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Winkhurst was the first building to be erected at the Museum in 1969, but it
is only recently evidence has shown that it was a kitchen or service area.
So the Museum has moved it near the Bayleaf farmstead and painstakingly re-
created it as it was, as part of a £60,000 scheme, which will include an
eating and function area.
And the result is a real step back in time with the smells and tastes transporting visitors to the 1500s. A log fire warms the high-ceilinged, timber-framed room, the open mullion windows with timber bars affording little insulation. The smoke coils upwards, blackening the wall behind. Iron pans and pots are placed around the fire, heating the food. Intriguing utensils, all authentic and specially made by craftsmen, hang from every wall. There are iron skimmers, for taking the greasy scum off broths and pottage, wooden spoons ranging from bucket size to that of a two pence piece, and huge pestle and mortars, so important for grinding the spices that heavily flavour the meals. There are hooks for hanging whole pigs and chickens, baskets of herbs and flowers for flavouring and decorating, and a dresser-sized wooden 'meal ark' for storing an enormous quantity of flour used to make bread, the all-important Tudor diet staple. |
Dawn Stevens gathers herbs and vegetables from the Bayleaf garden |
 Dawn chooses utensils from a range specially crafted for Winkhurst. |
Presiding over all of this history and heritage is the Museum's first Tudor cook, Dawn Stevens, obviously delighting in every moment she has spent baking bread, ladling pottage and interpreting weird and wonderful five centuries old recipes for modern-day consumption. In her linen apron, coif (bonnet), shift and underskirt topped by a thick bodice and skirt, 34-year-old Dawn really looks the part, but really knows her borage from her beets too. Before landing the plum role at the Museum in April, she performed regularly there with the history re-enactment workshop, taking the parts of servant girls and mistresses of the house. "The job sounded fantastic and it is," enthused Dawn, who lives locally in West Dean. "It is a fascinating subject and quite a challenge sometimes interpreting the recipes that were written down as 'aide memoires' for the cooks. They never tell you how much of anything to put in a recipe, saying instead 'cook it til it be enough'," she laughed. Winkhurst would have had about four or five staff, serving food to about 15 people - the farmer's family and the labourers. |
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as possible Dawn organises her day much as a cook in Tudor times would have
done, although she doesn't start work at the crack of dawn every day as her
historic counterpart would have done. "The first thing I do when I come in
is light the fire, as that was so important. The water is then heated up and
then I may start to grind up some spices such as mustard seeds. I might make
a pottage of leaf beet which is spinach, with sorrel, parsley and sage. The
rich might have put in bacon, but not the poorer households. The pottage
would be thickened with oats, barley or bread.
"I might make a dish such as sodde eggs then which are boiled and served with a mustard sauce which is made by grinding up mustard seed, pepper and salt, added to melted butter and sugar to taste. "Spinach fritters might be next which are made of a batter mix and deep fried in lard," she said. Pastry wasn't regarded much, and was more of a conduit for the filling to cook in, called a 'coffyn'. |
 Dawn applies finishing touches to a traditional chicken mould. |
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Typical vegetables and herbs of the time, such as kale, garlic, turnips, leeks, parsley and sage, are collected by Dawn from the Bayleaf kitchen garden and used in seasonal dishes. She doesn't cook the blackbirds, doves, pigeons and larks the Tudors were so fond of, and found easily in their surroundings, but does rustle up authentic chicken, pork and fish dishes. Tudors living in the Chichester area would have seen more fish and spices than most places, with produce from the sea and goods coming into Portsmouth and Southampton from abroad. "Carp was popular, as was salt cod, and there were lots of oysters which were cheap and considered a poor man's food," commented Ian. Fish had to be eaten on certain days, according to religious custom, imposed by the Catholic Church. "The village priest and your conscience would check up on you," he added. Whereas peacock and other exotic fayre was favoured by the richer households, meat such as pork was a favourite meat for the more modest, as pigs were easily kept and fattened up on acorns in the woods. |
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Hunting for foods such as rabbits could be problematic with the lord having to grant hunting time. There would certainly have been poachers in the poorer households such as Poplar Cottage at the Weald and Downland, a labourer's dwelling. At somewhere like Bayleaf, dinner, in the middle of the day, would be the main meal on the farm, with breakfast and light supper at dawn and dusk, more of a bread and cheese affair. The arduous task of washing the pots would have to be done before the hard-working kitchen staff were able to retire. And Dawn even has a historic tip up her sleeve for this. "Ground-up egg shells were good for pots and pans and even more finely-ground shells were great for polishing, mixed with a dab of goose grease," she said. Storage could be a problem for the Tudors with rats and mice scavenging around, and food was put up high where possible. Preserving food was also a challenge, but Dawn explained that they had their ways and means. "Meat was salted and smoked and hung up on a beam in the smokey atmosphere which kept the flies off," she said. Fish was salted and was rock-hard. |
 Just a taste! |
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Brewing was a very important part of daily kitchen life too, with the Tudors thinking of warm ales and ciders as a food. Dawn may need a glass of something when she eventually hangs her pinny up at the end of the day, and she certainly doesn't feel like cooking at home, after all that cooking at Winkhurst. But she is in her element in a different era. "This is my ideal job, I absolutely love it," she said. |