The many influences of the past on our diet make the concept of 'British food' very hard to define. The Celts, Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Normans each brought ingredients to the table, and the country was introduced to all manner of spices following the Crusades. The Georgians enjoyed a new level of excess and then, of course, the world wars forced us into the challenge of making meals from very little. The history of cooking in Britain is as tumultuous as the times its people have lived through. Tasting the Past: Recipes from the Middle Ages to the Civil War documents the rich history of our food, its fads and its fashions, combined with a practical cookbook of over 120 recipes from the early Middle Ages up to the Civil War. Jacqui Wood guides us through the recipes brought ashore by the Normans, the opportunities brought by the food harvested in the New World during the Renaissance, and the decadent meals of the Royalist gentry outlawed by the puritanical Parliamentarians.