16. The belief in the 4 humors dictated the manner in which food was prepared
The commonly accepted existence of the four humors drove many of the recipes for food preparation well beyond the combination of ingredients. It was believed that in most foods the humors were distributed unevenly, and chopping and mixing the food was necessary to balance the manner in which it was ingested. This was especially true of fruits and vegetables, and led to them being so treated even if they were to be served alone. This also led to the mixture of fruits, nuts, oysters, bread, and other foods and stuffing them into a fowl to be cooked, or a sheep’s stomach to be boiled, ensuring the humors were balanced before entering the human digestive system.
Digestion itself was believed to be the body’s means of further cooking the food. Food (in wealthier homes) was served in a manner which made the task of digestion easier, or so it was believed. Lighter foods were served first. This was so that the heavier foods which followed, such as beef or pork, did not go straight to the bottom of the stomach, preventing it from being properly “cooked” on the way down. Cheese was believed to be easily digested, and cheese courses came to be served at the end of the meal. A combination of cheese and light fruits to close the meal (some fruits were considered to be heavy foods) accompanied with wine became common in wealthy circles.
