Like the complementary concept of lordly or rich man’s fare, the concept of poor man’s fare suggests a central feature of early modern food: it was characterized not only by uncertainty but also by a high degree of social inequality. The “significance of dining as a class marker” (Dirlmeier), already documented in the late Middle Ages, retained its validity far into the early modern period. Besides the differing economic circumstances, the classification of foods into foods for the poor and foods for the rich also reflects eating ha…
Poor man’s fare(1,069 words)
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Krug-Richter, Barbara, “Poor man’s fare”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 09 June 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_017068>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20210107
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