feast-menus-msg

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feast-menus-msg - 8/22/04

Feast menus of feasts presented at various SCA events.

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NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

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Stefan at florilegium.org

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Date: Sun, 7 Dec 1997 11:07:34 -0800

From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>

Subject: SC - Jingles Feast

Yesterday, Elizabeth and I and Irena helped cooked the annual Jingles

feast, with Wulfric as head cook. It was a medium sized feast--twelve

tables of eight people each. Since people have been posting menus, here is

ours:

Bread, Butter

First Course:

Roast Beef

Sauces: Cameline

Jance

Mustard

Ryse of a Fysshe Day

Ember-day Tart

Carrots in Pottage

A Subtlety of the West

Second Course:

Chicken in Paste ["Icelandic Chicken"]

Stwed Mutton

Frumenty

Perrey of Pesoun

Crispes

Third Course:

Fillets in Galentine

Loseyns

Lenten Foyles

Creme Bastarde

Quinces in Paste

Small Mead, Sekanjabin,Water

[Wulfric was making a mint syrup from a european recipe--I don't remember

the source--but it somehow went bad so we substituted the sekanjabin at the

last minute. The small mead (Kenelm Digby's "Weak Honey Drink") was donated

by Elizabeth.]

David/Cariadoc

http://www.best.com/~ddfr/

Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 06:35:03 -0600

From: L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at ptd.net>

Subject: SC - Mongol Cooking

Below is the menu for the "Mongol/Russian" feast I did a few years ago. Some

actual Russian attendees thought I was of Russian descent, so I guess it

went over well (must be that 10 percent Moravian blood in me)!

Melee Madness IV Final Menu

On Tables:

1st course: ZAKUSKI---Thinly Sliced Bread, (dark, sourdough, rye, etc) on

which Herb Butters have been spread, presented in a colorful arrangement on

a platter, and various nibbles as available. I also included mushroom caviar

in the spreads.

Throughout the Feast, Served:

2nd Course: Beverage: Honey water(s) flavored with fruit juices (this is

basically unfermented light mead).

To be Served:

3rd course: PEL 'MENI (mongolian dumplings---vegetarian version) in veg.

broth (oriental style?).

and

4th course: PRIGOTOVLENIE PIKULEG---Pickled vegetables (mixed, fancy

shapes, etc...).

5th course: Chicken with Apricots

and

6th course: LAPSHA MINDAL'NAJA-----Almond Noodles

7th course: SALAT---Mixed Greens and Herbs Salad with a Vinaigrette dressing.

8th course: Marinated Roasted Pork (served with a black-currant

sauce--you'll have to bug Ragnar Ketilsson's lady wife for the sauce recipe)

and

9th course: PLOV (fruit and rice "relish")

Available after the feast:

10th course: Assorted Russian Pastries, in a traditional Pyramid

arrangement, served with Coffee and Tea, on a side table, buffet style.

Includes Blini, Mazurkas, Russian Tortes, Jam Pies etc....

Estimated costs: for 82 (including 4 at high table, making it 78

available seats for on board), $375.00

NOTE: In the final analysis, the above cost was under by about $20.00---the

first time I ever went over my feast budget. But it was worth the overage.

it was a top flight feast. I would omit the Zakuski If I were doing it now,

I think, and add a pottage, which appears to be an ancient and traditional

Russian Food from every strata of life, even showing up as church offering

on "Pagan" holidays according to Bread and Salt!

Aoife

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 10:27:15 +1100 (EST)

From: Charles McCathieNevile <charlesn at sunrise.srl.rmit.edu.au>

Subject: SC - Feast menu

Since it seems to be the thing, here is the menu from our feast on the

weekend. (Held in our ring fort, a small affair set just outside Antioch)

There is a fireplace of reasonable size, but we did not have enough

people to justify a proper spit roast. So we used one viking frypan, one

viking cauldron, and three dutch ovens (two of which even have lids) and

a wire grill. It was served in the open air, from sunset onwards,

accompanied by beer and cider and a little wine.

*Bread, pita bread, olives

*Cucumber with salt, pickled cucumbers, pickled herrings

*Chicken grilled then broiled in a sauce of almond milk, saffron, cinnamon

*Apricots, peaches, figs, sultanas

*a salad (spring onion, dill, coriander, mint, cos lettuce. I think that

one was pretty dodgy - I don't know enough about what herbs were where)

*yoghourt, fetta cheese

*grilled fish with herbs,

*Aubergines, sliced, partially boiled, crumbed in spiced breadcrumbs and

fried.

*smoked herrings

*carrots in vinegar and carraway

*bananas, dried apricots, dates

*'oranges' (pork meatballs rolled in egg-yolk, from _Two anglo-norman

culinary collections_ ed Hieatt & Jones)

*'emeles' - almond doughnuts from the same

*Angel's food (ricotta, rosewater and honey)

*something made from biscuit crumbs, spices, pistachio nuts, chopped dates,

butter and honey, rolled into little balls. It is derived from a

middle-eastern recipe for 'hais' which I once read, but I don't know how

close it is to the original

*watermelon

Any comments, especially on what was out of place, would be greatly

appreciated.

Charles Ragnar

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 19:24:06 -0800

From: kat <kat at kagan.com>

Subject: SC - well, since this seems to be a trend... (12th night menu)

I was asked by a dear friend, who is autocratting 12th night, to put together a buffet lunch for her household. Here's my menu:

Party of: Nine

Budget: $100

Problems: No kitchen access, no prep area

(it's cooler-and-crock-pot time!)

On table all day:

Cheese board -- white cheddar, brie, and an Edam or Gouda

Fresh fruit

"beer" bread and butter (requested)

Dates, pitted, with walnut quarters inserted

Olives

Assorted vegetables

Confits (glazed almonds and pecans)

Chocolate (oop, but specifically requested)

Brunch menu:

Onion soppes (from Take 1000 Eggs) (holding in crock pot)

Sliced baguettes, for "sopping"

Garbage (loosely interpreted as pate of chicken livers)

Ember Day Tartes (individual quiches done in muffin tin)

Cold roast Cornish game hens (don't know if they're period, but

can pretend they're partridge, or quail, or

some other prohibitively expensive bird...)

Digby cakes (from Miscellany)

Suggestions, questions, gentle criticisms? Am I playing too fast and loose with periodicity, and if so how can I "tighten it up?"

- kat

Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 19:55:55 -0800

From: "Anne-Marie Rousseau" <acrouss at gte.net>

Subject: Re: SC - Feast Pre-registration

We are asked to create a feast that will drive away apathy and encourage

happy and courteous people.

At a local event, we had a boon day meal. According to my research, it was

the right of the lord of the manor to demand so many days of labor from his

people. In return for a hard day of shearing, harvesting, plowing,

whatever, the lord was expected to provide a meal. There are actually

specific descriptions of the meal, and being a cheapskate was frowned on.

To this end, our Baron and Baroness "Provided" the boon day meal (cooked by

yours truely with a stalwart crew of incredibly useful people) to the

populace to reward them for their hard work in the last year. The menu was

simple. Vegetarians were provided for, with no extra dishes. All the dishes

were not only period, but copies of the documentation were handed out to

the diners as they came through with their plates (hee hee hee...you should

have seen the look on their faces!)

The menu:

Frumenty (barley in veggie broth)

funges (mushrooms stewed in veggie broth with poudre forte)

cretonnee of new peas (a cream of peas soup, flavored with herbs)

Tarte of Flessche (a substantial meat pie)

pears in syrrope (your ubiquitous pears stewed in port and spice)

We made the barley ahead of time in small batches and put it in seal a meal

bags. The bags were thrown into boiling water on camp stoves on site and

served hot. no burning! no scorching!! No gloppy starch mess! The cretonne

was also made ahead of time, mostly becuase it was one less thing to do on

site. The pies were also made ahead of time and served at room temperature.

(We kept them in a fridge near the site and threw them in the oven for a

few minutes to take the chill off). Everything else was made on camp stoves,

on site. The food was carried down to the field on a large board, just like

a Brugel painting! And there wasn’t a crumb leftover. Hah!

People sat on the grass and ate away happily. it was an opportunity for

socializing, without the formality of a sit down feast. The food was good,

hot and PERIOD!! :) The only dietary group not really served was vegan, but

I can't think of any of those in my barony anyway. Folks seemed to have a

good time, and since the menu was so simple, the cooks got to have fun too!

It was mostly a boil and serve kind of thing, so we got to play and frolic

in the grass with our friends.

I'll be submitting this as an article to the TI...including all the

recipes, etc.

- --Anne-Marie

Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 21:00:42 -0600 (CST)

From: jeffrey s heilveil <heilveil at students.uiuc.edu>

Subject: SC - Maidens menu and wrap up...

The Festival of Maidens is over, and with it, my dessert feast. Here is

the menu, and if you are interested in anything, email me, and I can send

it out in a couple days...

Pain de Champagne

(Thanks Bear, it worked out wonderful)

Shortbread 1580's

(Original in Lorna Sass's "To the Queen's Taste")

This was one of the favorites, and got me the dubious honor of the queen

asking me to offer my assistance to the feastocrat for the Tournament of

Chivalry. I used a redaction that Bear put together with very slight

modifications. This stuff is out of this world...

Apple-walnut tart 1300's

Straight from Alia Atlas' translation and redaction of _Ein Buch von guter

Speise_.

Also a good one, all five disappeared, even though only about 70 or so

came instead of the expected 150.

Crispy Pear and Apple French Toast Sandwiches 1300's

Once again, Alia Atlas' translations and redactions saved the day. They

loved this one.

Cripsy pear and apple sauce.

Well, the filling went further than expected, so I added some lemon juice,

and boiled it down to apple sauce consistency. It tasted fine to me, and

after the feast there was only an empty bowl...

Almond Tart

Lorna Sass's redaction in _To the Queen's Taste_. Topped with the peach

topping that was suggested here on the list. There was one of two left

over (planned for too many) but I am content, as it will be breakfast for

a while.

Angel Food

Suggested on here, rosewater, ricotta and honey. Great stuff.

All in all, I found that a dessert revel is a pain, since you are not

really feeding people, I found it hard to figure out how much to make.

Then again, I was told to expect 150, and like I said, 70 showed up. The

food was pretty well taken care of, since the royalty and a few other

guests took food with them. Also, the Barony is having a pot luck on

Friday, so the rest will show up there. For drinks I just did a lemon

drink, water, and a rosewater drink.

On a side note, when I was messing with making the syrup for the rosewater

beverage, I found that if you add Karo and boil it a little longer than

you might otherwise, it makes a terrific shatterglass candy.

Off to finish doing the dishes...

Bogdan

Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 20:40:20 -0600

From: L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at ptd.net>

Subject: SC - Russian Feast + Sour Cherry Soup RCP

Hallo Folks! I just ran across my feast menu for the Russian feast I did a

while back. I thought you'd like to see the menu and sources. It was the

first feast kitchen staffed by the Endless Hills Cooks Guild those many

years ago.

"This feast has been culled from available Russian and Slavic books: Classic

Russian Cooking: Elena Molokhovet's Gift to young Housewives (early 1800s,

trans Joyce Toome, Indiana University Press, 1992), the earliest known or

surviving Russian cookbook, and also from A La Russe: A Cookbook of Russian

Hospitality, Dara Goldstein (Random House), The Food and Cooking of Eastern

Europe (Lesley Chamberlain, Penguin Books 1989), and lastly, The Food and

Cooking of Russia (Lesley Chamberlain, Penguin Books, 1982). In addition,

the presentation and course-order information and court-type food was culled

from Bread and Salt, and The Domostroi."

Feast Menu:

1st course: Zakuski---thinly sliced bread with herbed butters and cheeses

2nd course: Prigotovlenie Pikulag--mixed pickled containing all sorts of

fruits, vegetables, herbs and seeds

3rd course: Honey Water with Orange

4th course: Pel 'Meni---Mongolian Dumplings, one dish of beef-venison and

one dish of sourcream/scallion and mushroom/dill, all in a shallow bath of

vegetarian broth with scallion slices.

5th course: Chicken with apricots

6th course: Lapsha Mindal 'Naja--almond noodles (made with almond milk--we

sprinkled browned almonds in butter and chopped parsley over them)

7th course: Salat with fresh herbs (dill and chives, incl. chive flowers)

8th course: Marinated roast Pork loin with currant sauce

9th course: Plov--fruit and rice "relish"

10th course: Assorted Russian pastries incl. Mazurkas, Jam tarts, Sajima,

Almond Wreaths, Dresden Pyramid torte." (Torte was very Russian despite the

name---was basically a stack of diminishing sized sponge pancakes, stuck

together with jam and drizzled with icing.)

The following is a recipe I did not use but would have loved to (it tasted

great, my kids asked for seconds, but it looked a lot like (I'm sorry to

offend) vomit when done. But the taste........you'll swoon!):

Cherry Soup with Buckwheat (Sup iz Vishen' so Smolenskimi Krupami)

From: Elena Molokhovet paraphrased (sorry! It's written longhand in my notes!)

Boullion from:

2 1/2 lbs beef (my addition: butter to brown)

1 carrot

1 parsley root

1/2 celery root

1/2 leek

(my note: Brown meat in butter---small cubes. Cover with about 3 qts

water, add vegetables, and simmer until a rich stock is achieved. Remove

vegetables and meat.)

Stone 1 pound ripe cherries (my note: I used--the only thing available at

the time--2 lots of Oregon brand canned tart cherries, drained. It was a

great choice), add cinnamon, 1 pound veal, salt, 1/2 glass of sugar, 2

cardomom pods, and 1/2 spoon butter. Cover with boullion and stew.

(Note: in Russian, Stew is a generic term for cook. I believe the meat is to

be removed, but you could also shred it and add it back, I suppose).

Pound cherry stones, pour on a little boullion and cook. Strain into

cherries. Add 1/2 pound grated sweet-sour bread (my bread was sour dough),

cook until thickened. Just before serving, rub through a seive. Dilute with

boullion, add sugar and salt to taste, mix with buckwheat kasha.

(my note: It was way too thick. I added about 50 percent more stock than the

recipe seemed to call for to get a thick pottage that thickened even more

upon standing!)

The recipe for kasha, elsewhere in the book:

kasha:

1/2 glass kasha groats, 1 egg, 3/4 glass water, 1 spoon butter

My interpretation of the recipe, after looking at other sources:

Mix egg into groats. Dry in oven. Boil water and salt, sprinkle on the

groats. When thick, stir in butter and turn into a shallow bowl or plate.

Smooth into a thick sheet of kasha. Cool. Cut into small cubes before mixing

with sour cherry soup.

Aoife

Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 02:08:10 -0500

From: James & Melody Mahanna <jmmahanna at worldnet.att.net>

Subject: SC - For Love & Honor

This weekend, March 27-29, the Shire of Bordervale Keep will be hosting

the event For Love & Honor. I had agreed to be feastocrat for this event,

but unfortunately I will be having surgery on the 27th. I thought however

that you all might like to see the menu. We will be serving a brunch that

morning also.

Brunch

Smoked Gouda

Amish Cheese

Rolls

Muffins / Pastries

Apples & Oranges

Butter

Honey

Feast Menu

Bread with chive butter and honey butter

Soup: Cabbage Chowder

Salad Course: Bohensalat ( A german green bean salad with

vinagrette)

First Course: Rosemary Garlic Pork Rolls

Courgette Salad

Basmati Rice

Second Course: Peppercorn Beef

Roasted Turnips, Carrots, and Onions

Mushroom Pasties

Dessert Course: Scones

Baked Apples w/Sour Cream Sauce

- --

Taliesin yr Glamorgan & Morwenna De Malyns

Mka: James & Melody Mahanna

http://home.att.net/~jmmahanna/shirepage.html

Date: Sun, 5 Apr 1998 08:48:17 -0700

From: "Anne-Marie Rousseau" <acrouss at gte.net>

Subject: SC - late period french food.

> Now any ideas for a late period french feast for our fall event?

The Madrone Culinary Guild did a banquet of late period French food a few

years back. Most all the recipes were documented from Taillevent, le

Menagier, Chiquart or la Varenne (I told you it was late!). The food was

amazing, if I do say so myself.

We had:

Chicken with a cinnamon orange sauce (from le Menagier)

spinach tarts (from la Varenne)

mushrooms stewed with fresh herbs (from la Varenne)

egg bread (from la Varenne)

pear tart (from la Varenne)

parma tarts (a serving dish surrounded with dough crennelations, decorated

with the arms of the visiting dignitaries, filled with the cinnamon orange

chicken) (from Taillevent and Chiquart)

lamb with sauce robert (from all the sources, in one form or another)

turnips in a mustard sauce (from Chiquart?)

mushroom pasties (from le Menagier)

marzipan tart (a custardy tart with preserved fruit on top, on a marzipan

crust) (la Varenne)

lemon salad (this one is from an Italian source, actually, if memory

serves!)

stuffed eggs (la Varenne)

compound salat (la Varenne)

peach and grape tarts (cant remember the source on this one...might have

been secondary)

ypocras (we used white grape juice instead of wine, due to site

restrictions) (all the sources, but we used la Varennes)

I have also since completed a potential complete anachronist with a large

number more recipes reconstructed from the above sources. There's also a

fun source in the process of being translated right now from the 1500s.

Kinda an "international cookbook", if you will. Should be fun, especially

since it falls right in the gap in time between the medieval cookbooks of

Taillevent and Chiquart and the most unmedieval la Varenne.

- --Anne-Marie

Date: Fri, 1 May 1998 00:26:59 -0600 (MDT)

From: Sabia <sabia at unm.edu>

Subject: Re: SC - Sabia's Feast

The event was Sworded Affair, and while it was attempted

to remain true to preiod a few of the recipes were undocumented. Much

thanks to all the ideas and recipes from this list. A disclaimer, while I

was the coordinator of the feast, 11 other people were instrumental in

pulling it off. I was attempting a soteltie feast, based on the elements,

with each course assuming one of the aspects. Air did well as did fire

and the desert course, but earth was weak and water lost ground when in a

last minute snafu all the pastry shaped shells and fishes for holding the

chicken recipe proved too broken to be used. The menu is below, and if

anyone really wants to know where the recipes came from I could post that

in a few days. all in all it went well and there seemed to be enough food

(ok, maybe I did cook for Farm boys :)) to satisfy everyone.

Sabia

1st Course

(air)

Bread in fanciful bird shapes.

Butter and herbed cheese

Marbled eggs, eggs in mustard sauce, and ruby eggs

2nd Course

(sea)

Fish-(sweet chicken in fish shaped coffyns)

Saffron rice w/almond pearls

Mushrooms and Leeks

3rd Course

(earth)

Roast Pork (with Garlic sauce)

Small Pies (quiche)

Armored Turnips

4th Course

(fire)

Alows of Beef

Cabbage salad

Olives

5th Course

(The Crucible)

(fire) A marzipan dragon and people etc.

(sea) Treasure of Sea Gems (colored Sugar Plate)

(earth) Mountain (Ginger bread)

(air) bread birds with a sugar glaze

additionally pine nut candy and almonds

Date: Mon, 04 May 1998 05:55:41 GMT

From: korny at zikzak.net (Kornelis Sietsma)

Subject: SC - autumn feast report (long)

Just thought I'd share my experiences this weekend...

Sharon Nevin and I ran the College of St Monica's tenth anniversary feast

on Saturday. Sharon was the autoc^H^H^H^H^H Steward, and I was the

feasto^H^H^H^H^H^H Head Cook. :) We have helped with feasts before, but

this was our first time in the hot seats...

I'll concentrate on the food side of things - as I didn't see that much of

the actual feast! We decided to have an Autumnal theme, as (a) Melbourne

is full of fabulous fresh autumn fruit at this time of year, and (b)

seasonal produce is cheaper :) We were feeding 72 people, and didn't have

a vast budget to work with.

I'll run through the menu as it came out, with my reactions and

observations.

(note - I don't have my notes with me, so this is from memory :)

First, we opened with Duck in a Piquant Sauce. This recipe was from

Bartolomeo Scappi, redacted in the book "Great Cooks and their Recipes".

We basically cooked 9 ducks in a mixture of red wine, vinegar, ham, herbs

and spices. The original called for wild ducks, but our budget didn't

quite stretch that far - we used 1.5kg ducklings instead.

Happily the hall we were in had a vast pot which held 8 of the ducks quite

well, and even had a steamer/lifter attachment so the ducks couldn't stick

to the bottom (as they did when I tested the recipe!) The ducks on the

bottom of the pot disintegrated somewhat, but they generally held together.

Also, the sauce wasn't as thick as intended - it is very tricky to thicken

that quantity of sauce! But the taste of the dish was wonderful :)

We followed that with Broccoli and Fennel. I can't remember the original

source of this, but the redaction was from "The Original Mediterranean

Cuisine". I actually followed the original rather than the redaction - the

redaction involved steaming the veges, which made for a fairly bland

result. The original had them boiled in stock, which was much tastier. I

used vegetarian chicken stock, which meant that the dish was still

vegetarian safe. 18 bulbs of Fennel, and 5kg of broccoli, are certainly

entertaining to boil!

The next dish was fresh Pasta with Cheese. I had some foolish volunteers

who offered to make pasta, so they spent several hours during the day

mixing dough and drying strips of pasta on clothes-horses. The sauce was

made up of three cheeses - mainly swiss, with some blue and some parmesan,

melted together with cream. We produced one smallish platter of pasta per

table, so there wasn't a lot, but everyone hopefully got some...

The first course finished with Pears in Compost, from "1000 eggs". This

was prepared in the morning and chilled in 9 bowls until it was served. We

almost had a disaster with this one, but it turned out well in the end...

The pears we bought were very ripe and soft, and cooked rather quickly, so

they were done before the sauce was thick. I strained the liquid from the

rest, and left it on the stove to simmer while I did some other tasks...

Unfortunately, there was a communication breakdown and the sauce was

unwatched for quite a while... I noticed an interesting caramel smell

eventually, and thought "Argh! The sauce is burning!" However, when I

checked the sauce, it was an interesting caramel colour and smell, but it

actually tasted rather nice. We served the pears in the newly-discovered

caramel sauce, and they went down very well!

(Apologies to anyone at the feast who thought the caramel sauce was

deliberate! Now you know better :)

The second course opened with Lamb with Quinces. I again can't remember

the source, but the redaction was from "The Original Mediterranean Cuisine"

(with some modifications - I halved the vinegar used, as my test version

was *very* tart...)

This was cooked entirely in the morning before the feast. It was basically

a one-pot stew, containing Mutton, Pancetta, Quinces, bread, quince paste,

herbs and spices (including a lot of saffron). It cooked for an hour in

the morning, then was left for about 6 hours while the rest of the feast

was made, and then re-heated before serving. By this time the quinces had

almost totally dissolved into the sauce! However, the mutton was very

nicely done by then. I used mutton not lamb, as this was an autumn dish -

I doubt that spring lamb would have been appropriate, and mutton is

tastier.

The result was again good - and very filling. If I made it again, I would

have left the quinces in quarters rather than chopping them into slices, so

there would have been recognizable quince pieces by the end - but otherwise

I was very happy with this dish, and it was wonderful to just re-heat it

and serve it.

The next dish was Mushrooms with Onions and Herbs, again from "Original

Mediterranean Cuisine" - basically mushrooms, onions, coriander, and

parsley, fried in batches and then fried up together. Nice and simple,

easy to re-heat before serving, vegetarian safe, and very tasty.

This was followed with Chestnut Fritters. This recipe, titled "Rissoles

for a fish day", I spotted in "Le Menagier de Paris". It is very simple -

chestnuts, cheese, egg, and spices, mixed together and fried. I made my

own version of these a few weeks ago, and they were very tasty.

However, my copy of "Early French Cooking" arrived last weekend, and

contained a redaction of this recipe, with fish included, and wrapped in

pastry before frying. I decided to go with my version in the end - as fish

are not universally popular, and the pastry seemed like a lot more work.

Does anyone know for sure whether these would have been wrapped in pastry

in period? Scully assumes that anything titled "Rissoles" would by default

have been in pastry - but the original doesn't mention that fact :)

Anyway, my fritters sans pastry were good, and filling. I fried them in

batches and served them as they were hot to each table. They possibly

needed something more - I want to try them again some time with apples in

the mixture, as I think that might make them sweeter and lighter. The only

really tricky part was peeling the chestnuts - a very slow and fiddly job.

The final dish for the evening was a special of our college, and may not be

popular with all - it was Chocolate and Pear Tart. The recipe comes from a

manuscript dated 1615, that a past member of our college found in the

archives in Milan while researching her PhD. It is technically OOP, but

only just - and it seemed appropriate for the tenth anniversary feast.

Incidentally the tarts are *very* tasty.

After that we closed with Hippocras and roasted chestnuts, but most people

were too full to go near them.

The only other dish I had planned was a plate of quince sweets

("Condoignac") for high table. The recipe was from "Le Menagier de Paris",

as redacted in "Early French Cooking". I tried making a batch of these but

had some problems with the redaction. For one thing, quinces must be a lot

smaller in Canada than here! The recipe called for 6 to 8 quinces, cored

and peeled, to be boiled in 1 1/2 cups of white wine. I cored and peeled 7

quinces before I thought about this - and then realised that it would take

more like 3 or 4 cups of wine to even start to cook them!

The other problem I met was that such a large quantity of quinces took

forever to cook - I simmered them most of Friday afternoon and evening, and

again during the day on Sunday, and they still were a bit squishy - they

were meant to be sliced and sugared, but the stuff didn't really want to

stay in individual slices, and the sugared sweets went sticky very fast.

In the end I made one plate of sweets for high table, and the rest of the

mixture was taken home to be further dried. (Apart from the many scraps

that were eaten buy the kitchen staff) The sweets were a little mushy, but

tasted wonderful. However, I'm not sure that they were worth the effort.

Overall, I think the feast was very successful. All the perishable food

was bought from the local Queen Victoria Market, and was fresh and

inexpensive. We consumed 20 liters of wine, 9 ducks, 7 kilos of Mutton, 2

kilos of ham, 2.5 kilos of cheese, 4.5 kilos of broccoli, 18 heads of

fennel, 4.5 kilos of mushrooms, 5 kilos of onions, 4 kilos of chestnuts, 20

kilos of pears, 5 kilos of apples, 26 quinces, 2 liters of vinegar, 5kg of

sugar, about 2 grams of saffron, and many other herbs and spices.

- -Korny

- --

Kornelis Sietsma http://zikzak.net/~korny icq: 2039172

e-mail: korny at zikzak.net or korny at a2.com.au

Date: Mon, 04 May 1998 10:45:32 -0700From: cassie <cassie at sally.nas.nasa.gov>Subject: Re: SC -Gentle education, was Help thinking up a class... This discussion reminds me of a feast I worked on a couple of years ago.I did a course entirely derived from recipes found in Apicius. When Iheld the tasting for the course, the comments that were made was howordinary the food seemed. The dishes that I served were:Broiled Red Snapper in a Red Wine sauceChicken in a cream sauce over pastaCucumber saladHerbed PeasPinenut CustardThere was a sixth dish, but I don't remember what it was off the topof my head. (I'm at work, the notes are at home).There are a lot of period recipes for food that should be appealingto most modern appetites, and are simple to make. Like almond fritters andAndalusian stuffed eggs (tastes nearly like a deviled egg. A sideboardcould also consist of fresh and dried fruits, nuts, roasted meats (withvarious sauces on the side), short bread, etc.Euriol- --Cassandra Baldassano cassie at nas.nasa.gov

Date: Wed, 06 May 1998 12:54:47 -0700

From: cassie <cassie at sally.nas.nasa.gov>

Subject: SC - Re: sca-cooking posting

Brokk wrote:

> I'm interested in the recipies for the following dishes:

> Broiled Red Snapper in a Red Wine sauce

> Herbed Peas

> Pinenut Custard

> Could you please mail them to me?

> Haakon af Arnfit.

Here is the Roman course I did for Jingles AS XXX, the only

dish not listed here was a egg bread, shaped in grape clusters.

I got the bread recipe from Master Wulfric, not from Apicius.

- --

Cassandra Baldassano cassie at nas.nasa.gov

Sterling Software (650) 604-6007 or (800) 331-8737 x6007

Supporting: M/S 258-6

Systems Control NASA Ames Research Center

Database Administration Moffett Field, CA 94305-1000

***********************************************************************

These recipes were derived from two different cookbooks on Apicius.

Apicius Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome, Joseph Dommers Vehling

APICIUS. The Roman Cookery Book., Barbara Flower and Elisabeth Rosenbaum.

I apologize for not having the translations from these sources, but below are

my final recipes. Note in regards to the recipe, Liquamen is called for in

each dish. Liquamen is a fish sauce not unlike Worchestshire and was brewed

commercially in Roman times according to Flowers & Rosenbaum. Due to possible

food allergies to fish, I only used it in the Red Snapper dish, in the

others I substituted salt for half the quantity of liquamen.

Condimentum in Rubellionen

Red Snapper with Seasoning

Red Snapper 8 Filets

Butter 2 TBSP

Flour 2 TBSP

Red Wine 0.50 Cup

Passum 0.50 Cup

Vinegar 1 tsp

Thyme Dry 0.25 tsp

Liquamen 1 tsp

Olive Oil 1 tsp

Pepper (dry) 0.25 tsp

Lovage (fresh, finely chopped) 0.25 TBSP

Caraway (Dry) 0.25 tsp

Celery Seed (Dry) 0.25 tsp

Dried Onion 0.25 tsp

Broil Red Snapper Filets. Melt Butter in sauce Pan.

Add Flour. Cook Butter and flour to make Roux.

Add liquids, stir until smooth. Add herbs.

Poor over Red Snapper filets.

Conchicla de Pisa Simplici

A simple dish of peas

peas 2 Cups

1 Small Leek

.5 Bunch Coriander

Pepper .5 tsp

Lovage (fresh) .5 TBSP

Oregano (dry) .5 TBSP

liquamen*** 2 TBSP

White Wine .25 Cup

Olive Oil 2 TBSP

Cook peas with bouquet of leeks & coriander, when peas are cooked remove

leeks & Coriander.

In blender, puree leeks, coriander & remaining herbs with 1/4 cup of cooking

liquid & other ingredients.

Place sauce in saucepan with peas and warm.

Aliter Cucumbers

Cucumbers, another Method

2 Cucumbers

pepper .25tsp

Pennyroyal (Mint) freshly chopped .5 TBSP

Honey or Passum 1 TBSP

Liquamen*** .5 tsp

Red Wine Vinegar .5 Cup

Slice cucumbers. Toss Ingredients together in a bowl.

Caroetae Frictae

Fried Carrots

Carrots (sliced) 1 lb

Olive Oil 2 TBSP

White Wine .25 Cups

Liquamen*** 2 TBSP

Fry carrots in Olive oil. Toss with Wine & Liquamen.

Pullus Tractogalatus

Chicken over pasta

1 Whole Chicken

Liquamen*** 2 TBSP

Oil 2 TBSP

White Wine 1 Cup

Coriander .5 Bunch

1 Onion

liquamen*** 1 tsp

Honey 3 TBSP

Broth 1 Cups

Milk 1 Cups

Pepper 1 tsp

Lovage 1 tsp

Oregano 1 tsp

Butter 4 TBSP

Flour 4 TBSP

Pasta 1 Lb.

Cook Chicken in water, Liquamen, oil, wine, coriander and onion.

Reserver 2 cups of liquid, in a saucepan melt butter, add flour to make roux.

Add liquid, stir until smooth. Add honey and salt. Then add remaining herbs.

Cut chicken into pieces and add to the sauce. Server over cooked pasta.

- --

Duke Cariadoc and I had discussed the issue of using pasta in this dish,

as there were some questions as to whether pasta was used in Roman times.

I did some further researching and found that there was evidence that pasta

was used by the Estrucans. I also discussed this topic with Mistress Jania

of Call Duck Manor, she said she did some research many years ago and

pasta extruders were found in Roman archaeological sites. I have not actually

seen the research that Jania has done, but I think that pasta was known

in Roman times, however it may not have been extensively used as it is today.

Another reason I decided to use pasta (rather than crumbled pastry as the

Flowers & Rosenbaum version does) is that the recipe already calls for a

thickening agent with the flour (which might actually be wheat starch which

I couldn't get at the time.) The idea of using crumbled pastry, which to

me would only add a second thickening agent didn't make sense to me, however

using pasta made more sense.

I also made a roux, instead of thickening the sauce by adding the flour

into the liquid, because I was more familiar with thinning down a roux to

make a sauce as opposed to thickening up a liquid into a sauce. I don't think

the difference would make the end product noticeably different.

- --

Patina Veratilis visi dulcis

Pinenut Custard

Pinenuts (ground) .5 Cup

honey .5 Cup

pepper .25 tsp

liquamen .25 tsp

milk 3 Cups

eggs 5

white wine .75 tsp

olive oil .5 tsp

Beat together eggs, honey, liquamen & Oil.

Gradually beat in milk and wine.

Add ground pine nuts. Pour mix into custard bowl.

Bake at 300º for 1 hour, until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Liquamen

Anchovie sauce

Water .75 Cup

Salt .5 tsp

Oregano (fresh) 1 bunch

Anchovies 1 tin

Vinegar (white) .75 Cup

yields .75 Cup

Boil ingredients together until rendered by half. Strain until clear.

Store.

- --

Flower & Rosenbaum give several recipes that require fermentation, they

also give a quick recipe which is cooked on the stove, this is the one

I used.

- --

Passum

Raisin Wine

Raisins 1 Cup

Dessert Wine 1 Bottle

Place in saucepan. Reduce to 1/3.

Store.

- --

Passum was a wine made of raisins, I could not find a source for a raisin

wine. But Flowers & Rosenbaum indicated that it should be as sweet as honey.

so I just cooked a dessert wine and raisins together until it was as sweet

according to my taste.

- --

Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 22:37:16 -0700

From: "Anne-Marie Rousseau" <acrouss at gte.net>

Subject: Re: SC - Kitchen steward.

hiya from Anne-Marie

Stefan sez:

> Ok, Anne-Marie, I'm asking you to tell us about your Elizabethan banquet.

> I can see this going into my feast-disasters-msg or feast-menus-msg file

> depending upon how things worked out. :-)

I already posted the general info, but you reminded me I forgot the all

important menu!!! Dont forget, every recipe was reconstructed from the

original source, and all the sources were very late/elizabethan European.

[see the feasts-review-msg file -ed.]

1st course:

pear puddings (a spiced meatball, shaped like a pear, complete with stem)

buttered onions (a baked savory of apples and onions, dressed with spice)

chicken and colliflowers (a dish of colliflowers boiled in milk, dressed

with chicken and a lemon sauce)

compound salat (a salat of greens, fresh flowers, and various things)

herbed salmon (salmon stuffed with fresh herbs and poached in white wine

and lemon. served with a vinegar and breadcrumb sauce)

carrot pudding (a baked sweet pudding of carrot and spice)

2nd course:

Dressed Parsnips (parsnips stewed in milk and mashed. yum!)

queens hotchpot (a beef and root vegetable stew)

stewed mushrooms (shrroms stewed with fresh herbs)

Buttered Shrimps (large prawns, stewed in wine and orange juice, dressed

with drawn butter and orange sauce)

English Spiced Beef (a roast beef, rubbed with spices and marinated, served

with mustard and horseradish)

Cold Chicken Salad (a dish of cold chicken meat, raw apples, onion and

lemon)

pippin pudding (apples stuffed with a sweet streusal thing, baked in cream)

Banquetting remove:

madelines (yep, we found a recipe for "shell bread")

white bisket (aka merigues)

shrewsbury cakes

peach tarts

pear tarts

marzipan fruits

savoy biskets

marchpanes (sugar cookies, with marzipan on top)

french bisket

jumballs, in the shape of pretzels

Digby's very good cake (a fruit cake type unit)

a white leach (milk jello, gilded with edible gold)

fresh oranges and apples

dried fruit and nuts

Before you ask, all the recipes are going to be in a single publication,

which I'll announce when its ready! Really!

- --AM

Date: Tue, 04 Aug 1998 09:45:33 -0500

From: maddie teller-kook <meadhbh at io.com>

Subject: Re: SC - Feast Details

Michael F. Gunter wrote:

> Hey Meadhbh!

> Didn't you do a feast last weekend? Tell us the details!

> Gunthar

It wasn't me, buy my apprentice that did the feast. I was kitchen slave for the

weekend but I am glad to share the menu for the Western Regional A&S event.

Leek/Onion Soup

Roast Pork with Sweet and Sour sauce (Italian recipe from Barbara Sandich's

book)

CousCous with carmelized onions, walnuts and peas

Yellow rice

Braised spinach with garlic and balsamic vinegar

Salat with vinegrette dressing

roasted carrots and onions

dessert: cake with blueberry and whipped cream

The feastocrat was my apprentice HL Rosario InCarboni. He did an excellent job.

The food was excellent and much fun was had by all.

meadhbh

Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1998 10:36:41 -0500

From: vjarmstrong at aristotle.net (Valoise Armstrong)

Subject: SC - Feast of the Epiphany

I'm posting this for a friend. Mistress Tippereth is planning a feast for

January 6th based upon the life of Eleanor of Acquitaine and has set a web

page with the menu complete with sources and recipes as she develops them.

The address for the web page is:

http://users.conwaycorp.net/carrick.vonegmont/

Here's the menu from Tippereth:

Preliminary List of Dishes:

The following is a list of possible dishes that I am considering serving

at the Feast of the Epiphany on January 9th,1998. The theme of the feast

is the life and travels of Eleanor of Aqutaine. The Feast begins at 4:00

pm and will contine until 7:00 pm. We are still in the planning stages,

so the number of removes may be change, as well as the time the Feast

will begin and end.

First Course -- Growing up and Becoming Queen of France

*Poulet au Verjus (Chicken in Grape Juice) OR Poulet a l'es Tragon (Chicken

in Tarragon Sauce) OR Poulet au Vinagre (Chicken in Vinegar Sauce)

[France/Region of Aquataine]

*Scallops Sauté OR Scallops and Leeks [France/Region of Aquataine]

*Gigot d'Agneau a la Provencale (Roast leg of lamb w/lavender)

[France/Provence]

*Escarole Braise (Braised Escarole) [France/Provence]

*Jambon en Croute (Ham in Pastry) [France/Paris]

*Asparagus

Second Course -- On Crusade

*Chicken Dumplings [Germany]

*Cinnamon Tart [Germany]

*Spritzgebackenes [Germany]

*Tagletelli and Scampi e Limone (Shrimp with Lemon) [Northern Italian]

*Musaka [Greek]

*Rose Water Syrup (as a Drink) [Egyptian]

*Sikanjabîn [Egyptian]

*Chicken in a Bread Loaf [Egyptian]

*Glaze Nut Clusters [Egyptian]

*Honey Spice Oranges [Persian]

*Stuffed Walnuts [Persian]

Third Course -- In the Holy Land

*Lamb and fruit stew [Syrian (or Lebanese)]

*Kibbeh bil Sanieh (Kibbeh on a Tray) [Syrian (or Lebanese)]

*Millet With Saffron and Walnuts [Syrian (or Lebanese)]

*Eggplant filled with Sheikh el Mahshi OR Onion filled with Sheikh el

Mahshi Turkish OR Shish Kabobs [Turkish]

*Cacik (Cucumber and yogurt salad) [Turkish]

*Stuffed Cabbage Leaves [Turkish]

*Apricotina (Apricot Drops) [Turkish]

Fourth Course -- Queen of England

*Fylettys en Galentyne [English]

*Honey Butter Carrots [English]

*Braised Leeks [English]

*Pears in Compote [English]

*Pudding [English]

*Doucetye [English]

Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 20:37:02 EDT

From: LrdRas at aol.com

Subject: SC - Feast Menu-Everyman's Challenge

Here is the menu from Everyman's Challenge held in the Shire of Eisental,

Sept. 19, 1998. Kitchen Steward-Lady Ellesbeth Donofrey. This is being posted

with her permission.

The following abbreviations are used>

P=Period

PL=Period-like

T-Traditional

E=Ethnic

1st Course

- ----------------

Spinach Almiond Soup (P)

Pate (PL)

Cheese Pie (P)

Flavored Butters (T)

2nd Course

- ----------------

Chicken in Orange Sauce (P)

Carrots Apicius (P)

Armored Turnips (P)

Saffron Rice (P)

3rd Course

- ----------------

Roast Beast (PL)

Funges (P)

Braised Fennel and Leeks (P)

Frumenty (P)

4th Course (Dessert Board)

- ----------------------------------------

Apple Tarts (P)

Pears Poached in Wine with Carob Sauce (PL)

Cannoli (E)

Ras

Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 21:22:52 -0800

From: charding at nwlink.com (Cathy Harding)

Subject: RE: SC - Re: Period Feasts

I just finished doing an elizabethan feast for a Barony south od Seattle.

This was in conjunction with an effort to encourage research and

construction of clothing for the period and for the socio-economic

situation we had planned. Since we were planning this event 6 months out,

we picked the mid to late elizabethan period and also what we would

classify today as middle class, not court and not peasant. This was an

event that was based around encourageing the performing arts. While it was

not required to "be" elizabethan or for that matter "middle class" we did

encourage it. This was chosen because the sources (primary and other wise)

are reasonably accessible.

So we had classes and workshops all sumer to complete smocks, corsets,

shoes, belts, bodices or doublets and skirts or pants. We held some

classes on dessert making and played with sugar plate. We made many little

marzipan and sugar plate things. I dis covered that event in a humid

climate, a food dehydrator which has separate air and temp controls works

great.

So Any way - here is the menu. This was for a Barony which usually does

putluck feasts. Thanks to Anne Marie who allowed me to pick her cold

wracked brain at teh last minute for a few more dishes. ( I don't have the

sources at the ready)

First

Pottage of Peas

Pickled Mushrooms

Savory Mince pies (no fruit in these)

Spinach tarts

A soletie of Marzipan bees with gelatain wings hovering around a bee hive

with honeycomb shaped Shrewsbury cakes with more bees

Second

A Grand Sallat that was really pretty with some carved lemons with rosemary

flaggs and lots of stuff

Roast goose with a fuit and quince stuffing that was supposed to be made

into a sauce (the kitchen staff was running out of time and the diners out

of tummy space so we didn't do the sauce)

The other sauce was a green sauce

Buttered Onions (really buttered apple slices with some onions)

Leeks in Almond milk ('cos the autocrat asked me to make them)

Banqueting table (the source for this course was "Banquetting Stuffe")

marzipan & sugar paste things including some plates

candied peels, fruits, and roots (orange and lemon peel, ginger, dates and

figs)

Marzipan coins (made with a hand carved wooden coin die)

Knots and Gumballs

Plum Cream (from Eleanor Fettiplace, and some other sources, they

called for Quinces, but the week before the event we were gifted with about

a bushel of italian plums)

We had a feast handout with information dispelling some standard food

myths, and talked about what food and feasts of this period and location

were like.

There were few leftovers, we came in under budget $6/pp, $10 if you dawdled

in making reservations. It was well received and accomplished our goals.

Maeve d'Maas

Barony of Madrone, Kingdom of An Tir

Seattle Washington

Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1998 20:48:41 EST

From: LrdRas at aol.com

Subject: SC - Ras's and Seraphina's feast-menu

[Harvest Melee. Shire of Silver Ryhll. October 17, 1998.]

1st Service

Squash Soup (period)

Brodo of Red Chickpeas (period)

Bread (period-like)

Cucumbers in Yogurt Mint Sauce (period)

2nd Service

Chicken with Pomegranate Sauce, Apple Stuffing and Pinenuts (period-like)

Saffron Rice (period-like)

Carrots Apicius (period)

Garbage (period-like)

3rd Service

Roast Pork with Garlic (period)

Sauerkraut with Butter and Sour Cream (period)

Baked Apples (period-like)

Small rolls (period-like)

4th Service

Watermelon

Kitchen Steward-al-Sayyid A'aql ibn Ras al-Zib

Mistress of the Kitchen- Lady Seraphina

Special thanks to Lord G. Adamantius, Duke Sir Cariadoc, Her Grace Elizabeth

Cook, Lady Brangwayna, Lady Gretchen, Lord Ramus and Lord Duncan, without

who's help this feast would not have been possible.

Ras

Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 12:08:56 -0400

From: "Jennifer Conrad" <CONRAD3 at prodigy.net>

Subject: SC - My latest feast (and a few comments)

Well, just catching up on my mail after taking a few days to do the

Terpsichore at the Tower V feast and also seeing a couple of things that hit

home for me in various discussions.

First of all, here is the menu, all of the recipes (except for the Pasta

with Pesto Sauce ) are from "The Medieval Kitchen", by Rendon, et al.

First Course

(all on table to start)

Bread

Herbed Butter

Lentil Puree

Genoa salami

Cured olives

Marinated artichokes

olive oil

roasted garlic spread

Main Course

(Which went out on time, yippee!!!)

Pasta with Pesto sauce

Roasted Onion Salad

Asparagus with Saffron

Romania, or Chicken with Pomegranate Sauce

Final Course

Sliced apples

Red Grapes

Assorted cheeses

This feast served aprox. 80 people and was prepared that day by only 3

people including myself. My lord husband, Fernando, and I have together

about 30 or so years of food service experience, and the lady who was

helping us was willing to learn and do anything we asked of her, so that's

why such a small cooking crew.

All of the comments that I heard were good. One lady told me that was one

of the best feasts that she had in years. For leftovers, we maybe had 2

chickens worth of meat left. The lentil puree didn't go over that well, but

it only cost me about $3-4.00 to make so I wasn't upset about that.

My servers were wonderful and all worked together as a team and watched

their table and I don't think any of my guest went for wanting.

The only problem came at the end when my husband and I were the ONLY ones

in the kitchen cleaning up at the end. Yes, I do agree that cleaning up is

part of the day, but not cleaning everything up, just because I was the head

cook. I do this also for a living, and when we have big functions at work,

we get extra help in to do clean up.

We only got extra help in after we had to literally YELL for it, despite

asking for help at meetings and during the feast. The yelling caused the

Baron to come and hunt me down and to then send our Seneschal in search of

folks to help us. I really hope I never have to do that again.

All in all, everyone ate well, there was enough food, hot food hot, cold

food cold, and it's done till the next time.

The tired and glad she has today off of work,

Lady Luveday Tyreman

Barony of Cynnabar

Pentamere

Midrealm

Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1999 11:48:02 +1000

From: "Susan P Laing" <Susan.P.Laing at mainroads.qld.gov.au>

Subject: SC - St. Florians Royal visit feast (assistant cook's report)

Just thought I'd give a quick report on the event I helped cook for at the Shire

of St Florian-de-la-Riviere (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia)

As it was a Royal Visit for the Prince & Princess of Lochac the head cooks

decided that finger food that could be wandered around with (leaving one hand

free to carry your wine glass) would be the way to go.

I was responsible for 4 of the 22 dishes - (the crew consisted of 2 head cooks

and 4 assistant cooks - 6 in total)

My dishes were -

Stuffed Eggs (from "Medieval Kitchen" by Redon (et al)

Sausage Hedgehods (Playn Delight)

Fennel & Leeks (from "Mediterranen Cuisine" by Santich)

& Mushroom pasties (Playn Delight)

The Mushroom pasties (actually tartlets) were pre-cooked on the friday, leaving

me the other 3 to make on the day.

All four recipes proved to be simple and easy to follow (although the fennel

bulbs that were supplied were massive and I had a number of evil thoughts when

trying to "slice thinly" as per the recipe requirements). I also have

discovered that my version of hell will no doubt include me being forced to

place slivers of almonds in small pork balls...... (definately one of the most

monotonous jobs I've found so far!)

All in all the event went over very well (the cry of "no more food" went up

about three quarters of the way into the night and we left them to nibble on the

deserts as they wished)

The other dishes were :

Chicken in Lemon Sauce (Mediterranean Cuisine);

Chicken with Saffron and Spice sauce (Mediterranean Cuisine )

Veal Rolls with Herbs (Mediterranean Cuisine)

Stuffed Aubergines (Mediterranean Cuisine)

Aubergines in the moorish style (Mediterranean Cuisine )

Turnips armed in self-defense (Renaissance Recipes)

Sauteed mushrooms with spices(Medieval Kitchen)

Lombard chicken pasties (Medieval Kitchen (?))

Roast onion salad (Medieval Kitchen)

Candied sweet potatoes in syrup (Elenor Fetterplace)

Tart for mid-lent (To the King's taste)

Mussels in Broth (To the King's Taste)

Garlic nuclear mushrooms - grilled mushrooms with pancetta & garlic

(Mediterranena Cuisine)

Honey & Saffron quiche (700 years of English cookery)

Jumbals (To the Queen's taste)

Pine nut candy (Medieval Kitchent (?))

Rapaye (Take a 1000 eggs or more)

(plus another dish with small mussels - recipe name unknown to me)

(recipes for these can be supplied if requested)

Mari

(who managed to survive with only 3 burns and a blister - no cuts this time!

:-p)

Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 10:03:40 EDT

From: RuddR at aol.com

Subject: SC - RE: SC-Lenten/Vegan ideas

April Abbott (Sofonisba) writes:

<<Out of curiosity, has anybody ever tried cooking a whole Lenten meal at an

event?>>

It isn't a SCA event, but I host an annual Mid-Lent Feast, on the most

convenient Saturday halfway between Ash Wednesday and Easter. We adhere

closely to Medieval Lenten food restrictions. We allow ourselves butter and

cheese, and substitute vegetable stock for meat broth where needed. We make

sure we have enough lean dishes without fish to satisfy vegetarian guests,

who must always decline invitations to our other, meat-laden medieval feasts.

The menu for this years feast (IIRC):

First Course:

Puree of Peas

Apple Moy

Haddok in Cyvee

Green Garlic Sauce for Fish

Turbut Rost Ensauce

Losynes

Custad Lombard in Lent

Second Course:

Buttered Wortes

Cold Salmon with Vinegar Sauce (Elizabethan, but still delicious)

Shrimp with Vinegar and Parsley

Salat

Eyroun in Lent (egg shells filled with almond cream)

Fresh Fruit

Rudd Rayfield

Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 09:52:08 -0600

From: "Michael F. Gunter" <michael.gunter at fnc.fujitsu.com>

Subject: SC - Last unanswered Buffet menu

[Menu for food at a Knight’s Vigil]

Baroness Alys, my logical compatriot, and I finally hashed out the

menu for the Last Unanswered Buffet meal for this Friday night.

We wished to reflect the candidate's penchant for not eating mammal

so we had to come up with easy dishes that were elegant but presented

under fairly primitive circumstances. We will be in an open field under

a pavilion with electricity and water so it isn't too bad. We will also

have two Cajun Cookers.

This is the final menu:

Cardimom Balls

Spiced Bread

(Both from the 16th C. Dutch cookbook)

Homemade bread

Gravlax w/ mustard sauce

Mushroom tarts from Pleyn Delit.

Norweigen Pasties

(I think from Pleyn Delit, turnovers, some filled with turkey, I know not

period but we would have used pheasant or partridge, and others with fish,

cheese and spices)

Cold Chicken in Sage Sauce

Ember Day Tarts

Roasted Carrots w/ herbs

Rys Pudding

We will be serving hot cider spiced with Pyment spices.

I also would have liked to serve Pyment but that's a lot of wine and we

are doing one of our infamous Kamakasi blowouts the next night.

Most of the dishes are in most everyone's cookbook collection. I'll

post them if people want.

I feel this has a nice balance of flavors and textures as well as being

nice "stand around noshing while waiting to go in" food.

The turnovers will be fried on site which will make them nice and hot although

they would be good at room temp. Also all of these dishes are easy and

quick to make since we only have two days to make them and transport

them 5 hours away.

Gunthar

Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2000 00:15:26 EST

From: Korrin S DaArdain <korrin.daardain at juno.com>

Subject: SC - A feast for Mistress Elfrida of Greenwalls

Greetings all,

Lady Ariann and I wish to announce the completion of a

feast in honor of the passing of one of the founders of the Society:

Mistress Elfrida of Greenwalls

mka Marion Zimmer Bradley

The recipes are posted to the web at Lady Ariann's website:

http://www.nmia.com/~ariann/mzbfeast.htm

The menu

- --------------------------------------

Side Board - Avalable all day

Manchet Bread

Tarte of Apples and Oranges

Assorted Cheeses: muenster, brie

Black Olives in Brine

Almond-stuffed Dates

Drink: Water flavored with orange slices

Breakfast - 06:00 to 08:00

Frittata With Tomatoes, Onions And Basil

Scotch Eggs, Baked

Drink: Lemonade

Lunch - 10:00 to 13:00

Baroness Miranda's Spinach Pie

Green Broth of Eggs and Cheese

Drink: Syrup of Simple Sikanjabin

1st Course - 15:00

Stuffed Eggs

Musculs, Caudel of, to Potage (or Braised Mussels)

Vegetable Tarte

Drink: Rose Soda

2nd Course - 16:00

Tartys in Applis (Apple Tarts)

Pullum Frontonianum (Chicken a la Fronto)

Herb and Flower Salad

Drink: Spiced Pomegranate Drink

3rd Course - 17:00

Mawmenye - Lentils and Lamb

Vegetable Tarte

Pear and Apple Toast Sandwhiches, Crispy

Drink: Syrup of Violets

4th Course - 18:00

Pigge farced

Elys in counfy

Stuffed Eggs

Drink: Blackberry Shrub Beverage

5th Course - 19:00

Cold bruet of rabbits

Savoury Tosted or Melted Cheese

Ein condimentlin (marinated veggies)

Drink: Caudle Ferry

6th Course - 20:00

Crab and Salmon Mould

Mustard Greens

Marinated Mushrooms

Drink: Tea in the Kazakh Manner

7th Course - 21:00

Fried Valencia Oranges

Savillum (Roman Cheesecake)

Strawberye

Drink: Aztec Coffee

- --------------------------------------

Korrin S. DaArdain

Kingdom of An Tir in the Society for Creative Anachronism.

Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2000 13:02:00 -0500

From: Jo Marie Friedel <jazzi at alltel.net>

Subject: SC - Feast menu

Greetings to the list,

Tygre Marie delurking here to tell you that the feast for the Feast of

St Valentine in Stormsport, Aethelmearc, was a hit. Some time ago I

joined this list and asked for advice for this feast (my first real

period one) and since then I have been delving into research and

listening here gaining new knowledge and so I would like to thank the

members of this list for helping me to pull this off. I'm told the food

was wonderful and I was much complimented by good gentles, some of whom

I hold in high culinary esteem. We did not sell out feast as we were up

against a Royal Progress event, however most of the left-overs will be

frozen and used next weekend at our (royal requested) regional fighter

practice.

Menu for the Feast of St. Valentine

First course

Blaunch porre- Golden Leeks and Onions (soup)

Stuffed eyeron- Stuffed eggs

Muscules in shelle- Mussels with wine and spices

Salat- Mixed greens in vinnegarette

French bread with herbed butter

Second course

Tartes of onyoin- Cheese and onion tarts

Tartes of champignons- Cheese and mushroom tarts

Roast of bef- Roasted beef with peppercorn sauce

Frumenty- Wheat pilaf

Cariota- Roasted carrots with herbs

Champignones- Saute’ed mushrooms with spices

Third course

Syrosye- Cherry pudding

Apple jelly candies

Custard- Sweet egg custard

The Castle- Pound cake with raspberry preserve filling and whipped

icing in the shape of-----A Castle

Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 14:57:51 -0500 (EST)

From: Gretchen M Beck <grm+ at andrew.cmu.edu>

Subject: SC - Lunch from Platina

I'm doing a lunch tomorrow using recipes from Platina. I'm posting the

menu and the originals now, and I'll post the redactions on Monday

(working out the ones I haven't done before tonight). Anyone who wants

to play with them in the meantime, I'd be thrilled to have comparison

redactions.

Asparagus

Mushrooms in green salsa

Green salad

Ham with mustard and cherry sauce

Macaroni

Bread and spread (ok, that's not from Platina)

Fresh fruit

- --------------

On preparing Asparagus

There are two kinds of asparagus, the domestic and the wild...Boiled

asparagus is laid out on a platter and salt, oil and vinegar arre added.

There are those who sprinkle it with herbs....There are those that cook

it in wine and it is even more effective in this way (effective =

combats flatulence and clear eyesight and gently soften the bowels)

On preparing a salad of several greens

A preparation of several greens is made with lettuce, bugloss, mint,

catmint, fennel, parsley, sisymbrium, origan, chervil, cicerbita which

doctors call Teraxicon, Plantain, Morrella, and several other fragrant

greens, well washed and pressed and put in a large dish, sprinkle them

with a good deal of salt and blend with oil, then pout vinegar over it

all when it has sat a little; it should be eaten and well chewed because

wild greens are touch. This sort of salad needs a little more oil than

vinegar. It is more suitable in winter than in summer, because it

requires much digestion and this is stronger in winter.

On Mushrooms and Fungi

...The redish ones are the safest. after they turn white with their

stalk, they are not dangerous. There is a third king\d which they call

Sow fungus, very convenient for poisoning. This was the cause of the

death of Anneus Serenus, the prefect of Nero, and certain soldeirs. It

may be cooked as pleases the greedy to say in some ways, with the third

part which clings to the earth, in its juice, first in water with white

bread, ahd then with pears or sprouts and twigs. Some put in garlic,

which is thought to counteract the poison. They are fried, after being

boiled and salted, in oil or liquamen, when they are fried, they are

suffused with green sauce which they call salsa, or in garlic sauce.

There are those who take off the skin or fill the upper sac with salt

and oil and cook them face up on the coals and eat them sprinkled with

pepper or cinnamon. Even thorugh they are pleasing to the palate, in

whatever way you please to cook them, they are considered very bad. For

they are difficult to digest and generate ruinous humours...

Reddish Mustard

Grind up mustard, raisins, white corn meal and toasted bread crumbs

Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 02:08:32 GMT

From: "Bonne of Traquair" <oftraquair at hotmail.com>

Subject: SC - Boat Wars Menu

More catching up on stuff I've been meaning to post. Here's the menue from

my feast last month. Hauviette shared with me her Clancy Day Feast

menu/recipes/notes as I have had such a crazy winter and was getting 'down

to the wire" and still only had vague ideas and no plan. Her plan seemed to

rely upon knowing a food was available, and finding a medieval recipe from

any place in period.

Mine went a different direction, once deciding that a food was correct in

time, I hunted for recipes I could document as to place, so some of these

are speculative and some just plain modern. "Land of Milk and Honey: The

Story of Traditional Irish Food and Drink, Brid Mahon, Poolbeg Press,

Dublin" was my main source for information on whether or not a food was

available in Ireland at the appropriate time. I wanted to follow up with

the sources she used, but was again fell short in time.

I'll post whichever recipes are wanted, let me know.

bonne

- -------

A 'Celtic' feast for Boat Wars at Buckston-on-Eno

Lady Bonne de Traquair

Windmasters' Hill, Atlantia

April 15, 2000

COURSE 1

Pickled Quail Eggs (Spec.)

Baked Mushrooms (Spec)

Samit Cheese (Fresh Cheese w/herbs) (florilegium, Aoife)

Wheaten bread (Spec)

Boiled Ham (Spec)

Cisti Meacan Ban (Parsnip Cakes) (19th C)

COURSE 2

Brotchan Rua (Leek and Oat soup) (Spec)

Marog Mheacan Dearg (Carrot and Almond Pudding) (1709 A.D.)

Kailkenney (Kale and Barley) (modern)

Benes Yfried (Lady Hauviette)

Roast Rib of Beef w/ Pepper Sauce (Redon, Medieval Kitchen)

COURSE 3

Honey Custard (Apicius)

Mixed Berries (Spec)

Date: Sat, 9 Sep 2000 14:07:40 -0700

From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>

Subject: Re: SC - Platina Feast

Marian Deborah Rosenber has been talking about doing a dinner from

Platina for her class. Several years ago when we were in Myrkfaelin

we did a feast from Platina. The menu was:

Menu for 80 people

on table: 2 1/2 lb pine nuts (candied), ~2 lb raisins

First course

Fricassee of Lamb 20 recipes

Potage from Meat 6 recipes (3 3/4 gal)

Armored Turnips 10 recipes

Fried Broad Beans 7 1/2 recipes

Rice 2 1/2 gal

Second course

Mirause of Catelonia 8 chickens

Torta of Herbs 10 small tortas

Carrots with Lettuce 5 recipes

Dessert

Golden Morsels 20 recipes

Torta of Red Chickpeas 10 tortas

The "recipes" mentioned above are the quantities in our versions of

the recipes, all of which are in the Miscellany. Food quantity was a

bit much; I have a note that there was a good deal left over of the

final torta. This was about 7 years ago, at which time food costs for

this menu came to about $4.00/head. My memory is that we looked

through Platina for comments on what was best served at the

beginning, what at the end of a meal, and that there were a lot of

such comments. For example, Platina says about pine nuts, "They are

often eaten with raisins and are thought to arouse hidden passions;

and they have the same virtue when candied in sugar. Noble and rich

persons often have this as a first or last course." Which was why we

had raisins and candied pine nuts at the beginning. A lot of the

choice of recipes, however, was just things we already had worked out

and particularly liked.

Elizabeth/Betty Cook

Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2000 12:12:59 -0700

From: "Jane M Tremaine" <vikinglord at worldnet.att.net>

Subject: SC - FW: Anniversary banquet

About 5 mts ago I asked one of the cooks in Calafia to do a "Viking" feast

for me at an upcoming event thatI am Stewarding. This is his menu. Just a

quick note, we discussed I did not want English Saxon, I don't care if they

did settle in England and Ireland. I wanted either; Danish, Swedish,

Finnish or a mixture with each course being of one area. This is what I

got. By the way I have been told, to late we already started buying. What

are your thoughts.

They are making there own cheese and crackers, and doing all the smoking

themselves.

Jana

First (cold) Course

Smoked ham

Smoked salmon

pickled herring

rye crackers (plain and caraway)

fresh cheese (plain and dill)

pickled veggies

Second Course

Smoked goat stew

oat bread

fresh fruit

Third Course

Roast vennison

barley, hazelnut, and mushroom pottage

roast veggies

sweets (possibly honey dipped dried fruit and nuts)

Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2000 12:34:50 -0400

From: "Siegfried Heydrich" <baronsig at peganet.com>

Subject: Re: SC - [Fwd: RE: [EKSouth] Food Fantasy]

SNIP

> Note that this medieval feast consisted of eight dishes, counting sauces

> as separate dishes, and was served to a total of ten people. I'm feeling

> pretty good about what we do, don't you?

> Adamantius

And I have to wonder how much the chef was paid for that, too. Forgive

me, but here I have to look at the 'professional' as being just a gifted

amateur. I'm doing the following feast in feb for 150, and I'm going to

bring it in for probably $4.75 a head. Compare what we do on a regular basis

to this 'Renaissance Food Fantasy' media event, and I have to laugh a bit.

Sieggy

Preliminary Menu - Winter Crown Lyste Feb. 24, 2001

ON TABLE

Breads - Rye, Wheat, Oat, Sourdough

Butters - Whipped, Garfunkled (parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme), Dill

Cheese, Home pressed, baked in pastry

Roast Garlic Puree

SOUP

Pale Ale Soup w/ Rye Biscuits, Triskele shaped

SALAD COURSE

Mushrooms & leeks, Marinated in Balsamic vinaigrette

FIRST COURSE

Game Hens a la Orange, Stuffed with Almonds, Sultanas, and Rosemary

Carrots in a Red wine & Honey glaze

Ryse for a Fische Day

SECOND COURSE

Haas im Pfeffer

Noumbles

Braised Green Beans & Pears

Spaetzel

THIRD COURSE

Haunch of Venison, Smoked in Cherrywood w/ Cherry sauce

Cauli Verde

Bashed Neeps

DESSERT

Custard Lombarde in a Gingerbread Trappe

DRINKS

Saracen Tea

Sekanjabin

SPECIALTY DISHES FOR HIGH TABLE

Appetizer trays - sour tray - olives, pickled veggies, etc - sweet tray;

crystallized ginger, candied fruits & nuts, etc

Cheese platter, assorted cheeses

Rollmops

Braided bread ring w/ spinach dip

SOUP

Melt Gruyere cheese over the top

FIRST COURSE

Roast Goose w/ chestnut stuffing, endorred

THIRD COURSE

Saddle of venison coated with p‚tÈ & minced mushrooms, wrapped in pastry,

endorred

DESSERT

Dessert subtlety

DRINKS

use private donations (no SCA funds) to buy wines for the HT - separate wine

for each course

> yes, this was the menu:

> The Castle

> at Tarrytown

> Renaissance Food Fantasy

> Wednesday, October 18, 2000

> Terrine of Venison with Cranberries

> and Confiture of Onion

> Wild Mushroom Soup with Sweet Garlic,

> Sage and Parsley

> Roasted Pheasant with Wild Boar Sausage Stuffing,

> Root Vegetables and Red Wine-Juniper Sauce

> European Cheese Selection

> Pear and Almond Pudding with Poire William Creme Anglaise

> Cookies and Fruit

Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 21:15:43 EST

From: LadyPDC at aol.com

Subject: Re: SC - Re: Feast review wanted

kareno at lewistown.net writes:

>>> So, Constance, tell us about the feast!! what did you do best?

>> what was not-so-good?

>> What would you do different? tell us the menu, and such . . . .

>> Yes, I was there, but I'll let you start the commenting

>> Caointiarn

Well, I am still working on the "post-mortem" and will post more on it later

if you all really want to hear it. But can pass along a few tidbits now for

future feast stewards.

1. Walk-in Refrigerators are kept at a lower temp than household types and

require extra time for defrosting frozen items. Esp. when you are defrosting

20 full sized capons. This one bit of lacking knowledge put the entire feast an hour behind and is a mistake I will not repeat in the future.

2. If you are going to serve deep fried fritters, either only do one type or start cooking them 2 hours ahead of serving time and keep them in a warmer.

3. Have back-ups on top of back-ups on top of back-up for your major jobs.

Even the most reliable person in the world can be prevented from attending

the event by something like a car accident (my primary clean up manager and

back-up server manager rolled her truck on the way down and I had no idea

what she had planned or who she had signed up) (she is ok BTW).

4. The main thing that made the feast good was something we have seen on

this list before but it bears repeating. Test all recipes in advance. Most

esp. test them on people who don't like those sorts of dishes. If you can prepare that dish so those people like it then everyone else will too.

5. Make a timing chart. I had intended to do this but let it slip and that

is what caused the major problem with the feast as some dishes were started

too late while others were prepared too early. MY fault entirely as I did

not have explicit instructions as to when the dishes should be started and

could not be everywhere at the same time.

The feast itself seemed to go over well if such can be based on comments from

the feasters. The menu is listed below.

Throughout the meal:

Various breads (Pan de main, garlic bread and a heavy wheat bread) and

flavored butters

Beverages to include water, apple juice, flavored hot almond milk

First Course:

Deep fried breaded appetizers consisting of salmon, cheese sticks, and

mushrooms. Cameline Sauce, Curry Sauce and Savory Cream Sauce for dipping

Salat (baby greens and herbs with oil/vinegar dressing)

Sardinian Savory Soup (Chicken Stock with herbal flavorings)

Second Course:

Baked Capon in marbling sauce

Guissell (Herb and Breadcrumb stuffing served on the side)

Honey glazed vegetables

Saut=E9ed Leeks & Mushrooms

Third Course:

Stuffed meat rolls (think early rouladon made with venison)

Chardwardon (burgundy pear sauce)

Mediterranean Rice (wild rice with chicken, almonds, and veggies)

Tarragon Peas with Scallions saut=E9ed in Olive Oil

Dessert Course:

Sugarpaste subtlety surrounded by small desserts such as:

various tarts (cheesecake, cherry, quince), and pynade (honey candies).

Some things that added to the feast were using children as the servers,

baking all the bread so quality was maintained, and making many of the dishes

in advance so less work was required of event attendees the day of the feast.

More later after I recover a bit more energy.

Constance de la Rose