The Tudor Kitchens At Hampton Court

In 1529, King Henry V111 extended the kitchens at Hampton Court. Covering 3,000 square feet, with fifty-five rooms, these kitchens were staffed by 200 people providing 600 meals a day, for the Royal Court.
The Spicery was filled with exotic spices imported from the Orient and Europe, as well as English mustard and herbs from the Palaces Herb Garden. The Office of Spicery was responsible for the huge quanities of fruit produced in the Palace Gardens, including apples and pears from two orchards.
The Great Kitchen had six fireplaces with spit-racks, only one of which remains. Liveried serving men would collect the finished dishes from the serving hatches at the far end and take them to the Great Hall.

In the Pastry House both sweet and savoury pies and pasties were prepared in four ovens.
Meat stock and boiled meat were produced in the Boiling House in a great boiling-copper which had a capacity of about 75 gallons.
In the Confectionary, delicate sweet dishes were prepared for the more important members of the Court.
There were three larders in the Tudor Kitchens:
1/ the flesh larder for meat   2/ the wet larder for fish   3/ the dry larder for pulses and huts.
Meat was supplied from various sources including the Palace's pheasant yard, rabbit warrens, and venison from the deer park. Fish (eaten on Fridays and during Lent) came from the Palace's pond gardens.

The Palace had three cellars. The Wine Cellar. The Privy Cellar was where wine and ale was kept for the sovereign. The Great Cellar where ale was stored.
Roasted meat graced almost every meal at the Royal Court as it was an expression of wealth. Fresh meat all year  was only available to the rich, who could afford to roast it before a fire, a technique which wastes most of the fuel, plus the rich had to pay the spit-boy who sat all day turning the spit. It was truly a dish fit for a king.
Most people would have eaten preserved meat or boiled meat.