and hitting the drive-thru for a greasy cheeseburger

seemed like modern institutions.

But the world's love affair with junk food

is a tale as old as time.

A lot of what would become the fast food industry

began in medieval Europe where people satisfy their junk food

cravings with some interesting cuisine.

But nights weren't exactly galloping the horses

through the drive-thru or grabbing candy bars

on their way to the castle.

Instead, medieval fast food catered

to travelers and the poor, and it wasn't always tasty.

Today in Weird History, we're taking a look

at what junk food was like in the middle ages.

But before we get started, be sure to subscribe

to the Weird History channel.

And while you're there, leave a comment and let us know what

other historical food topics you would like to hear about next.

OK.

Time to get medieval on those cool ranch Doritos.

London is a city known for its major landmarks

and for being a hub of British culture,

as well as being the place where Harry potter was

hatched in Big Ben by owls.

During the middle ages, London was

a center of trade and commerce.

But poverty throughout Europe was high.

So for many Londoners, it was an easy convenient, or even

possible, to cook at home.

Cooking equipment and fuel weren't exactly cheap.

On top of that, the poor were packed

into tenement housing that often didn't have any furnishings,

let alone a hearth.

Without a hearth, cooking was essentially

an unsalable mountain unless you wanted

to fill your home with smoke amiss burning or already meager

dwellings to the ground.

So people visited cook shops instead,

the old timey equivalent of picking up some takeout.

Cook shops sprouted up around the Thames

to serve the community's fast food needs.

These 24-hour cook shops supplied hot food

to tourists and residents alike.

They were open every day with menus

that changed depending on the season.

But instead of driving through on a chariot or horse,

the cook shops offered more of a stroll-through experience.

Customers would walk up to the shops

to purchase their favorite hot meal.

Others would buy what they wanted

and then take it home to eat later because scarfing down

a plate of takeout is not always what you want to do in public.

Cook shops weren't limited to London.

One city street in Bristol became known as Cook's Row.

Bristol's cook shops offered more variety, including poultry

and fish, and may have been among the first

to subscribe to the adage, it's the smell that sells.

They'd have their hearts outside the shop

and would strategically throw food on

to cook so that the smell would entice customers over

to grab a quick bite.

Some shops served sweets.

Others were known for their pancakes and bread.

But the most popular might have been

the shops that sold meat pies.

Those delicious meat-based treats were a popular seller,

kind of like a medieval hamburger,

but without the fries and Coke.

Speaking of burgers.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Everyone loves a Big Mac.

There's just something about clenching

most of the basic food groups in your fist

and then horking them down like a snake smuggling dinner

through airport security.

Mm.

So it makes sense that meat pies, the dark age

version of the drive-in hamburger, were so popular.

These savory little hot pockets were filling and portable,

the mark of a blockbuster fast food item.

But Mrs. Lovett's signature dish had a dark side, spoiled meat.

As it turns out, rancid ingredients

could be a real problem in medieval cuisine.

According to a 13th century Norwich report,

cooks would use diseased pork in their pies

and serve them to customers without batting an eye.

It wasn't uncommon for shop owners

to warm up days old spoiled pies instead of wasting them.

Poverty was extremely desperate and food safety

wasn't exactly on the cooks' minds.

So the decision whether to heap expired food onto the garbage

cart or reheat it and sell it to customers

was often disturbingly easy.

Probably like it is today, if we're being totally honest.

When they weren't recycling bad food,

shops often undercooked the meat,

which earned some cooks a bad reputation.

A saying from the time claimed, god sends the meat,

but the devil sends the cooks.

The shift manager at Waffle House

used to say the same thing.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Bread was one of the most common foods during Europe's castle

period, but most households didn't have their own grain.

So they had to buy it from bakers.

And while selling ready-made bread was great,

bakers could do much more than that for their customers.

For example, if someone brought their own meat to the bakery,

they could have the baker wrap it in bread and bake it.

The idea caught on, maybe a little too well.

London passed a law in 1350 preventing bakers

from charging more than a penny if customers brought

their own meat from home.

Meanwhile, you bring your own meat to Burger King one time,

and they ban you for life.

It wasn't like it was a cow.

I'm not sure what the big deal was.

Another modern day fast food item

came about around this time, too, the bread bowl.

Modern Europeans pioneered the concept

by serving soup and stews in a bowl made out of bread,

which they called trenchers.

The practice helped to bulk up a meal

and was probably cheaper as it cut down

on the need for dishes.

But bread bowls weren't the only carb loading option

of the middle ages.

In addition to being a staple of state fairs and aimless mall

wandering, soft pretzels were also

incredibly popular in medieval Europe.

Three simple ingredients combined

to create the twisted treat.

Just mix a little bit of water, some flour, and some salt.

And you've got yourself a filling snack officially

approved by the Catholic church.

That's right.

During fasting periods like lent when Catholics avoided

eating certain animal products, pretzels often took their place

as a substitute.

Monks would hand them out to kids reciting their prayers

while others would distribute them to the poor.

Outside of the church, pretzels became a symbol

of luck and prosperity.

And what's not to feel lucky about when you're chowing down

on a handmade pretzel?

Nothing completes a fast food run like a six pack of booze.

Because if you're treating yourself,

you might as well go all the way.

And while drinking alcohol has been a popular activity,

medieval Europeans really liked to drink.

Possibly because they were living in medieval Europe.

Not even lent had any effect on the common folks

thirst for memory or racing refreshment.

Part of observing lent meant not eating meat.

So folks would fill that gap in their regular diets

with other things.

Fish became the alternative choice for some.

Others turned to booze.

While it provided temporary solace from abstaining,

the practice of staying thoroughly soaked through lent

didn't sit well with some prominent religious figures.

In 1400, the Benedictine Monk, Robert Ripon,

had strong words for anyone drowning their sorrows.

He scolded excessive drinking as flying

in the face of the abstinence that

lent was meant to symbolize.

And opine that people got more drunk during

lent than they did during the entire rest of the year.

Of course, he probably didn't have

to eat some of the meat substitutes

that commoners were forced to turn to, like the mock egg,

a dish that was invented as a meat replacement during lent.

If he had, he might have been pounding brews in the tavern

right beside them.

Making a mock egg is easy, even today.

Just take a few empty egg shells,

fill them with a mixture of almond milk, jelly,

and crunchy almonds.

Then, dye it yellow and choke it down with a mug of ale.

Mm, tasty?

Now pass the beer, please.

Sugar is one of those things we take for granted today.

But during the medieval period, sugar

was pretty hard to come by and was usually

out of reach of the masses.

Only those who could afford the expensive sweet stuff

regularly consumed it.

So, rather than sugar-filled candy bars,

people would flock to the cook shops

for treats sweetened with honey.

A fritter recipe from the 14th century cookbook,

Anonimo Veneziano, calls for apples, saffron, flour,

and honey.

An earlier, more frugal fritter recipe

was just fried dough stuffed with ginger almonds

and topped with a delicious [? beet ?] juice.

Gingerbread, another popular item

for satisfying the peasantry sweet tooth,

also used honey incorporating ginger, cloves, and pepper

giving it an inimitable sweet and spicy flavor.

But when you're in the mood to throw money

at a cholesterol spike, there's nothing quite

like the funnel cake.

A delicious combo of fried dough and powdered sugar.

The mother of all carnival foods got its start

in medieval times.

Funnel cakes began as fried cakes called crisps.

Because of the sugary topping, the cakes were a rare treat.

Since ingredients like sugar was so limited,

people would often improvise their own recipes,

which is how we got dishes like fritter

of milk, which is just fried, sweetened, cottage cheese.

Otherwise known as a dessert you give your kids

when you want to punish them.

Waffles, as we know them, also came about during this time.

The original waffles date back to ancient Greece

known as Obelios.

They were flat cakes cooked between two plates.

And they weren't sweet, which is a huge oversight

that arguably contributed to Greece's downfall.

Later, the Catholic church began making

flour waffle wafers, which typically

depicted biblical scenes.

But it wasn't until the crusades win

a more recognizable version of waffle batter combining

cinnamon, honey, and cream really took off in Europe.

And, in the 15th century, the Dutch

invented the famous grid patterns

that transformed waffles into the optimal syrup

and whipped cream delivery systems celebrated by junk food

connoisseurs centuries later.

Initially, waffles were a common street food,

but would eventually become the breakfast and dessert

staple we fling into toasters to this day.

Thanks to the discovery of the New World, sugar

became affordable and accessible to everyone

by the 16th century.

London even opened a sugar refinery

prompting a trend that continues in modern food processing

today, adding sugar to almost everything.

Sugar quickly replaced honey in most desserts.

People began crystallizing their fruit

and syrups, and even started using sugar to season

their meats.

If you cover a plate of fish and vegetables with enough sugar,

eventually, it tastes just like sugar,

which was a welcome respite for poverty-stricken families

accustomed to eating rotten meat pies.

Sugary concoctions became popular junk foods

during the period, including crispy crust topped