Trencher (tableware)

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Wooden trencher from Vastergotland, Sweden, mid-17th century Trencher from the estate of Stola in Vastergotland, inscription written by Johan Ekeblad, Swedish Ambassador to Paris in 1685, object dates to mid 1600s - Nordiska museet - Stockholm, Sweden - DSC09788.JPG
Wooden trencher from Västergötland, Sweden, mid-17th century
A modern cheeseboard Skruebrod med brie, Prima Donna og Prast-ost (5280075196).jpg
A modern cheeseboard

A trencher (from Old French trancher 'to cut') is a type of tableware, commonly used in medieval cuisine. A trencher was originally a flat round of (usually stale) bread used as a plate, upon which the food could be placed to eat. [1] At the end of the meal, the trencher could be eaten with sauce, but could also be given as alms to the poor. [2] [3] Later the trencher evolved into a small plate of metal or wood, typically circular and completely flat, without the lip or raised edge of a plate. Trenchers of this type are still used, typically for serving food that does not involve liquid; for example, the cheeseboard.

Contents

In language

Trencher table setting Recipiente de porcao.jpg
Trencher table setting

An individual salt dish or squat open salt cellar placed near a trencher was called a "trencher salt". [4]

A "trencherman" is a person devoted to eating and drinking, often to excess; one with a hearty appetite, a gourmand. A secondary use, generally archaic, is one who frequents another's table, in essence a pilferer of another's food. [5]

A "trencher-fed pack" is a pack of foxhounds or harriers in which the hounds are kept individually by hunt members and only assembled as a pack to hunt. Usually, a pack of hounds are maintained together as a pack in kennels. [6]

Literature

Wooden trencher BLW Trencher.jpg
Wooden trencher

In Virgil's Aeneid , trenchers are the object of a prophecy. In bk.3, Aeneas recounts to Dido how after a battle between the Trojans and the Harpies, Calaeno, chief of the Furies, prophesied to him (claiming to have the knowledge from Apollo) that he would finally arrive in Italy, but

Never shall you build your promised city
Until the injury you did us by this slaughter
Has brought you to a hunger so cruel
That you gnaw your very tables. [7]

The prophecy is fulfilled in bk.7, when the Trojans eat the trenchers after a frugal feast. Aeneas' son Ascanius jokes that they are so hungry they would have eaten the tables, at which point Aeneas realises that the prophecy has been fulfilled. However, he reattributes the prophecy to his deceased father, Anchises:

I now can tell you, my father Anchises
Revealed these secrets to me for he said:
"When you have sailed, son, to an unknown shore
And, short of food, are driven to eat your tables,
Then, weary though you are, hope you are home [8]

This episode is alluded to in Allen Tate's poem "The Mediterranean", although Tate calls them "plates". [9]

The Middle Ages, Everyday Life in Medieval Europe by Jeffrey L. Singman (Sterling publishers) offers the following observation: "The place setting also included a trencher, a round slice of bread from the bottom or the top of an old loaf, having a hard crust and serving as a plate. After the meal, the sauce-soaked trenchers were probably distributed to servants or the poor. Food was served on platters, commonly one platter to two diners, from which they transferred it to their trenchers."

Shakespeare used the term in at least eleven of his plays. [10]

The term appears frequently throughout George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, such as this excerpt from A Dance with Dragons : "The beer was brown, the bread black, the stew a creamy white. She served it in a trencher hollowed out of a stale loaf." [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aeneas</span> Trojan hero in Greco-Roman mythology

In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas was a Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite. His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy, making Aeneas a second cousin to Priam's children. He is a minor character in Greek mythology and is mentioned in Homer's Iliad. Aeneas receives full treatment in Roman mythology, most extensively in Virgil's Aeneid, where he is cast as an ancestor of Romulus and Remus. He became the first true hero of Rome. Snorri Sturluson identifies him with the Norse god Víðarr of the Æsir.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virgil</span> 1st-century-BC Roman poet

Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: the Eclogues, the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid. A number of minor poems, collected in the Appendix Vergiliana, were attributed to him in ancient times, but modern scholars generally regard these works as spurious, with the possible exception of a few short pieces.

<i>Aeneid</i> Latin epic poem by Virgil

The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who fled the fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. Written by the Roman poet Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, the Aeneid comprises 9,896 lines in dactylic hexameter. The first six of the poem's twelve books tell the story of Aeneas' wanderings from Troy to Italy, and the poem's second half tells of the Trojans' ultimately victorious war upon the Latins, under whose name Aeneas and his Trojan followers are destined to be subsumed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anius</span>

In Greek mythology, Anius was a king of Delos and priest of Apollo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandwich</span> Food made with bread and other ingredients

A sandwich is a dish typically consisting of meat, cheese or vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type, and allows it to be a finger food. The sandwich began as a portable, convenient food in the Western world, though over time it has become prevalent worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open sandwich</span> Single slice of bread with food items on top

An open sandwich, also known as an open-face/open-faced sandwich, bread baser, bread platter or tartine, consists of a slice of bread or toast with one or more food items on top. It has half the number of slices of bread compared to a typical closed sandwich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bouillabaisse</span> Traditional Provençal fish soup

Bouillabaisse is a traditional Provençal fish soup originating in the port city of Marseille. The word is originally a compound of the two Provençal verbs bolhir and abaissar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tableware</span> Items used for setting a table and serving food

Tableware items are the dishware and utensils used for setting a table, serving food, and dining. The term includes cutlery, glassware, serving dishes, serving utensils, and other items used for practical as well as decorative purposes. The quality, nature, variety and number of objects varies according to culture, religion, number of diners, cuisine and occasion. For example, Middle Eastern, Indian or Polynesian food culture and cuisine sometimes limits tableware to serving dishes, using bread or leaves as individual plates, and not infrequently without use of cutlery. Special occasions are usually reflected in higher quality tableware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plate (dishware)</span> Flat vessel on which food can be served

A plate is a broad, mainly flat vessel on which food can be served. A plate can also be used for ceremonial or decorative purposes. Most plates are circular, but they may be any shape, or made of any water-resistant material. Generally plates are raised round the edges, either by a curving up, or a wider lip or raised portion. Vessels with no lip, especially if they have a more rounded profile, are likely to be considered as bowls or dishes, as are very large vessels with a plate shape. Plates are dishware, and tableware. Plates in wood, pottery and metal go back into antiquity in many cultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salt cellar</span> Container for salt

A salt cellar is an article of tableware for holding and dispensing salt. In British English, the term can be used for what in North American English are called salt shakers. Salt cellars can be either lidded or open, and are found in a wide range of sizes, from large shared vessels to small individual dishes. Styles range from simple to ornate or whimsical, using materials including glass and ceramic, metals, ivory and wood, and plastic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sop</span> Piece of bread or toast that is drenched in liquid and then eaten.

A sop is a piece of bread or toast that is drenched in liquid and then eaten. In medieval cuisine, sops were very common; they were served with broth, soup, or wine and then picked apart into smaller pieces to soak in the liquid. At elaborate feasts, bread was often pre-cut into finger-sized pieces rather than broken off by the diners themselves. The bread or croutons traditionally served with French onion soup, which took its current form in the 18th century, can be considered modern-day sops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Household silver</span>

Household silver or silverware includes tableware, cutlery, and other household items made of sterling silver, silver gilt, Britannia silver, or Sheffield plate silver. Silver is sometimes bought in sets or combined to form sets, such as a set of silver candlesticks or a silver tea set.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byzantine cuisine</span> Historical regional cuisine

Byzantine cuisine was the continuation of local ancient Greek cuisine, ancient Roman cuisine, and Mediterranean cuisine. Byzantine trading with foreigners brought in grains, sugar, livestock, fruits, vegetables, and spices that would otherwise be limited to specific geographical climates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Staling</span> Process that reduces the palatability of breads

Staling, or "going stale", is a chemical and physical process in bread and similar foods that reduces their palatability. Stale bread is dry and hard, making it suitable for different culinary uses from fresh bread. Countermeasures and destaling techniques may reduce staling.

<i>Ribollita</i> Italian bread soup

Ribollita is a Tuscan bread soup, panade, porridge or potage made with bread and vegetables, often from leftovers. There are many variations, but the usual ingredients include leftover bread, cannellini beans, lacinato kale, cabbage and inexpensive vegetables such as carrot, beans, chard, celery, potatoes and onion. It is often baked in a clay pot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bread and butter pudding</span> Traditional sweet British pudding

Bread and butter pudding is a traditional bread pudding in British cuisine. Slices of buttered bread scattered with raisins are layered in an oven dish, covered with an egg custard mixture seasoned with nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon or other spices, then baked.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumaean Sibyl</span> Priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle at Cumae

The Cumaean Sibyl was the priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle at Cumae, a Greek colony near Naples, Italy. The word sibyl comes from the ancient Greek word sibylla, meaning prophetess. There were many sibyls throughout the ancient world. Because of the importance of the Cumaean Sibyl in the legends of early Rome as codified in Virgil's Aeneid VI, and because of her proximity to Rome, the Cumaean Sibyl became the most famous among the Romans. The Erythraean Sibyl from modern-day Turkey was famed among Greeks, as was the oldest Hellenic oracle, the Sibyl of Dodona, dating to the second millennium BC according to Herodotus, favored in the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palinurus</span> Mythical coxwain of Aeneas ship

Palinurus (Palinūrus), in Roman mythology and especially Virgil's Aeneid, is the coxswain of Aeneas' ship. Later authors used him as a general type of navigator or guide. Palinurus is an example of human sacrifice; his life is the price for the Trojans landing in Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edible tableware</span>

Edible tableware is tableware, such as plates, drinkware glasses, utensils and cutlery, that is edible. Edible tableware can be homemade and has also been mass-produced by some companies, and can be prepared using many different foods.

References

  1. Meads, Chris (2001). Banquets set forth: banqueting in English Renaissance drama. Manchester University Press. p. 47. ISBN   0-7190-5567-9.
  2. "Trenchers". September 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
  3. Medieval Misconceptions: FEASTS, DINING, ETIQUETTE and FOOD, filmed at the Abbey Medieval Festival, part of the Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology on YouTube
  4. "Definition of TRENCHER SALT". www.merriam-webster.com. Archived from the original on 2023-02-10. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  5. "Definition of TRENCHERMAN". www.merriam-webster.com. Archived from the original on 2022-09-24. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  6. Pease, Alfred E. (1902). Adventures Of A Trencher Fed Pack Fox Hounds. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
  7. Virgil, "The Aeneid", trans. by C.H. Sisson (London: Everyman 1998) p. 66
  8. Virgil, "The Aeneid", trans. by C.H. Sisson (London: Everyman 1998) p. 183
  9. aapone (6 May 2005). "The Mediterranean". The Mediterranean. Archived from the original on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  10. "Search Results :-: Open Source Shakespeare". www.opensourceshakespeare.org. Archived from the original on 2015-06-10. Retrieved 2015-06-09.
  11. Martin, George R.R. (12 July 2011). A Dance with Dragons (1st ed.). Bantam Books. p.  129. ISBN   978-0553801477.