While watching Heston Blumenthal’s Tudor Feast, I had to agree with Blumenthal that during the reign of the Tudors the English ruled the culinary world. He staged a modern version of a typical Tudor feast to demonstrate the level of sophistication Tudor-era food reached.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etSuOfs8558He did all the research, used authentic recipes, and made modifications only when the source material was unambiguous. Being the chef/owner of one of the best restaurants in the world, with instant access to a research-lab quality kitchen and the world’s foremost food scientists, he was in a unique position to redevelop historic recipes. What he didn’t do, however, was attempt to cook with Tudor-era equipment. That might have been too much of a handicap.
During the family vacation in London, we visited Hampton Court palace, where I took the “kitchen tour.” The photos that follow speak for themselves.
You can impress me with frog blancmange, a roasted cockentrice, and rice pudding that looks like bangers and mash, but if you really want to blow me away, cook it at Hampton Court. The kitchens are still working.