FOOD AND DRINK
What wine was served in Henry VIII’s wine fountain?
Henry VIII had an insatiable appetite for novelty, opulence and displays of generosity – so no wonder a colossal golden fountain that spouted wine instead of water appealed to him. The renowned artwork depicting Henry’s encounter with French King Francis I at the Field of the Cloth of Gold (above) in 1520 beautifully depicts this fountain.
Upon the discovery of the
remnants of a 16th-century fountain at Hampton Court Palace in 2008, archaeologists couldn’t resist the urge to recreate it. Rising four metres high, crafted from timber, lead and bronze, and adorned with gold leaf, this fountain also poured wine. Though some may consider it a bit over-the-top by today’s standards, Tudor guests would have been mesmerised by the grandeur of the gilded spectacle.
In the days before bottling and corks, wine was imbibed at its youthful peak, before it had a chance to go ‘off’. Brought over from France in barrels, Henry’s wine would have had a distinctly ‘new’ taste, not dissimilar to that of Beaujolais Nouveau.
Why do we ‘toast’?
Who invented the vending machine?
In the middle of the first century AD, the esteemed philosopher, teacher and inventor Hero of Alexandria devised a contraption that dispensed holy water upon the insertion of a coin into a slot. The creation was just one of his numerous inventions: it’s also claimed that he crafted the earliest mechanised puppet theatre, a wind-powered organ and a steam-powered engine – all of which predated the Industrial Revolution by a staggering 1,700 years.
When did gin and tonic become popular?
This quintessential summer beverage originated as a remedy for malaria during the days of the British Raj. The medicinal application of quinine powder and soda tonic
