Drink
Water as a neutral table beverage did not appear in Europe until well into the Industrial era, when efficient water purification could ensure safe drinking water. All but the poorest drank mildly alcoholic drinks on a daily basis, for every meal; wine in the south, beer in the north and east. Both drinks came in many varieties, vintages and at varying qualities. Those northerners who could afford to do so drank imported wines, and wine remained an integral part of the Eucharist, even for the poor. Ale had been the most common form of beer in England through most of the Middle Ages, but was mostly replaced with hopped beer from the Low Countries in the 16th century.
Read more about this topic: Early Modern European Cuisine
Famous quotes containing the word drink:
“Other countries drink to get drunk, and this is accepted by everyone; in France, drunkenness is a consequence, never an intention. A drink is felt as the spinning out of a pleasure, not as the necessary cause of an effect which is sought: wine is not only a philtre, it is also the leisurely act of drinking.”
—Roland Barthes (1915–1980)