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The Norman nobles loved to hunt and this meant a good supply of food at the manor or castle. They hunted with bows and arrows. Feasts were popular and the food would include many things you humans don't eat today. Having looked at the list I am rather concerned to note that lots of the food had wings. There would be swan, heron, gull and peacock while venison, from deer, and meat from a boar would also be on the menu and badger, beaver and otter. Eel was popular but not sea fish. However that would be for the nobles. Soldiers and peasants would have bread and salted meat and wash it down with ale. The nobles drank wine. Nobles would eat with a spoon and a knife, not using their fingers. Down at the other end of the social scale peasants would have bread, porridge, fruits, stew, eggs plus some meat and fish. The most common vegetables were cabbage, spinach, onions, peas and beans and the fruit would be apples, pears and cherries. Food gathered in summer would be stored in the attics of the little cottages in winter. There was still no fresh water so the normal daily drink would be ale and even children would drink this. The French abbots had a good knowledge of wine-making too. The Doomsday Book, see our timeline, records 42 vineyards in England but the wine was usually reserved for the nobles. Famine was often a problem for the poor, even when William hadn't just burnt all their crops and fields. In 1103 there was a massive storm which caused major damage to crops.
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