a well done video.
Thank you!
This looks a whole lot like the kind of bread I grew up with here in germany!
So ohne Salz und Hackepeter? Glaub ik nich :P
Well done.
If you brew homemade beer, you can recover the yeast residue from empty bottles and use it to make an overnight poolish, then use the poolish as your leavener. Works like a charm and makes great dark, sour, savoury bread. It's as close to ale barm as you can get at home.
I’m hoping to do just that later this summer. 😁
I like your humor men, and the facial expressions you make each time.
I subscribed to you because you talked about your medevil times experiance! It was brilliant!
Thank you! Come for the stories, stay for the history. 😁
This video inspired me to make bread for the first time in my life. When you explained that bread was made from any old thing that might work, I decided on a whim to make a loaf from the stuff in my pantry. So I paused the video and made it immediately.
It isn't historically accurate trencher bread, but it IS bread. Porridge soda bread to be exact. And it is yummy. So that is something.
Thanks Max!
so far, I have watched every episode and cannot wait for more. totally in love with your style and you're adorable . full monte of cooking shows here.
🙏 thank you
this is the best channel out there!!!
Just found you from Reddit. This is a great channel! I can’t wait for more content, top notch quality sir!
Thank you! And please, I’d love feedback if you have any. Looking to improve my videos.
Something akin to a trencher is still used in much of East Africa, though those are soft flatbreads that you actually use to eat the food, ripping off pieces and wrapping them around the food. And you can totally eat the trencher! It gets quite soft once it's been suffused with food juices. Unleash your inner peasant!!!! EAT DA TRENCHER!
Not too long ago, I made a really interesting loaf of bread that I used a combination of white flour, whole wheat flour and corn meal. The cornmeal made it extremely dense... it was super heavy, but very tasty when warmed up and buttered. Would love to see what else you can do with corn meal.
I gave the thumbs up after the first 60 seconds - great intro! Very glad to have found your channel.
I just came across your channel and I've binged every episode! I love history and baking/cooking so this is perfect. Thanks for your work on these videos.
Always been a fan of creamy New England clam chowder or thick Irish lamb stew served up in a stout bread bowl. Trenchers take that concept to a whole new level though, and I imagine doing the dishes afterward was a dog's delight. Very interesting, thank you for sharing this curious slice of history!
In the North East of England that would be called a stottie and the are still sold.
You are awesome.... Thank you sooooo much for the medieval recipes... Looking forward to more. Hope you are well and staying safe.
Another excellent, funny, entertaining and educational video! Cheers, and keep on going! A brilliant future is ahead for you, young milord!
First time here. Great channel. Look forward to more videos
The pirate show next door is a lot more fun, and they serve snacks in the lobby before the show!
I find myself wanting to give multiple likes on all your movies! Double clicking the like button like a fool... I just can’t stop watching. I just Love you! It. I said it. I love IT!
This was incredibly fascinating! Well be checking out your other content very soon!
Thank you so much!
I don't like to cook, so I don't normally watch cooking shows, but I love your channel! You crack me up. Thanks for making history fun!
This is awesome! I'm glad to have discovered you on a random reddit thread! I just recently got into bread making and historical recipes are amazing! I'm going to give this recipe a try! I'm looking forward to more videos!
Thank you!
max coming for medieval times we have no choice but to stan
Another great episode!
Thank you! 🤗
I just realized what this show reminds me of. It's like a PBS documentary, instructional, educational, commentary. Plus the audio (soft, smooth vocals and background music) video (clear, decent quality with soft lighting) and graphics (simple, but informative or historical).
This seriously feels like an actual, broadcast show, in the best ways. Keep up the good work!
Hey this is great! I'm always wondering about the seemingly mundane, everyday parts of history. Especially food! Can't wait to see more =)
Thank you! I find the little things in history to be the most interesting.
So far, singularly the BEST intro yet! I have only binged about 9 or 10 of your videos today alone.
thank you for this wholesome video, looking forward to seeing more content from you
Thank you! I look forward to making more.
I love that you actually take your time to research everything. As a Medieval and Renaissance historian, your videos are very enjoyable. This also enables me to understand the cultures of the periods that I study. I look forward to new videos
I have never smashed the like button so hard
Loved the Monthy Python clips! Great video, as always, sir! Great video!
Fun fact: in germany we just combine different types of flour as we please. There is no rule or guideline, just combinations that are more common in different regions and additional ingredients that are common here or there.
I adore potato buns and bread with beer in it. Others love bread with different types of seeds and nuts or dried tomatoes or carrots or browned onions or whatever.
Germans are far more flexible when it comes to bread.
In the US, those things are also quite common (or at least where I live; the US is roughly the size of Europe, so things vary from place to place), but are usually much more expensive than the "normal" loaves of white and whole wheat bread. My favorite is a dark beer bread made (partially) from spent beer grains that is absolutely amazing. My area (West Michigan) is known for having an inordinate number of micro-breweries, who usually also produce specialty breads as a side hustle. We have quite the selection of these in our grocery stores as a result, although the bread companies also make a number of different weird breads that are also good. One of the more interesting breads I occasionally get has 13 different types of grain in it, as well as some kind of nuts. It's pretty good.
Looking forward to barm bread! I’m often brewing beer/gruits pre-Reinheitsgebot style, and have had varying successes in using leftover barm and sediments for bread. Quick flatbreads are easy, but haven’t yet made a good loaf with it.
Great content!
Thanks reddit, I can't wait for more content
Thank you! I can’t wait to make more. ☺️
Congratulations on 487,000 subscribers/serfs!
This is great. Love History and food. You and Townsends should, I don't know...collab maybe? :3
god bless you child. you are a gem.
I understand the Game of Thrones books so much better after watching some of these videos.