Wikipedia:Main Page history/2023 October 1

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Spit-roasting, from a 1432 edition of the Decameron
Spit-roasting, from a 1432 edition of the Decameron

Medieval cuisine includes the foods, diets, and cooking methods of various European cultures from the 5th to the 15th century. Cereals were the most important staple during the Early Middle Ages: barley, oats, and rye were eaten by the poor while wheat was generally more expensive. These were consumed as bread, porridge, gruel, and pasta by people of all classes. Cheese, fruits, and vegetables were important supplements. Meat, including pork, chicken, and other domestic fowl, was more expensive, and game was common only on the nobility's tables. Many freshwater and saltwater fish were also eaten; in the north, cod and herring were mainstays. In contrast to the exotic spices and expensive imported food of the nobility, working-class food was less refined, as mandated by decrees and social norms. A highly spiced sweet-sour food repertory developed among the upper classes in the Late Middle Ages. (Full article...)

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Selene Mahri
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Waheeda Rehman in 2019
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October 1: Unification Day in Cameroon (1961); Independence Day in Tuvalu (1978); Filipino American History Month begins

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Polistes gallicus

Polistes gallicus is a species of paper wasp found in a region from the Alps south into northwest Africa and east to Croatia and Corfu. It can live in a range of temperatures including warmer climates and cooler regions north of the Alps, with nests created in these various conditions. A social insect, the species uses an oral secretion to construct its nests, which consist of a combination of saliva and chewed plant fibers. This structural mixture physically protects the nest from various harsh elements and from weathering over time. Like other members of the subgenus Polistes, P. gallicus has recognizable bright yellow and black markings. It has a smaller body than many others from the genus that overlap in range. This P. gallicus individual was photographed in Bavaria, Germany.

Photograph credit: Reinhold Möller

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