Medieval cuisine includes the foods, eating habits, and cooking methods of various European cultures during the Middle Ages, a period roughly dating from the 5th to the 16th century. During this period, diets and cooking changed less across Europe than they did in the briefer early modern period that followed, when those changes helped lay the foundations for modern European cuisine.

Cereals remained the most important staples during the early Middle Ages, as rice was a late introduction to Europe and the potato was only introduced in 1536, with a much later date for widespread usage. Barley, oat and rye among the poor, and wheat for the governing classes, were eaten as bread, porridge, gruel and pasta by all members of society. Fava beans and vegetables were important supplements to the cereal-based diet of the lower orders. (Phaseolus beans, today the "common bean," were of New World origin and were introduced after the Columbian Exchange in the 16th century.)

Meat was more expensive and therefore more prestigious and in the form of game was common only on the tables of the nobility. The most prevalent butcher's meats were pork and chicken and other domestic fowl, while beef, which required greater investment in land, was less common. Cod and herring were mainstays among the northern populations, and dried, smoked or salted made their way far inland, but a wide variety of other saltwater and freshwater fish were also eaten.

Heston Marc Blumenthal, OBE ( /ˈbluːmənθɔːl/; born 27 May 1966 in London, raised in Buckinghamshire) is an English chef and owner of The Fat Duck, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Bray, Berkshire which has been voted Best Restaurant in the UK and received a perfect score of 10/10 every year since 2007 by The Good Food Guide. Additionally, it was voted best restaurant in the world in 2005 by Restaurant magazine. Since that date, it was awarded 2nd place in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, 3rd in 2010 and 5th in 2011.

Heston Blumenthal attended the Latymer Upper School in London for one year^{[citation needed]} before transferring to Lacey Green Church of England School until 12.^{[citation needed]} Blumenthal completed his studies at age 18^{[citation needed]} at John Hampden Grammar School, High Wycombe.

Blumenthal is entirely self-taught. His first paid job as a curry chef was when he opened his own restaurant, The Fat Duck. Prior to this, his only experience in a professional kitchen was a one week long work experience at Marco Pierre White's restaurant and 10 days' unpaid experience in Raymond Blanc's kitchen.^{[citation needed]}