RECIPE
Sugar-free Tudor biscuits
ELEANOR BARNETT bakes a batch of sweet morsels – made with some surprisingly earthy ingredients
What comes to mind when you think of Tudor food? Perhaps you imagine a great feast at which ostentatious pies were served with stuffed and gilded swans on top. After mountains of meat, the wealthy would banquet on luxurious biscuits, candied fruits and elaborate sugar sculptures. Henry VIII’s leading statesman Thomas Wolsey even created an entire sugar chessboard for such an occasion, complete with moving sugar pieces.
But the Tudor period also experienced great want. Poor harvests were common, landowners closed off pasture to peasants, and the growing population put pressure on dwindling food supplies.
In the 1590s, a huge rise in the cost of grain caused hunger and sparked riots. To help people through the. One recipe for “sweete and delicate cakes made without spice, or sugar” caught my eye, not least because we are always on the lookout for non-sugary versions of our favourite treats today.
