Part 3/9:
As the host reminisces about a personal connection to the play from his school days—playing Banquo—it becomes clear that there's a longing to uncover what the historical Macbeth might have shared at a banquet. Despite the mystery surrounding his dietary habits, some common foods of the era are known, including hazelnuts, turnips, onions, crab apples, and an abundance of kale. For a person of Macbeth's standing, seafood and meat would have been staples, highlighting items such as salmon, seal, game meat (like wild boar and venison), and the ever-important cattle, often used as currency.
Given the constraints of using the palace kitchen, the host chooses to prepare more accessible dishes: salted and smoked fish, known as Arbroath smokies, and a traditional Scottish bannock.