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Shakespeare and food

Boozing With The Bard: How The Masses Find Common Ground With Shakespeare

A trio of illustrations from the cocktail book Shakespeare, Not Stirred: Ophelia, King Henry VIII and King Lear. The Folger Shakespeare Library / James Monaco hide caption

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The Folger Shakespeare Library / James Monaco

The Salt

Boozing With The Bard: How The Masses Find Common Ground With Shakespeare

From a theater company where audiences drink along with the actors to a book of cocktails inspired by his plays, alcohol has long been "a great provoker" in making the Bard's work more relatable.

In Shakespeare's Day, Hunger Tore Through England. His Plays Tell The Tale

An illustration depicts a scene from Shakespeare's Coriolanus, a play that opens with citizens armed with "staves, clubs, and other weapons" in protest against the city fathers they accuse of hoarding grain. In Shakespeare's day, food shortages tore through England — and the bard himself was fined for grain hoarding. Nicolas Poussin/Wikimedia Commons hide caption

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Nicolas Poussin/Wikimedia Commons

The Salt

In Shakespeare's Day, Hunger Tore Through England. His Plays Tell The Tale

Many food riots broke out during Shakespeare's era. Endless rain wiped out crops, and speculators profited (including the bard). The chaos and anxiety around food show up in some of his famous works.

Cooking With The Bard: We Suss Out Shakespeare's Forgotten Foods

The King Drinks, by the 17th century artist Jacob Jordaens, illustrates a feasting scene from William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. The Shakespearean larder teems with intriguing-sounding food. Culture Club/Getty Images hide caption

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Culture Club/Getty Images

The Salt

Cooking With The Bard: We Suss Out Shakespeare's Forgotten Foods

References to obscure foods abound in Shakespeare. Know your codlings from carbonadoes? Your umbles from jumbles? We crack open Renaissance cookbooks to figure out how to feast like the Bard.

50 Shades Of Shakespeare: How The Bard Used Food As Racy Code

The libertine Falstaff sits with a woman on his lap and a tankard in his hand in an illustrated scene from one of William Shakespeare's Henry IV plays. Kean Collection/Getty Images hide caption

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Kean Collection/Getty Images

The Salt

50 Shades Of Shakespeare: How The Bard Used Food As Racy Code

The eggplant and peach emoji are standard code for racy thoughts these days, but food has been used for sexual innuendo for centuries. Shakespeare was a pro. (Happy Shakespeare Week!)

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