Fourteenth–fifteenth century food refuse from the kitchen of the Esztergom archbishopric
shows a significant diachronic increase in cyprinid bones, in particular those of
carp. Meanwhile, contributions by large acipenserids and carnivorous species (catfish/wels,
pike, percids) declined. Contemporaneous account books indirectly suggest that the
archbishop’s kitchen must have increasingly relied on farmed carp fish. Sturgeons
were a commodity sold by the archbishopric but rarely consumed. Expensive pikes were
bought at low prices for the archbishop, possibly related to the small size of individuals
found in the deposits. The poor representation of high-status fish is consonant with
the scarcity of bones from large game in an assemblage dominated by domesticates.
Wild game is represented by brown hare, partridge, and a variety of thrushes. These
finds confirm that the foodways in the archbishop’s palace were more modest than expected
on the basis of its social status. Increasing contributions by cyprinids and sterlet
to the assemblage also coincide with the high relative frequency of their recipes
in a sixteenth century cookbook.
