Medieval cuisine includes the foods, eating habits, and cooking methods of various European cultures during the Middle Ages, a period roughly dating from the 5th to the 16th century. During this period, diets and cooking changed less across Europe, then they did in the briefer early modern period that followed, when those changes helped lay the foundations for modern European cuisine. Cereals remained the most important staples during the early Middle Ages, as rice was a late introduction to Europe and the potato was unknown. Barley and rye among the poor, wheat among the governing classes, were eaten as bread, porridge, gruel and pasta by virtually all members of society. and vegetables were important supplements to the cereal-based diet of the lower orders.