Fish dishes in medieval times were usually produced by boiling or sometimes frying the fish and they would often be served with a special sauce accompaniment.

FISH RECIPES

Freshwater fish made the best fish recipes in medieval times. Salmon and trout were amongst the most popular fish dishes served at banquets. Pike was another and usually served with a special medieval sauce recipe called Galentyne sauce which was quite strong (made from white wine, vinegar, rye breadcrumbs and water and spiced with cinnamon, pepper, onion).

Another sauce served with fish (usually saltwater fish) – and as popular today as it ever was in medieval times – is parsley sauce.

Sauce Vert was a green sauce made from fresh herbs, vinegar and white breadcrumbs. It was popular because it worked well with many types of fish and was ideal for masking the taste of fish that was slighly off, very bland or even over salted fish.

Fish was generally cooked by boiling in a mixture of water, salt and ale and the resulting impurities skimmed off before serving. Sometimes fish was also fried. Today’s modern cooking methods encourage us to simmer or poach most fish, though frying is still an option. Freshwater fish dishes are still very popular dishes in this modern day. You often hear about the many health benefits fish has to offer, and many diet plans even boast them as plentiful dishes in their plans, like The Medifast plan. The love for fish has been alive and well for times and more times to come. Whether for health reasons or just plain old taste enhancing reasons, fish has been on the menu for a long long while.