"Gloomy Meal: Anthropophagy in the Middle Ages" is a unique study of the life of a medieval man, which was filled with cruelty and all kinds of dangers: wars, diseases, poverty and hunger, which pushed people to chilling deeds and terrible crimes. Based on numerous sources, including chronicles, annals, city annals and travel notes, the author talks about the reasons for the anthropophagy that spread in Europe in the V-XVI centuries. This terrifying tradition took root in many areas of medieval society. She helped fight hunger and also played a key role in medieval medicine; as evidenced by the huge number of pharmacological books and recipes with the mysterious ingredient "mumiyo." Elements of anthropophagy can be found in the medieval punishment system and even in the Christian religion. Angelica Montanari describes that forbidden and often attributed to ancient and "barbaric" cultures custom, which actually lurks in the bosom of European culture.