What pub grub was available over the decades and centuries?

I cam pretty much guarantee it was not chicken wings – they are an invented means of selling a piece of chicken that would otherwise have had little sales value. Wings were considered junky second-rate meat. The first chicken wing entrees can =be traced to Buffalo, NY in 1964.

It likely wasn’t hamburger either – those only date to 1880 or 1890.

My guess is that taverns in the 1600s and 1700s served mutton or rabbit or venison or something similar.

In the old west, since there was no refrigeration, there might be fresh roast beef (butchered that day) or rehydrated jerky, pickles, crackers, smoked fish, fresh bread, butter, cheese, sausage, mustard.

@kritiper Yum.

And fresh eggs, probably boiled. They might be chicken eggs, or quail eggs, whatever there was handy. And the eggs might be pickled…

Steak and kidney pie, shepherd’s pie, and other pasties are all former (and current) pub fare in the various parts of the UK.

Hard boiled eggs and pigs knuckles were common in bars on the east coast of the US.

There are old tales of “the sandwich” which some bars had “for sale” to be open on Sundays, even though the one sandwich was years old.

I heard that there was much chicken, since they were too valuable for egg laying to be killed when their meat was still young and tender.
If at all, there would have been the old ones, with really tough meat.

*was not much chicken

@ragingloli I wonder if rooster tastes different from hens? Roosters would logically be more abundant , and less valuable than egg laying hens.
I read online that most roosters are culled at birth now a days.

I don’t think roosters would be more abundant. In the process of getting mates, roosters fight each other to the death. And you only need one rooster for a bunch of hens. I would have to agree that they are probably culled at hatching now.

@kritiper But how do roosters taste?

Roosters just taste like hens. Same with capons.

@zenvelo – your comment “Same with Capons” – called to mind the first time that I heard the word capon in reference to chickens. I was a kid – maybe 12–13. My grandmother talked about fixing a capon.

I told her that Superman had a cape on – and that Superman was not a chicken at all.

Everybody got a good laugh at me.

@RedDeerGuy1 If you were to eat one before they were sexually mature they might taste like a hen. They might be a little tough and stringy after that. But I’ve eaten pheasant roosters that taste just fine.
Sage grouse taste pretty good but I once shot 3, two young ones and one hen which I didn’t want but couldn’t tell the difference between them looking through the rifle sights. The youngsters were delicious but you couldn’t get a single bite off the hen.

In my sleepy little town in the 60’s, only the alcoholics went out to a public bar. Most people had a small hidden cabinet like area where they hid their bottles of booze. There was minimal drinking even at parties & those who did drink slipped a bottle out of their hidden cabinet for a quick snort away from their friends & family. To make sure nobody noticed, they filled the bottle back up with water so the bottle never appeared to go down.

My first time in a bar was after i moved to Washington DC in 69 where they kept free peanuts, pretzels, & chips on the bar for patrons to munch on so they’d stay thirsty & drink more. IF you were starving you could order a hamburger with fries or a simple deli meat sandwiches with fries & some of the nicer places might offer a steak with baked potato (no salad). The food generally was horrible & few ordered a meal at a bar. They left the bar to go to a nice restaurant to get as decent meal.

i have NO idea what was offered before 69 as I had NO experience until after i moved away from home!!!

Pie & peas
Hotpot
Egg chips & beans
Tripe