The Middle Ages are a common setting for a plethora of media. Whether it is film, TV, books or even video games, there is usually always food present.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance by Warhorse Studios is an action role-playing game which prides itself on it’s historically accurate content. The player controls the actions of the son of a blacksmith named Henry after his village is attacked by a rival monarch. Henry has to eat and sleep in order to function at full strength. One of the first and most common meals you come across in the game, is a dish labelled as ‘Lentil Mash’.
“Lentil mash is a staple of countryside cuisine.”
Now I know that the image isn’t great, but the game offers no description of the dish so that and the name is all we have to go on.
Meat was usually expensive however I have some bacon which needs to be used, so that is going in. Households would often keep a pig throughout the year and slaughter it for use through winter. Let’s pretend this is the case!
The Ingredients
- 1 can of green lentils, drained
- Your desired amount of bacon
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- Sprinkle of salt and pepper
- 1tsp of butter
- 1tsp of ground coriander
- 1tsp of ground cumin
The Method
- Drain your lentils while melting butter in a saucepan, add the chopped onion and bacon for 5 minutes
- Add in the chopped garlic and spices, stir and cook for an additional 5 minutes
- Add in the lentils and stir everything together, season with salt and pepper to taste
- Continue cooking until bacon is fully cooked, then use a potato masher or your spoon to mash
- Serve with bread!
So…this definitely feels medieval, the flavours were great but the texture was a little bit uncomfortable. If you follow this recipe then I recommend cutting the onion much finer than I did.
After a bit of research, a YouTuber by the name of Random Innkeeper took a crack at this recipe back in 2018, check it out here!
The Plump Peasant 