In sixteenth-and seventeenth-century England, there was a dramatic increase in the desire for a national identity. With continuously shifting boundaries, internal religious and political conflict, and increasing multicultural interactions, the security provided through a unified national sentiment gained mass appeal. As people began to build this identity, however, they became increasingly aware of the concept of cultural differences. Thus, any behavior that opposed this chosen national identity, such as overtly sexual behaviors, personal violence, and, most importantly here, eating improperly, were ostracized. Therefore, certain diets and consumption practices became distinguishably “English,” giving food an unprecedented political and social vitality.
This has sparked numerous questions amongst food historians over the years, with one of the most prominent being: How did the portrayal of Early Modern English consumption actually match up to their everyday dietary practices?
The London House Project is an attempt to begin answering these questions. By examining London House, this project has tracked real, everyday consumption patterns of seventeenth-century England to understand what people actually consumed and how it differs from what they portrayed themselves as consuming.