Aan tafel in het Oude Mannenhuis te Delft

What’s for dinner at the Oude Mannenhuis? This paper focuses on providing a nuanced picture of the daily meal consumed at the Oude Mannenhuis, an almshouse for elderly men in Early Modern Delft (1411-1792). It aims to do so by combining historical documents dealing with food-purchase orders and archaeobotanical macro remains taken from the cesspits. The historical documents, written by the steward, suggest a frugal and monotonous diet, which appears to be incomplete as it lacks generic food items such as fruit, vegetables, herbs and spices known to have been consumed during the medieval and Early Modern periods. Yet the additional archaeobotanical data shows that at least 43 edible plant species were consumed by the residents of the Oude Mannenhuis. Most of these species are indigenous and were probably grown within and around the town of Delft, though some exotic species were also present. This combined research shows a more nuanced picture of the daily menu consumed by the elderly men of the Oude Mannenhuis.