0:00:02 > 0:00:04This is Haddon Hall,
0:00:04 > 0:00:10an ancient monument from a vanished age.
0:00:10 > 0:00:17Here in Derbyshire's Peak District, this extraordinary manor house is trapped in time,
0:00:17 > 0:00:23exactly how it used to be during the reign of Elizabeth I in the year 1590.
0:00:23 > 0:00:28Today a remarkable project is about to take place.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32Without the use of modern conveniences,
0:00:32 > 0:00:35a group of historians and archaeologists
0:00:35 > 0:00:40will prepare a Tudor feast as it would have been over 400 years ago.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43- Utterly stunning.- Tudor ironing!
0:00:43 > 0:00:48They'll wear clothes from the period, source food from the land.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51That's it. Spot-on.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55- And use recipes from the era. - Five udders - that's unusual!
0:00:55 > 0:01:02They'll be turning the clock back to rediscover a way of life from an age gone by.
0:01:15 > 0:01:22Standing on a 3,000-acre estate in the Peak District and uninhabited for over three centuries,
0:01:22 > 0:01:29Haddon Hall has survived wars, changing fashions and family misfortunes.
0:01:29 > 0:01:34Now, a group of experts will breathe new life into the house.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37They'll step back in time
0:01:37 > 0:01:44to recreate a Tudor feast, using only the resources available in 1590, when the house was completed.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48This was a time of huge social change
0:01:48 > 0:01:54when new worlds were discovered and new tastes were emerging.
0:01:54 > 0:01:59This was England working out where it is and what it wants to do.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02It's broken away from Rome.
0:02:02 > 0:02:08And it goes for it in every sense, the architecture, the art and the food,
0:02:08 > 0:02:14exploring the world and bringing all that produce back. It must've been an exciting time to live.
0:02:14 > 0:02:19Marc Meltonville runs the historic royal kitchens at Hampton Court
0:02:19 > 0:02:23where he cooks using old Tudor recipes.
0:02:23 > 0:02:28We've got a tantalising glimpse of what we think we should do.
0:02:28 > 0:02:33You've got the most ambiguous of recipes to work from.
0:02:33 > 0:02:39You're using fire, so how can they tell you how long to put it in the oven for?
0:02:39 > 0:02:44You don't have timings. It just says, "Cook until done."
0:02:44 > 0:02:48So with every recipe, there's 20 ways of doing it.
0:02:48 > 0:02:55With no labour-saving devices, the team will need all their skills to cook food from the period
0:02:55 > 0:02:57using surviving recipes.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02"Dress the peacock in such salt that it shall seem to be alive."
0:03:02 > 0:03:08Ruth Goodman specialises in domestic practices of the period.
0:03:08 > 0:03:13We'll try to do all the visual, pretty-pretty things on the table
0:03:13 > 0:03:16and also various dishes and sauces.
0:03:16 > 0:03:21We're also going to try and serve it in a Tudor way.
0:03:21 > 0:03:27Archaeologists Hugh Beamish, Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn, nicknamed Fonz,
0:03:27 > 0:03:30will supply much of the labour.
0:03:30 > 0:03:36- Don't all Tudor feasts have a boar's head with an apple stuck in it?- We could have.
0:03:36 > 0:03:42- Have you walked round? - Yeah. I've seen the boar's head on the family crest.
0:03:42 > 0:03:49- Yeah.- Peacocks and boars. - They're everywhere. - So we've got a boar and a peacock.
0:03:49 > 0:03:57It's got to be posh ingredients. Things that make the diners realise that this is the place to eat.
0:03:57 > 0:04:04Turning theory into practice, over the next three days, our team will cook peacock, wild boar,
0:04:04 > 0:04:09venison and an array of salads and elaborate sweet dishes,
0:04:09 > 0:04:14as they attempt to recreate an authentic Tudor feast.
0:04:15 > 0:04:21The team's first task is to bring the kitchen back into full working order
0:04:21 > 0:04:25for the first time in over three centuries.
0:04:25 > 0:04:32Three wood fires would have been in regular use. Fonz and Hugh are attempting to relight the copper.
0:04:32 > 0:04:37The copper is this. It's a large copper dish that contains water.
0:04:37 > 0:04:44It's used for boiling water. You put your water on top and you've got a fire underneath.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48You let it boil and hopefully you'll get hot water.
0:04:48 > 0:04:55- Going to have a go with the flint and steel.- Flint. Steel. Strike the two together and you get sparks.
0:04:57 > 0:05:02- Bit like a modern lighter. - Very much.- Where's the gas?- No gas.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06However, we have a piece of charcloth.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10So hopefully it'll take a spark from the flint.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14- Happy with the theory? - I'm happy with the theory.
0:05:16 > 0:05:21- It's not as easy as it looks. - No, unfortunately not.
0:05:21 > 0:05:28Like most chores in the kitchen, lighting the fires was a slow and painstaking job.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30You have a go.
0:05:40 > 0:05:47- Right. You've got it lit. - Mm-hm. I'm just going to place it inside this bit of tow.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49HE BLOWS HARD
0:05:56 > 0:05:59Hooray!
0:06:03 > 0:06:09- It's going, isn't it?- Yeah.- Just keep blowing really, really gently.
0:06:15 > 0:06:20Working in the kitchens at Haddon Hall was a privileged position.
0:06:20 > 0:06:26Here the cooks were almost all male. Men's wages were higher,
0:06:26 > 0:06:31so affluent households employed them as a status symbol.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35Women were often given the more menial tasks.
0:06:35 > 0:06:40A household this size needs the most ENORMOUS amount of water.
0:06:40 > 0:06:47All your cooking and washing and drinking water - it's all got to be collected by bucket and yoke.
0:06:47 > 0:06:54I mean, the yoke does help as it spreads the weight on to your spine rather than hanging off your arms.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58And it stops the buckets banging against your legs.
0:06:58 > 0:07:05Few houses had the luxury of piped water. The Hall relied on both its natural resources
0:07:05 > 0:07:08and hard physical labour.
0:07:08 > 0:07:13Much of the women's work at this time is really, really physical.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18If you were a frail little thing, you wouldn't last five minutes.
0:07:18 > 0:07:25You had to be physically strong. If you weren't, you couldn't get work. You know, you would go hungry.
0:07:25 > 0:07:33And when people hired servants, they looked at their physique to see that they were tough.
0:07:33 > 0:07:40They must have been pretty tough, actually. When you start doing this work, it's absolutely exhausting.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42SHE SIGHS HEAVILY
0:07:42 > 0:07:45Water - it's pretty heavy stuff!
0:07:55 > 0:08:00In the kitchen, Fonz and Hugh have brought the copper fire up to heat.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04- It's a good heat, isn't it?- Yes. - This is an exciting moment
0:08:04 > 0:08:11because this is the first time in over 300 years that these fires have been lit.
0:08:11 > 0:08:18- We're looking forward to seeing how they do. Shall we have to get this under here soon?- I think so.
0:08:21 > 0:08:27- Right. Fantastic. Lovely. A good job there.- You got the water?
0:08:27 > 0:08:30- I have.- Best stick some in there.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33Oh, cheers.
0:08:40 > 0:08:47- Well, I suppose, wait for that to boil. Then I can do my gelatine. - It'll not take too long.- No.
0:08:47 > 0:08:53The kitchen at Haddon Hall was once the engine room of the entire house.
0:08:53 > 0:08:59A butchery provided a constant supply of expensive meats and game.
0:08:59 > 0:09:04An adjoining bakehouse produced fresh bread and pies for the table.
0:09:04 > 0:09:09And confectioners made sweet dishes with exotic ingredients.
0:09:09 > 0:09:17This was a food production line designed for the sole purpose of large-scale catering.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21Alex has been kneading dough all morning.
0:09:21 > 0:09:27- Shall I have a go at kneading that for you?- Yes, please. - It's looking good.
0:09:27 > 0:09:34- Bread-making is so knackering. - But the upside is the smell of hot bread.
0:09:34 > 0:09:41- You can smell the yeast?- Yeah. - And once we've given this a good stretch and got the gluten moving,
0:09:41 > 0:09:47- stick it in a bowl, cloth on top, put it somewhere warm. - Next to the fire?- That'll do.
0:09:47 > 0:09:52If we were playing very ancient, we'd stick it under an apple tree.
0:09:52 > 0:09:57- Why would I do that?- Apples have got natural yeasts on the skin.
0:09:57 > 0:10:04- And if you put dough underneath a tree, it rises up quicker.- This is not just an old wives' tale?
0:10:04 > 0:10:11- No.- It's backed up by science? - Yes. But it would've been old wives by Tudor times. It's very ancient.
0:10:11 > 0:10:18You've got brewer's yeast in here. That'll make it rise up lovely. We can get two dozen buns out of it.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22- How's it feeling? - That's starting to push back now.
0:10:22 > 0:10:28It's less like pastry and starting to become more like a dough.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32It's springing back. It's rising up itself already.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37- Give that another go and you'll feel it's pushing back.- Oh, right, yeah.
0:10:37 > 0:10:44- So it's bowl time and then you just get to make another two.- Another two of these?- That should be all right.
0:10:44 > 0:10:51The water in the copper is at boiling point. For the first time in over 300 years,
0:10:51 > 0:10:54it is ready to be used.
0:10:54 > 0:10:59I'm making some jelly. I'm more used to buying jelly in a packet.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03But for this I've got to extract my own gelatine.
0:11:03 > 0:11:08Gelatine is in the skin and bone of a pig's trotter.
0:11:08 > 0:11:15In order to get it out, I've got to boil them for eight hours. So I'm just going to pop these in.
0:11:15 > 0:11:23Ruth is busy in the still room, where all the work that involved cooking with sugar took place.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28Sugar in the 1590s was 16 to 20 times the price of beef.
0:11:28 > 0:11:36So if you go to the butcher's and think how much a pound of good beef is and sort of scale it up,
0:11:36 > 0:11:40you think, "A modern bag of sugar - that's 300 quid!"
0:11:40 > 0:11:46The kitchen staff were rarely trusted with preparing the sweet dishes.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50The work in here was done by ladies of the house.
0:11:50 > 0:11:55It might be THE lady of the house or other female relatives.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59If you allowed a servant in here, it would be under supervision.
0:11:59 > 0:12:06Following a surviving recipe from the period, Ruth is attempting to make a marchpane,
0:12:06 > 0:12:11an iced marzipan cake that only the richest households could afford.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14"How to make a good marchpane.
0:12:14 > 0:12:21"First, take a pound of almonds. Blanch them in cold water and then dry them."
0:12:21 > 0:12:25And then it says, "Stamp them small in a mortar."
0:12:25 > 0:12:30It then goes on to say that having reduced my almonds to powder,
0:12:30 > 0:12:37I've got to add in sugar that I've already ground. I can't tell you how long it's taken me!
0:12:37 > 0:12:43I've done one batch here in a bowl. That was about an hour and a half of pounding.
0:12:43 > 0:12:48I've got about three times that much to go. My arms are killing me.
0:12:48 > 0:12:53So I might call in some labour from the boys. Help!
0:12:53 > 0:12:59- Alex?- Yeah?- You couldn't give me a hand, could you? - Yes, just a second.
0:12:59 > 0:13:06- What can I help you with? - You couldn't pound some sugar for me?- Just pounding this?
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Please!
0:13:09 > 0:13:16- OK. So just got to grind it right down?- Yeah. I'll start the almonds. - To a powder?
0:13:16 > 0:13:20- Yes. Like this one. Look.- That's like flour.- That's the point.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24- It's going to take me ages.- Yes!
0:13:24 > 0:13:26A lot of manpower, these sweets!
0:13:26 > 0:13:32- Or should I say woman-power?- Yeah, they are. We'll be here forever.
0:13:38 > 0:13:45Hosting large feasts was a regular occurrence in the great households of Tudor England.
0:13:45 > 0:13:50At Haddon Hall, over 70 servants lived and worked on the estate.
0:13:50 > 0:13:57Most were employed to provide the kitchen with a constant supply of fresh produce and meat.
0:13:57 > 0:14:04Released from the kitchen, Alex has joined Fonz to track down one of the centrepieces for the feast.
0:14:04 > 0:14:11They've met up with Anthony Salt, who's re-introduced wild boar to his Derbyshire farm.
0:14:11 > 0:14:18- It's taken us a while, but we've tracked them down. Are they feeding?- Yes, in that glade there.
0:14:18 > 0:14:25- We're at a safe enough distance here, are we?- Yes. They do have a very keen sense of smell.
0:14:25 > 0:14:32But their eyesight's not great. But we're downwind, so they've not smelt us yet,
0:14:32 > 0:14:34otherwise they'd be on the run.
0:14:34 > 0:14:40Hunting wild boar was a favourite pastime of the landed gentry.
0:14:40 > 0:14:45Their powerful jaws made them a formidable prey.
0:14:45 > 0:14:52- Are they dangerous?- Yes, they can be very ferocious when cornered. They're not like a domestic pig.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54- They're a wild animal.- Right.
0:14:54 > 0:15:02By the 16th century, the indigenous species of wild boar in England had all but died out.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06Wild boar herds were imported from the continent.
0:15:06 > 0:15:13I think basically it was down to the amount of damage that they did on the land to crops and fields.
0:15:13 > 0:15:20- Landowners persecuted them and forced them to extinction.- And the depletion of their habitat as well.
0:15:20 > 0:15:27The forests were used for charcoal burning and for shipbuilding as well and the navy of the 16th century.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32There'd be less places for them to hide out in.
0:15:32 > 0:15:38- So what does boar meat taste like? - It's got its own distinct gamey flavour.
0:15:38 > 0:15:45- It's a lot stronger than commercial pork and it's a very similar texture to beef.- Right.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49It's redder and darker than the supermarket pork.
0:15:50 > 0:15:55Today, wild boar meat is back in fashion.
0:15:55 > 0:16:02Anthony has agreed to part with one of his stock boars for the feast at Haddon Hall.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08Wow! I've ground all the sugar down.
0:16:08 > 0:16:15And all the almonds. And I've beaten the two together with a spot of rosewater.
0:16:15 > 0:16:20And I now have marchpane! Perhaps you might know it as marzipan.
0:16:20 > 0:16:25All that work! Anyway, you can see I've got great big lumps of it
0:16:25 > 0:16:31and now I've got to start moulding it into the shape. So, clear myself a space.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40What I plan to do is a sort of big circle flat cake,
0:16:40 > 0:16:45about that deep, if I have enough. I'll ice it and hopefully gild it.
0:16:45 > 0:16:52It'll have a little tree coming out the centre. I've seen this described in period recipes.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55Let's see how I get on.
0:16:55 > 0:17:00So I think I'm going to start by seeing if I've got the thickness
0:17:00 > 0:17:04and how big I'll be able to make it.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17OK.
0:17:20 > 0:17:28The pig's trotters have been boiling in the copper for the last eight hours.
0:17:28 > 0:17:34And Fonz and Marc can now start the arduous process of making their jellies.
0:17:34 > 0:17:41At the moment, it's like soup. We want it clear, so we'll have to sieve it over and over again.
0:17:41 > 0:17:46And then hopefully we'll be left with a gelatine-rich water,
0:17:46 > 0:17:50which when cool, should set hard like a jelly.
0:17:50 > 0:17:57I'm going to make an icing out of sugar and egg white, which I've just beaten up a bit together.
0:17:57 > 0:18:03I'll mix it up to something fairly wet. Then I'll paint it on with a feather.
0:18:19 > 0:18:24While Ruth continues the delicate task of icing the marchpane,
0:18:24 > 0:18:30in the game larder, Alex is skinning a deer in preparation for the feast.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34He's being helped by local butcher, Michael Shirt.
0:18:34 > 0:18:40- So, we're doing the legging here? - Yes. And then you hang it up by its haunches,
0:18:40 > 0:18:47so you can remove the skin in one piece, because apart from the meat, a valuable part of the carcass,
0:18:47 > 0:18:54- they also used to cure the skin to make a rug.- So no part is wasted apart from the hooves?
0:18:54 > 0:18:58- No, they'd boil them and make glue out of them.- Right.
0:18:58 > 0:19:03In the 16th century, few meats were as prized as venison.
0:19:03 > 0:19:10If you were invited to the lord's manor and the lord was serving up venison at the table,
0:19:10 > 0:19:15he's trying to tell you that he's high up the social order.
0:19:15 > 0:19:20And he can hunt, which is only a privilege of the upper classes.
0:19:20 > 0:19:28- Right.- And you're going to twist it round, yeah?- Yeah.- Lovely. - Like so.- Up it goes. Just a minute.
0:19:28 > 0:19:33- We've already taken out the insides, haven't we?- That's right.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37What they called gralloching. You take the intestines out
0:19:37 > 0:19:42and the pluck, we've got the windpipe here and then the lungs,
0:19:42 > 0:19:46- the heart and the liver. - So these are the "humbles"?
0:19:46 > 0:19:53Yes. Which they used to give to the peasants, the people lower down the scale.
0:19:53 > 0:20:00- So they would get to eat the humbles? And that's where the phrase "to eat humble pie" comes from?- Yes.
0:20:00 > 0:20:07So now we'll just pull the skin straight down here, quite swiftly, and leave the carcass behind,
0:20:07 > 0:20:15and hopefully have a nice, clean skin. If you'd like to get hold of that there? And pull it down.
0:20:15 > 0:20:21- That's lovely.- Smashing. - Lovely. There we are - a carcass of venison there.
0:20:21 > 0:20:28- And that's basically it.- Just need to de-bone it now and it's ready for the spit.- That's right.
0:20:28 > 0:20:33Fonz and Marc are still straining the gelatine.
0:20:33 > 0:20:41- Even making jelly's hard work.- Yes, that's the whole point. The food's expensive because of the labour.
0:20:41 > 0:20:48So it might only be pig's trotters, but two people have got to do this for hours just to get some jelly.
0:20:48 > 0:20:53- Hence why we're doing it for a feast and not a kids' party.- Yeah.
0:20:53 > 0:20:58In its day, Haddon Hall was one of the grandest houses in the country,
0:20:58 > 0:21:05reflecting both the wealth and extravagance of the Tudor upper classes.
0:21:05 > 0:21:12To understand more about its culinary past, Ruth has met up with local historian, Mary Lloyd,
0:21:12 > 0:21:17in the Hall's magnificent long gallery.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22Oh, that's the boar's head, isn't it? Isn't that the Manners family?
0:21:22 > 0:21:30- It is the boar. But the Vernon family built the house. There's our peacock up there.- Isn't that lovely!
0:21:30 > 0:21:34I'd never have been allowed in here 400 years ago.
0:21:34 > 0:21:40Sir John Manners and his family were living at Haddon Hall in 1590.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43The family still own it today.
0:21:43 > 0:21:48Oh, we have some of the original orders for food.
0:21:48 > 0:21:53- So these are food lists from here of about the date we're doing?- Yes.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58- "Sir John Manners" - that pretty much dates it, doesn't it?- Yes.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02"Three dozen chicken. Eleven dozen pigeons.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05"Three barrels of oysters"!
0:22:05 > 0:22:11I suppose they were cheap in those days. "Five udders" - that's more unusual!
0:22:11 > 0:22:17Just by the quantities, they've got to be some special event?
0:22:17 > 0:22:25- John Manners' father-in-law, Sir George Vernon, he was known as the King of the Peak.- Oh, was he?
0:22:25 > 0:22:30He was probably known for giving banquets left, right and centre.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33The feasts at the Hall were famous.
0:22:33 > 0:22:39A portrait from the period depicts the Christmas revelries in the Great Hall.
0:22:39 > 0:22:46It was during a feast that Dorothy Vernon, Sir George's daughter, eloped to marry John Manners.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50Their children became the Dukes of Rutland.
0:22:50 > 0:22:58There's this sort of tradition in this house of large-scale entertaining. Oh, fantastic!
0:22:58 > 0:23:05It's the end of the working day for the team. Time to take some well-earned rest.
0:23:05 > 0:23:10And for the workers, it's a chance to eat a dinner of umble pie.
0:23:10 > 0:23:17- This is the umble pie.- Umble pie. - Who's going to be brave and cut it open? Go on, Alex. Go on.- Was!
0:23:17 > 0:23:21Take the top off and we get a stunningly good pie.
0:23:21 > 0:23:27- Good rosemary flavour.- It's nice, that. I like that.- It's very nice.
0:23:27 > 0:23:35The team are settling in to their new roles. But they still have a lot of work ahead of them.
0:23:35 > 0:23:42- Well, we got to the end of today and everything we planned to do is done.- How's your jelly?- Good.
0:23:42 > 0:23:47He didn't seem so confident. I'm eternally confident. >
0:23:54 > 0:23:56A new day at Haddon Hall
0:23:56 > 0:24:03and the team must start by gathering together more ingredients for the feast.
0:24:03 > 0:24:10Kitchen staff relied on the estate itself for all the fresh produce they needed.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14Ruth is raiding the Hall's herb garden.
0:24:14 > 0:24:22A herb garden would have been absolutely central to a great estate. It's not only for food.
0:24:22 > 0:24:30You also need your herb garden for things like the insecticides that keep your house clean of pests,
0:24:30 > 0:24:34for cleaning agents. It's a pretty huge list.
0:24:34 > 0:24:39Without it, it's hard to see how a Tudor household can function.
0:24:39 > 0:24:44A huge variety of herbs and plants were used in a Tudor kitchen.
0:24:44 > 0:24:52Much of their food was preserved with salt. So powerful flavourings were needed to disguise the taste.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56But herbs also had other valuable properties.
0:24:56 > 0:25:01These plants were eaten also for their medicinal properties.
0:25:01 > 0:25:07The theory of how the body worked then said that everything had to be in balance.
0:25:07 > 0:25:12There were four humours - blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile.
0:25:12 > 0:25:19And you had to have this balance, but men are different from women and young are different from old
0:25:19 > 0:25:24and people with different colouring are different from each other.
0:25:24 > 0:25:29I'm ginger, so I'm choleric and therefore, hot-tempered.
0:25:29 > 0:25:36I would need to make sure that I didn't eat too many hot, dry foods. So not much mustard or pepper.
0:25:36 > 0:25:43But lots and lots of cool foods. So I should be eating the angelica and lettuce and celery,
0:25:43 > 0:25:47which were calming and would make me a nicer person.
0:25:50 > 0:25:57To cook the large number of dishes they're planning for the feast, the team will use a huge amount of fuel.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00They need to re-stock their wood stores.
0:26:00 > 0:26:07If you think of all the many fires they've got over at Haddon Hall, well, back in the 16th century,
0:26:07 > 0:26:15they would've used an enormous amount of wood. You've got fires for cooking, heating and boiling water.
0:26:15 > 0:26:20You've basically got fires running pretty much every day of the year.
0:26:22 > 0:26:29On the other side of the estate, Fonz has come down to the river with local angler, Richard Ward,
0:26:29 > 0:26:33to try his luck at a spot of fishing.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36You really must stay hidden.
0:26:36 > 0:26:41They're using a rod similar to that used by anglers in Tudor times.
0:26:41 > 0:26:48This is typical of an upmarket rod that the Tudors would've used. They'd been around for 100 years.
0:26:48 > 0:26:53And the butt section that I'm using here is made of hazel.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57And it has a slice taken out of it up here at the top.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01Then I've got a section here of blackthorn,
0:27:01 > 0:27:03which is very resilient wood,
0:27:03 > 0:27:10which are fastened together, and I've got linen thread waxed with beeswax. There's no glue in there.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13It can expand or whatever.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17First, there's a heavy horsehair fishing line here.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22This is 21 hairs, three bunches of 7 twisted to make a little rope.
0:27:22 > 0:27:27And then there's another piece and it's knotted together with a knot
0:27:27 > 0:27:32that's still used today by anglers. It's called a water knot.
0:27:32 > 0:27:38They knew what they were doing. It was important that they succeeded
0:27:38 > 0:27:45because it was part of going shopping. It was going to get some grub. They didn't go to the shops...
0:27:45 > 0:27:48They had to get their own.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52The River Wye running through Haddon Hall's estate
0:27:52 > 0:27:59not only supplied the kitchen with fresh water, but also a constant supply of fresh brown trout.
0:27:59 > 0:28:06- The brown trout's natural environment has been slowly eroded by man's use of the waterways.- Yes.
0:28:06 > 0:28:13So we're very lucky here at Haddon Hall to have a river that runs past that has got brown trout in it.
0:28:13 > 0:28:20- But I'm not so sure if we'll be so lucky to catch ourselves one. - We will. But probably not here.
0:28:20 > 0:28:27I think we've scared away the fish that were here. They'll not have gone far. But they just won't eat.
0:28:27 > 0:28:34You wouldn't eat if you were frightened, would you? If a Spaniard with a sword was at your throat,
0:28:34 > 0:28:41- you'd not be ready to eat a pork pie, would you? - I'm always ready to eat a pork pie.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45They're all over there by that bank.
0:28:45 > 0:28:52Anglers through the ages have learnt to their cost they must not let the fish see them!
0:28:52 > 0:28:59- Well, shall we go and try another bit of river?- Yes.- Where we've not frightened off the fish!
0:28:59 > 0:29:03We'll try not to frighten them at the next spot.
0:29:10 > 0:29:16These are wild strawberries. They're the only sort of strawberries the Tudors had.
0:29:16 > 0:29:21Modern ones are a hybrid of these and something from America.
0:29:21 > 0:29:27But these tiny little things are really lovely, though, so sweet.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31I've seen household accounts of gentlemen in London.
0:29:31 > 0:29:38And it says for their dinner they had a pint of strawberries and a chicken, which would be gorgeous.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41You'd need hundreds of them!
0:29:53 > 0:29:58- You must have a go with this. Just hold it there.- Just hold there.
0:29:58 > 0:30:05And the trick is not to put lots of power on the forward cast. If anything, you don't put any on it.
0:30:05 > 0:30:12It's a little bit on the back cast and ease it forward. OK? Back and forth. That's it. And there you are.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15That's it! Spot-on.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20- Just need a fish now.- Yes.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23- Just need a bite now.- Ready? Aye.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30Charles Cotton, an ancient Derbyshire angler,
0:30:30 > 0:30:36used to say that any man who couldn't land a 16-inch trout on two hairs
0:30:36 > 0:30:40was not fit to call himself an angler!
0:30:40 > 0:30:47So I'm unfit, I'm afraid. I just find this stuff so amazingly frail.
0:30:48 > 0:30:53And for a feast like ours, they would've used a brown trout.
0:30:53 > 0:30:59They'd all have been brown trout and you'd have used all methods to catch them.
0:30:59 > 0:31:06You'd have had traps in the river. There'd have been people up at dawn with bread and worms.
0:31:06 > 0:31:13If it was an important feast, nobility or royalty visiting, they would go and get it.
0:31:13 > 0:31:20There wouldn't be... There's no sporting aspect to it at all. It would've been, "Get them caught."
0:31:20 > 0:31:27- We're not doing very well.- Let's hope that all the rest of the estate workers have caught plenty of trout
0:31:27 > 0:31:32- as we're not doing very well at all. - We'll have to get the traps out.
0:31:32 > 0:31:37As Alex returns with a new supply of faggots and kindling,
0:31:37 > 0:31:42in the kitchen, the others get ready for an afternoon of baking.
0:31:42 > 0:31:48Ruth is attempting to fire the kitchen's 400-year-old bread ovens.
0:31:48 > 0:31:53The oven itself is just a sort of stone cave or maybe a brick cave.
0:31:53 > 0:32:00But it has to be a specific shape to make this fire move in the right way so that it heats evenly.
0:32:00 > 0:32:05And then it's the hot stones of the cave that do the cooking for you.
0:32:05 > 0:32:12So now we've just got a little fire happening in the middle. That's a baby fire just started.
0:32:12 > 0:32:17As the fire develops, we're looking to move the flame around the shape.
0:32:17 > 0:32:24And we'll end up with it starting to get a plume. So it'll go up straight and it'll hit the roof,
0:32:24 > 0:32:29spread and come down the side, heating it like a mushroom cloud.
0:32:29 > 0:32:36And then later it's going to come in sort of at the base and curl away round and back up.
0:32:36 > 0:32:42So what I'm aiming at is a very particular shape and colour and form of flame
0:32:42 > 0:32:46to tell me that the oven is heating properly.
0:32:46 > 0:32:51It's pretty accurate. But like so many things, it requires skill,
0:32:51 > 0:32:56a bit more skill than just turning a knob. Anyway - more wood.
0:32:59 > 0:33:06For an oven that hasn't been in regular use, this is working superbly well.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10I wonder who the last person who used this was?
0:33:10 > 0:33:15Somebody who was glad to see the back of it, I imagine.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18A huge amount of work.
0:33:20 > 0:33:25The ovens are proving to be more successful than Richard and Fonz
0:33:25 > 0:33:29who have yet to catch a single trout.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31- ..and to all fish.- Call it a day?
0:33:31 > 0:33:34- If you like, yeah.- Yeah.
0:33:34 > 0:33:41- We won't get into serious trouble. - It's wet!- We're the lord's favourite, aren't we?
0:33:41 > 0:33:48- Now look, we mustn't waste that. - What is that?- This is sheep. And it's where they've rubbed it off.
0:33:48 > 0:33:55In fact, it looks like a bit of lamb's wool. It makes good dubbing. That's for the bodies of the fly.
0:33:55 > 0:34:02- I'll keep that in our dubbing bag, ready for when we want to tie some more flies.- Ready for next time.
0:34:02 > 0:34:07Pick anything up like that, anything that's fur, even a mouse.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11It can be used for making flies' bodies with.
0:34:11 > 0:34:17- I'll keep my eyes peeled. - Yes.- I wish they had invented tea in Tudor times!
0:34:17 > 0:34:20That fish is still rising here.
0:34:20 > 0:34:27With the ovens warming, Ruth is ready to start preparing the centrepiece for the lord's table.
0:34:27 > 0:34:34The Tudor upper classes loved to dazzle their guests with great visual displays.
0:34:34 > 0:34:39And few dishes were more spectacular than the peacock pie.
0:34:39 > 0:34:46- It's lovely. Absolutely beautiful. - He hasn't even started dragging his tail feathers.
0:34:46 > 0:34:52- Look, they're perfect right up to the end.- Not even a scuff on them.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54He looks extremely fresh.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58- So is it me skinning this?- Yes.
0:34:58 > 0:35:05In Tudor England, people's poultry yards contained a huge variety of poultry, not just chickens,
0:35:05 > 0:35:09but also ducks and geese and peacocks and swans
0:35:09 > 0:35:13were all sort of farmed, in essence, for the table.
0:35:13 > 0:35:21We don't really seem to do that any more. I'm not quite sure why. I can't think of why we don't.
0:35:21 > 0:35:28I mean, a peacock's a nice bird to eat. But people think they should only be looked at these days.
0:35:28 > 0:35:35- It's just a pretty chicken, really. - Yes.- People think, "Poor thing." Well, chickens are pretty too.
0:35:35 > 0:35:42I'm trying to take the skin off in one complete piece, so that we can re-use the skin.
0:35:42 > 0:35:47It's going to the table too. It'll be part of the big visual display.
0:35:47 > 0:35:51We'll eat the bird himself, which hopefully will be nice.
0:35:51 > 0:35:56In books I've read they claim that peacock is disgusting.
0:35:56 > 0:36:00Yet the two times I've done it before, it was lovely.
0:36:00 > 0:36:06The diet of the landed gentry differed greatly from that of the lower classes.
0:36:06 > 0:36:12Poultry was considered a luxury. Even chicken was seldom eaten.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16The lower classes very rarely had poultry.
0:36:16 > 0:36:23A chicken was an expensive meat simply because it's much more valuable alive as an egg-layer.
0:36:23 > 0:36:29Chicken only became a cheap meat from the...last quarter of the 20th century
0:36:29 > 0:36:32when we introduced battery farming.
0:36:32 > 0:36:36Before that all poultry was expensive meat.
0:36:36 > 0:36:43While Ruth continues the delicate art of skinning the peacock, Marc's making a spice mix for the pie,
0:36:43 > 0:36:48ingredients that were only available in wealthy households.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51The whole point of spices in this pie are money.
0:36:51 > 0:36:56Everything about this meal is to show off. You're in a big house.
0:36:56 > 0:37:03You've got fantastic food, things that other people can't have that have come from all over the world.
0:37:03 > 0:37:10It's hard to tell how much it's worth because we don't use the same money as them.
0:37:10 > 0:37:12Cinnamon's a good indication.
0:37:12 > 0:37:19We buy it at Christmas, put it on custard, then leave it in the cupboard.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23Nearly 500 years ago, if I could afford to buy three ships,
0:37:23 > 0:37:29put a crew on board, send it down to the Spice Islands, fill them up with cinnamon,
0:37:29 > 0:37:36if one of those ships makes it back three years later, we've made enough profit to pay for everything.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41To keep ourselves in good living for many years. So it's worth a fortune!
0:37:45 > 0:37:50We're nearly, nearly done here and it's gone quite well, actually.
0:37:50 > 0:37:57He was warm and that makes a lot of difference. Trying to skin something with so much plumage
0:37:57 > 0:38:01and in such condition is a bit of a challenge.
0:38:01 > 0:38:08But you can't spoil something as gorgeous as this, can you? Right. Last little bit here.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14Meat.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18And peacock.
0:38:18 > 0:38:24Cor! Look at that. That's going to look amazing on the table, isn't it?
0:38:24 > 0:38:28Absolutely fantastic. I'm really pleased.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32With the skinning of the peacock complete,
0:38:32 > 0:38:37the rest of the team can now prepare the filling for the pie.
0:38:37 > 0:38:44I'm just chopping up the beef suet for our peacock pie. Ruth said I've got to dice this up really small.
0:38:44 > 0:38:49I'm going to mix it in with all the meat and the dried fruits as well,
0:38:49 > 0:38:53just to keep our pie nice and moist, nice and succulent.
0:38:53 > 0:39:00We'll have something that now none of us think about - nutmeg. It was the new spice for the late Tudors.
0:39:00 > 0:39:08We're told entire estates were lost when the bottom fell out of the nutmeg market not much later.
0:39:08 > 0:39:15Someone who has the purse strings to this house will give me meagre amounts of each one
0:39:15 > 0:39:22and say, "That's enough for your pie." Or I'll pick it up and I'll be off and live like a king forever.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24So you need to take these away now.
0:39:33 > 0:39:38- Let's have a look. That looks nice. We have got enough, have we?- Yeah.
0:39:38 > 0:39:45- I want it really, really full and solid!- Yeah. There won't be any gaps in this. Let's put that there.
0:39:48 > 0:39:54A momentary respite for the team while the bread ovens are still heating
0:39:54 > 0:39:59allows Ruth to begin applying the finishing touches to her marchpane.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03She's gilding its edges with gold leaf.
0:40:03 > 0:40:08This is real gold and so costs a blinking fortune and always did.
0:40:08 > 0:40:15And that's the point. It's real conspicuous consumption. And fake gold makes you ill if you eat it.
0:40:15 > 0:40:23But real gold is inert. It goes in one end, straight through the other end and does no harm on the way.
0:40:23 > 0:40:27But gold has always been the price of gold.
0:40:27 > 0:40:33Whoever was doing it at any date in history must've felt the pressure,
0:40:33 > 0:40:35but perhaps they had more practice.
0:40:35 > 0:40:40In the period, they actually just took a small lump of gold
0:40:40 > 0:40:45and some poor bloke just hit it with hammers on a cushion
0:40:45 > 0:40:50until they got it down to this really fine sheet.
0:40:50 > 0:40:57I mean, the skill involved in beating something so you don't break it, that just beggars belief.
0:40:57 > 0:41:03I'm having trouble picking it up without breaking it, you know.
0:41:03 > 0:41:08But I think my real worry is that we won't get the finish,
0:41:08 > 0:41:15you know, the final quality of presentation that they would've had in the period.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19I feel we might end up with something rustic.
0:41:19 > 0:41:24And now a critical moment has arrived in the bakehouse.
0:41:24 > 0:41:29Raking out the hot coals as the oven is now at the temperature
0:41:29 > 0:41:34when the stone is hot enough to cook the bread.
0:41:34 > 0:41:38With the ovens up to temperature, the team have just seconds
0:41:38 > 0:41:43to get the bread and pies in before the stones begin to cool.
0:41:50 > 0:41:57- Door. And the dough.- That moment when you take the fire out and you get the bread in has to happen fast
0:41:57 > 0:42:02because once you've taken the fire out, the oven begins to cool down.
0:42:02 > 0:42:09The bread and pies will bake overnight. A dough mixture is used to seal the doors
0:42:09 > 0:42:11and prevent the heat from escaping.
0:42:11 > 0:42:17Now we can take our time, get rid of the ashes and then seal up the doors.
0:42:17 > 0:42:21And then we can all do something calmer!
0:42:41 > 0:42:44The day of the feast has arrived
0:42:44 > 0:42:48and our team are up at dawn preparing for a long day of cooking ahead.
0:42:50 > 0:42:54The first job in the morning is to get this fire lit.
0:42:54 > 0:42:59At five o'clock, the servants, people like Fonz and myself,
0:42:59 > 0:43:04are up getting together our tinder and kindling to get this thing lit,
0:43:04 > 0:43:11so we can get it up to heat as soon as possible, because we've got so much to cook today.
0:43:11 > 0:43:19And we'll cook in so many different ways. So someone has to tend this fire and make sure it's up to heat.
0:43:20 > 0:43:27Ruth's first task of the morning is to apply the finishing touches to her peacock pie.
0:43:27 > 0:43:32That's the peacock pie out of the oven. It's baked quite nicely.
0:43:32 > 0:43:37What I've got to do now is get the skin on top of it. Right.
0:43:37 > 0:43:45Ruth's recipe describes how the pie should be covered with the skin of the peacock using a wire frame
0:43:45 > 0:43:49as if the bird was still alive on the table.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52It looks utterly stunning.
0:43:52 > 0:43:58The team are also cooking a huge array of different meats, salads and sweets.
0:43:58 > 0:44:06In a wealthy household, both quality and quantity lay at the heart of a successful feast.
0:44:06 > 0:44:11We've got gammons to go in. We've even got some chickens.
0:44:11 > 0:44:17We've got venison and wild boar to spit-roast. We've got the peacock pie to sort out.
0:44:17 > 0:44:22We've got more bread rolls and the sweets to do.
0:44:22 > 0:44:26We've even got toast to do for 40 people. It's the last thing I need.
0:44:26 > 0:44:31When you look at all this, you think, "You can't eat all that."
0:44:31 > 0:44:36But you're not meant to eat it all. You're giving your guests a choice.
0:44:36 > 0:44:42Even today many people don't choose what they eat. They don't get much.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46In Tudor England most people didn't get any choice.
0:44:46 > 0:44:50So when you sit down at this meal, tantalise your taste buds.
0:44:50 > 0:44:56Do you fancy the chicken, the venison, the salads? Or do you just want gammon?
0:44:56 > 0:45:01Nobody minds what you eat, but you've been given choice.
0:45:01 > 0:45:08As most of the dishes have to be cooked from fresh, the scale of the task is beginning to dawn on Fonz.
0:45:08 > 0:45:15I've never cooked so many different dishes at one time for so many people,
0:45:15 > 0:45:22so there's a bit of trepidation wondering whether it'll all come together for the feast.
0:45:22 > 0:45:29This, what started off as a really simple salad, became one of those ideas.
0:45:29 > 0:45:35This came out of, "What was their crest like? Let's put a boar and a peacock on the table."
0:45:35 > 0:45:40Then, "Let's make a salad like the crest." That's easily said!
0:45:40 > 0:45:44It'll taste like an egg salad and that's what it is.
0:45:44 > 0:45:51We're spit-roasting our venison and our boar. So we'll bank up the fire behind and that'll grill the meat.
0:45:51 > 0:45:58But also we've got to fry and boil on it, so we can alter the shape of our fire to our cooking needs.
0:45:58 > 0:46:05To spit-roast all the meats in time, they must get the main fire up to temperature.
0:46:05 > 0:46:09- That's looking good, isn't it? - Well, it's there.
0:46:09 > 0:46:13- We've got to load it up with wood. - Fill it with fire.
0:46:13 > 0:46:19- Loads of vegetables to blanch. - And we've got to get the meat on the spit, yeah?
0:46:19 > 0:46:22That's got to be done within the hour.
0:46:22 > 0:46:30One thing I've learnt so far from this is the amount of preparation work that goes into every dish.
0:46:30 > 0:46:36Like today, ingredients are being thrown together and because we've got food blenders,
0:46:36 > 0:46:41you take it for granted, because in the Tudor period,
0:46:41 > 0:46:48having everything processed by so many people, that's where the status is.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51That's what's really dawned on me.
0:46:51 > 0:46:58This was a dynamic time for England. The merchant classes in the towns were flourishing.
0:46:58 > 0:47:05The old aristocracy were under increasing pressure from families with new-found wealth.
0:47:05 > 0:47:09The detail that went into every aspect of a feast
0:47:09 > 0:47:14was an attempt to send specific messages to its guests.
0:47:14 > 0:47:21The two side tables are laid quite simply. But this one we'll invest some time on.
0:47:21 > 0:47:25Everyone dining here literally knows their place.
0:47:25 > 0:47:30The ones sat at the far end will realise how far, not just in space,
0:47:30 > 0:47:35but in money, they are from the man sat behind this fantastic tapestry,
0:47:35 > 0:47:41on the table that's not on the same level as everyone else. It's up on a dais.
0:47:41 > 0:47:49He's elevated already, looking down on everyone. He's got the best light. He's got an oriel window,
0:47:49 > 0:47:53so the light cascades down on his table.
0:47:53 > 0:47:58And this table's going to get three tablecloths.
0:48:00 > 0:48:06Tudor version of ironing! Straight down the middle with the seam.
0:48:06 > 0:48:11The lord's table would be adorned with fine linen.
0:48:11 > 0:48:13This one's the easy one.
0:48:13 > 0:48:18Quality napery was highly desired by the Tudor gentry.
0:48:19 > 0:48:23Lovely. Nice seam down the front.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26There's a crease in the middle.
0:48:26 > 0:48:31'And the nicer cloth you have, the more money you must have.
0:48:31 > 0:48:38'And the amount of cloth you have shows how much money you have. So it might just look like a tablecloth.'
0:48:38 > 0:48:43But to a Tudor, you've got a really flash car here.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47With the presentation of food so important,
0:48:47 > 0:48:54the staff face a daunting challenge if they're to reach the standards of upmarket Elizabethan cuisine.
0:48:54 > 0:49:01- Not long now. What are we looking at? A couple of hours, is it? - A couple of hours, yeah.
0:49:01 > 0:49:08I'm just trying to knock up a... It's a tricolour salad with salmon, mushy peas and onions.
0:49:08 > 0:49:15But even that's requiring so much work. I had to dice the carrots. Alex is doing me some onions.
0:49:15 > 0:49:20I'm currently up to my elbows in peas. Oh, dear.
0:49:20 > 0:49:26- Every time I see you, you have your hands in sort of all... - Something gooey.
0:49:28 > 0:49:35Before anything can be sent to table, each individual dish has to be carefully arranged.
0:49:35 > 0:49:40I'm just starting to dress the boar's head for the table.
0:49:40 > 0:49:46We lost a bit of the skin off his nose when he came out of the cauldron.
0:49:46 > 0:49:53So I'll paint it over with gelatine and then stick something there to hide it.
0:50:00 > 0:50:07Over at the main fire, the venison and boar meat has been roasting for the last two hours.
0:50:07 > 0:50:15Slightly burnt, one side of it. Well, it's a little bit charred. I think it was Fonz's fault.
0:50:27 > 0:50:33Nowadays we'd stick this napkin on our lap to catch any food we drop.
0:50:33 > 0:50:40But that won't happen tonight because my diners know how to eat Tudor style, so they'll put it here.
0:50:40 > 0:50:48It looks odd until you think about eating with your hands. It's for wiping and keeping your mouth clean.
0:50:48 > 0:50:54The term "etiquette" had yet to be invented. The Tudor equivalent was courtesy,
0:50:54 > 0:51:01a belief that a well-mannered person should behave in a way that showed their superior upbringing.
0:51:01 > 0:51:07Anyone able to eat in a great hall like this would've grown up with good manners.
0:51:07 > 0:51:14And the manners book still survives to teach us what those were. At the high table, before the meal starts,
0:51:14 > 0:51:18I'll have my hands washed. Servants will bring me water
0:51:18 > 0:51:23and I'll put my hands out and have them washed for me, part of status.
0:51:23 > 0:51:30Anything that can't be eaten with a spoon, you're going to need your knife,
0:51:30 > 0:51:35as you're supposed to cut it up into "fair gobbets", mouth-sized pieces.
0:51:35 > 0:51:40So a piece of lovely roasted meat is picked up with fingers,
0:51:40 > 0:51:46put on to this plate and cut up into pieces, so you can put your knife down.
0:51:46 > 0:51:51If we get our meal right, it should be the height of good manners.
0:52:03 > 0:52:07Not all Tudor dishes took hours to produce.
0:52:07 > 0:52:12With the feast fast approaching, the team are creating syllabub,
0:52:12 > 0:52:17a simple dessert containing spiced wine and cream.
0:52:17 > 0:52:24To mix the two ingredients together, Alex has found the highest point in the kitchen
0:52:24 > 0:52:28to pour the cream into bowls of wine below.
0:52:28 > 0:52:30Missed a bit!
0:52:30 > 0:52:36Wine curdles cream a bit, so you get sort of like flavoured, creamy wine
0:52:36 > 0:52:39with a bubbly texture. Dead nice.
0:52:39 > 0:52:41Two! Three! Go!
0:52:44 > 0:52:46Oh!
0:52:48 > 0:52:51There's still loads of cream in here.
0:52:51 > 0:52:57It's four o'clock in the afternoon and guests are arriving for the feast.
0:52:57 > 0:53:04The Tudors ate early by modern standards, making best use of the daylight.
0:53:04 > 0:53:11The team need to serve in only an hour's time. They're taking the finished dishes to the pantry
0:53:11 > 0:53:13to be organised and arranged.
0:53:13 > 0:53:20We've got a few things not finished to the degree we would've liked, but not bad.
0:53:20 > 0:53:28- Perhaps if we got together more often and practised, maybe we'd get slicker.- A long reach for a leech.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31And back and through and pie.
0:53:31 > 0:53:38So far so good. I think pretty much everything has gone to plan. We had a problem with the spit-roast.
0:53:38 > 0:53:43It could've done with a couple more hours, maybe another hour.
0:53:43 > 0:53:45And we've just run out of time now.
0:53:45 > 0:53:51But to be honest, we've just got so many chickens and gammons - we won't miss it.
0:53:51 > 0:53:56But the venison worked fine, so that was good news.
0:53:56 > 0:54:03We've got your roast pork, venison, salads of artichokes. We've got lots of gammon, marchpane.
0:54:03 > 0:54:09I've got some cheese made into small balls and fried black pudding with chicken.
0:54:09 > 0:54:17- Is there another fat gammon out there?- We've got this one here.- No, there should be a chopped gammon.
0:54:20 > 0:54:26After three days of hard graft, the team are finally ready to start serving the food.
0:54:26 > 0:54:29Your livery coats.
0:54:29 > 0:54:35But before any dishes are sent to the great hall, the men must change into their livery uniforms.
0:54:35 > 0:54:40Throw that over your right shoulder and like that.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43Hand on belly, something like that.
0:54:43 > 0:54:47MARC: Might have to stand around doing nothing!
0:54:47 > 0:54:49Shall we get dishing out then?
0:54:49 > 0:54:54Female servants weren't permitted to serve food to guests.
0:54:54 > 0:55:00Male staff, on the other hand, were expected to be well-presented.
0:55:00 > 0:55:03ELIZABETHAN MUSIC PLAYS
0:55:10 > 0:55:17I'm just trying to get everything together here, so that it goes out in order and goes boom-boom-boom.
0:55:17 > 0:55:24On the table, evenly, correctly spaced. So I need to get my numbers right.
0:55:24 > 0:55:30So I'm trying to do things in threes or sixes. And the singles are centrepieces.
0:55:31 > 0:55:33MUSIC STOPS
0:55:33 > 0:55:36(And move forward.)
0:55:44 > 0:55:47ELIZABETHAN MUSIC STARTS AGAIN
0:55:59 > 0:56:06As the centrepiece for the lord's table, Ruth's peacock pie is the first dish served.
0:56:06 > 0:56:13To add to the spectacle, the recipe suggests the bird should be spitting fire from its beak.
0:56:18 > 0:56:24The host's table is the first to be filled with the expensive, labour-intensive dishes.
0:56:24 > 0:56:32'Courses as such didn't really exist at this point. So you fill the table with food.'
0:56:32 > 0:56:39When everyone's finished eating it, you remove it. That's one remove. And then you fill the tables again.
0:56:39 > 0:56:41And usually it's two removes.
0:56:41 > 0:56:48The side tables are the next to be served. They're given a cheaper, more basic selection.
0:56:53 > 0:57:00Once the tables are filled with as much food as they can hold, the feast can finally begin.
0:57:07 > 0:57:13It has taken our team three long days to prepare all the food and dishes in the style of the period.
0:57:13 > 0:57:20Now, all their hard work in the kitchen is disappearing in front of them.
0:57:24 > 0:57:28For Ruth, it is a brief, yet satisfying glimpse into a distant past.
0:57:28 > 0:57:35I don't think we've done too bad, really. It's like I imagined a Tudor feast to be.
0:57:37 > 0:57:39It's pretty gutsy stuff
0:57:39 > 0:57:46with this real powerful understanding and use of good meat and good vegetables.
0:57:49 > 0:57:53There wasn't a lot of prudery in the 1590s.
0:57:53 > 0:58:00People were living life to the full. It might go like that. Life is short. You make the most of it.
0:58:00 > 0:58:07As the final dish, Ruth's iced and gilded marchpane is presented at the lord's table,
0:58:07 > 0:58:12for our team, employment at Haddon Hall has come to an end.
0:58:12 > 0:58:20As the revelries continue long into the evening, for the first time in over four centuries,
0:58:20 > 0:58:27this Great Hall is once again alive to the sights and sounds of a Tudor feast.
0:58:48 > 0:58:52Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd 2006