Concentrating on Friars Carpini and Rubruck's accounts of their 13th-century journeys among the Mongols, this paper examines their observations on all aspects of the food and drink of their hosts, including diet, religion, cultural practices, and hospitality. Subsisting on the Mongols's frugal diet was itself a problem for the travellers, but the alien nature of the food and its rituals presented them with complex challenges. I explore how Carpini's and Rubruck's differing reactions, ranging from cultural disdain to open-minded appreciation, exemplify their divergent perceptions of the Mongols overall.
What was on the menu in Blackfriars Hall in the Middle Ages? The dietary programme for the Friars Preachers of the Dominican Order is a story of regulations, dispensations, violations, and renewed admonitions on the one hand, as evidenced through various types of legislative sources, and on the other hand a study of various more daily-life-sources as to what the friars actually ate and drank. Based on a broad variety of interdisciplinary sources, this paper will present examples of the dietary ideals and practice for the friars of the Dominican Order in the province of Dacia (Scandinavia) - including evidence of food's central role in the Order's late medieval reform movement.
Karne ya 13 ya karne ya, Friars Carpini na Rubrick walisafiri na kuwakaribisha wageni wa Mongolia, na walipata fursa ya kufurahia chakula, vinywaji, na utamaduni wa nchi hiyo. Kuishi kwa chakula chao cha kipekee cha Wamongolia kulikuwa tatizo kwa wasafiri hao, lakini hali ya chakula chao cha kigeni na desturi zake ziliwaweka mbele ya changamoto ngumu. "Kama vile ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""mtazamo tofauti wa Carpini na Rubruk, kuanzia dharau ya kitamaduni hadi uthamini wa akili ya wazi, unaonyesha maoni yao tofauti ya Wamongolia kwa ujumla.""" Ni nini kilichokuwa kwenye orodha ya vyakula katika Jumba la Blackfriars katika Enzi za Kati? Programu ya chakula kwa ajili ya Friars Wahubiri wa Amri ya Dominika ni hadithi ya kanuni, dispensations, ukiukaji, na admonitions upya, kwa upande mmoja, kama inavyoonekana kupitia aina mbalimbali za vyanzo vya kisheria, na kwa upande mwingine, utafiti wa vyanzo mbalimbali zaidi ya maisha ya kila siku kama nini friars kweli kula na kunywa. Kwa kuzingatia vyanzo mbalimbali vya interdisciplinary, karatasi hii itatoa mifano ya mapendekezo ya chakula na mazoezi kwa ajili ya watawa wa Dominican Order katika mkoa wa Dacia (Scandinavia), ikiwa ni pamoja na ushahidi wa jukumu kuu la chakula katika harakati ya mwisho ya mabadiliko ya enzi za kati.