James's table is mostly oat and barley bread, pork and dairy, and cabbage and peas, with apples in season, and coffee and sugar as well. He is literate.
Odd for a gen-z person in Britain. I doubt he’d eat a lot of cabbage, and I have no idea when the “season” for apples is as they are always in the supermarket and there aren’t any orchards near where I live.
You're missing out! Try a few of the apple varieties that are not available year-rounds, that are not optimized for insecticide compatibility and tons per square kilometer (well, more likely bathtubs per football fields or something). Yes, even and especially the small & ugly ones that never ever have that flawless smooth skin that makes you wonder which ones are plastic props and which ones are fresh fruits. After dumbing down the basic supermarket apples to just a few that look presentable and can be made to work in a wide range of climates, it has lost the refined tastes of most of the other varieties they out-priced.
> James was in frequent conflicts with other members of his village at late night, while having a belly full of barley juice.
When I lived in Europe people were even more aware of the seasons of fruits and vegetables.
him eating apples when in season seemed to me at first like an anachronism, but actually, i do that. years ago i got fed up with apples that were whatever, so i decided to only have apples when i could find mcintosh (my favorite apple), and eat loads of them.