Give it Forth: Eat Like a King: Medieval Food

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What Did People Eat for Breakfast in the Middle Ages?

🍳 What Did People Eat for Breakfast in the Middle Ages?

Poached eggs in a pale milk sauce — Eyron en Pan, a medieval breakfast dish

Van Coeck te Backen (Nyeuwen Coock Boeck, 16th c.): A yeasted bread enriched with smoky bacon and aromatic fennel seed, folded directly into the dough.

While the word "breakfast" existed in medieval English, it didn’t mean what it does today. Most people in the Middle Ages ate one or two meals per day, and early meals were typically reserved for laborers, the sick, or the very wealthy. However, there were still foods enjoyed in the morning to break the night’s fast—especially during feast days, travel, or before demanding work.

This post gathers ten historically inspired dishes from primary sources like Harleian MS 279 and Renaissance German cookbooks that could have graced a medieval table in the morning hours.

⚠️ Historical Note: The term "breakfast" in the medieval world referred to the act of breaking one's fast after sleep, not a structured meal like today. Our use here reflects the modern definition: the first meal of the day.

1. Rastons

Rastons (Harleian MS 279): A rich, egg- and ale-enriched pastry loaf once mistaken for bread. Served sliced into “sops” — thick pieces of bread meant to soak up broth or milk — Rastons were an early morning or supper dish that blurred the line between bread and indulgent pastry. Perfect warm from the oven or reheated with broth poured over top.

2. Soupes Dorye

Soupes Dorye (Harleian MS 279): Toasted bread sops soaked in almond milk, saffron, and warming spices. A gentle, nourishing dish, especially favored on fast days or during illness recovery—delicate, comforting, and easy to digest.

3. Lyode Soppes

Lyode Soppes (Harleian MS 279): A custardy bread pudding made with milk, egg, and warm spices. Served hot and soft, it’s one of the earliest surviving recipes for a sweet breakfast pudding—perfect for breaking a medieval fast.

4. Soupes Jamberlayne

Soupes Jamberlayne (Harleian MS 279): Toasted bread soaked in spiced, sweetened wine and served warm. This elegant dish reflects the medieval love of richly flavored comfort foods, especially in noble households or for special occasions.

5. Egges yn Brewte

Egges yn Brewte (Gentyll Manly Cokere, MS Pepys 1047): Poached eggs served in a saffron-colored broth with cheese and warming spices. A refined dish likely served to the wealthy or clerics, offering protein and elegance in equal measure.

6. Eyron en Poche

Eyron en Poche (Harleian MS 279): Poached eggs served with herbs in broth or sauce—simple, nourishing, and elegant. This early morning dish reflects a refined yet accessible preparation for those with access to fresh eggs and kitchen skill.

7. Pressmetzen zu Ostern

Pressmetzen zu Ostern (Renaissance Germany): Soft Lenten rolls flavored with subtle spice and meant for Easter vigil meals. While tied to liturgical feasting, they make a fitting morning bread—especially for fast-day observance or travel.

8. Spiced Apples and Pears

Spiced Apples and Pears (Chiquart’s 'On Cookery', 1420): Fruit stewed in wine, honey, and spices—a luxurious dish found in both monastic and elite kitchens. Served warm and fragrant, it made a welcome break to the morning fast in colder months.

9. Fennel and Bacon Bread

Van Coeck te Backen (Nyeuwen Coock Boeck, 16th c.): A rustic yeasted bread enriched with smoky bacon and aromatic fennel seed. This hearty loaf was likely eaten fresh in the morning or packed for travel—savory, sustaining, and deeply flavorful.

10. Frumenty and Venyson in Broth

Venyson in Broth with Frumenty (Harleian MS 279): Tender game meat in spiced broth, served with a cracked wheat porridge. Though rich by modern standards, this would have been an energizing dish for hunters or noble households before a day of labor or travel.

These dishes reveal the breadth and nuance of medieval morning meals—even if they weren't always called "breakfast" by name. Whether you’re prepping for an SCA feast, building a persona menu, or just want to try something historically inspired, these options offer a window into what it meant to break the fast in centuries past.

Want more? Explore these tags to expand your medieval breakfast table:

Rastons: A Medieval Pastry Disguised as Bread (Harleian MS 279)

Rastons: A Medieval Pastry Disguised as Bread

A loaf baked and sliced into “sops.”

This month I’m focusing on sops and pottages from Harleian MS 279. In medieval cuisine, sops were thick slices of bread soaked in broth and served at the start of a meal—think of the bread on top of French onion soup. Pottages were simple soups or stews, common fare for all classes, yet rarely highlighted in SCA feast menus.

To complement these dishes, I recreated a historical recipe for Rastons—a small, enriched round loaf found in 15th-century manuscripts. Traditionally, the top was cut from the bread like a crown, the crumb scooped and mixed with clarified butter, and then baked again. For my purposes, I simplified this process and sliced the loaf into sops instead.

Wondering how this fits into a medieval day? Rastons can be served in the early morning hours as a sop—bread meant to soak up warm broth, milk, or wine. Learn more in my post on What Did People Eat for Breakfast in the Middle Ages?

Original Recipe – Harleian MS 279:

.xxv. Rastons.—Take fayre Flowre, & the whyte of Eyroun, & the ȝolke, a lytel; þan take Warme Berme, & putte al þes to-gederys, & bete hem to-gederys with þin hond tyl it be schort & þikke y-now, & caste Sugre y-now þer-to, & þenne lat reste a whyle; þan kaste in a fayre place in þe oven, & late bake y-now; & þen with a knyf cutte yt round a-boue in maner of a crowne, & kepe þe cruste þat þou kyttyst; & þan pyke al þe cromys withynne to-gederys, an pike hem smal with þin knyf, & saue þe sydys & al þe cruste hole with-owte; & þan caste þer-in clarifiyd Boter, & Mille (mix) þe cromeȝ & þe botere to-gedereȝ, & keuere it a-ȝen with þe cruste, þat þou kyttest a-way; þan putte it in þe ovyn aȝen a lytil tyme; & þan take it out, & serue it forth.

Modern Interpretation by Dan Myers at Medieval Cookery:

Take fair flour, egg whites and a little yolk, warm barm (or yeast in ale), and beat them together until thick. Add sugar and let rest. Shape and bake. Cut a crown from the top, crumble the inside, mix with clarified butter, refill, replace crown, and bake again briefly. Serve warm.

My Adaptation:

3–4 cups flour (3:1 white to whole wheat)
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup warm ale (Brown Barrel Bomber, bourbon barrel aged)
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp salt
1 packet dry yeast

To simulate ale barm, I dissolved dry yeast into warm ale. I then created a sponge by mixing ½ cup flour with the ale, sugar, and eggs, and allowed it to ferment for 20 minutes.

Sponge after proofing 20 minutes

I combined the sponge with the rest of the flour and kneaded it into a soft dough, which I shaped into a round loaf and allowed to rise until doubled. Then I baked it at 450°F for 20 minutes until hollow-sounding and golden.

Soft, tender crumb with a good crust—perfect for slicing into sops.

This bread—er, pastry—was a hit! The crust was crisp, the inside soft and flavorful from the ale. I preferred it even to my usual Manchet or French loaves.

Is Rastons Bread or Pastry?

Jim Chevallier, a noted food historian, points out that Rastons are not technically bread—the addition of eggs classifies them closer to pastry. The term “ratons” in French supports this classification. So while we often treat them like bread, they likely occupied a distinct place in medieval baking.

“CECI N'EST PAS UN PAIN... These were NOT breads. The recipe in question includes egg whites and yolks, reflecting the fact that a raton was a PASTRY.”

🔗 Related Links:

🍞 Curious About Medieval Bread?

If you’re wondering how Rastons compare to common breads of the Middle Ages, check out my earlier post: On the Making of Bread. It explores what everyday bread looked like, how it was made, and how Rastons fit into the broader medieval baking tradition.

Next Up: I’ll be using these Rastons in a series of posts about medieval sops and pottages. Stay tuned!

🍽 Explore More Medieval Breakfast Recipes:

☕ Looking for even more morning inspiration?
Don’t miss the original article: Breakfast: Five Medieval Banquet Dishes »

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What Did People Eat for Breakfast in the Middle Ages?