Fst-Managemnt-art - 7/22/01 "Feast Management" by Lady Eden Blacksmith. NOTE: See also the files: feast-serving-msg, Fst-Menus-art, headcooks-msg, kitchen-clean-msg, Run-a-Feast-art, feast-ideas-msg, cooks-clothng-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This article was submitted to me by the author for inclusion in this set of files, called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author. While the author will likely give permission for this work to be reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file. Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: Stefan li Rous stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Originally published in the Renaissance Web Magazine (www.rencentral.com) FEAST MANAGEMENT By Lady Eden Blacksmith In my minds eye I see a large feast hall with a huge fire pit in the middle, pigs roasting over it, the sweet smell of rushes under foot, the sound of a harpist in the corner, course after course of phenomenal food served to delight and amaze, people laughing and talking, political intrigue in each raise of a glass, as I return to my kitchen the size of a house with a staff of a 100 to get things ready for the next day when feasting will began again. Alas, I do not have a such accommodations, instead I like you will produce a Medieval Feast with modern resources. The Medieval Feast can be the most period inspiring aspect of what we do. It is the Feast Manager who uses the realty of today to shape the illusion of the past. By taking a professional approach to the management of a feast it is easier to produce your Medieval Feast dream. Many factors go in to producing a Medieval Feast. Decisions must be made on to what type of feast it is, budget, theme, menu and overall resources. By looking at the individual components the Feast Manager will be able to decide the best course of auction. Type of Feast - In Door: A site survey must be done to determine size and resources. An in door feast will provide the opportunity for better preparation, convenience, safety (food temperature control, traffic in kitchen...), and decorating needs. However, careful consideration must be given to size and or cooking limitations. Out Door: An outdoor site must be compatible to menu. It offers more challenges in that all kitchen aspects must be brought to the site. The important thing is to be able to adapt the menu to outside site limitations. Buffet: A Buffet is not a feast. Served: The challenge of this type of serving is having enough servers and the space to allow the servers to move in and out efficiently. Mixed Buffet or Family Style: In my opnion this is the best way to go. The food is brought out on platters and they take what they want. This allows a maxim number of people to be served with very few servers. High Table: If there is a High Table have two servers dedicated to it. Serve High Table same food as populace. Theme - By having a theme menu planning will be much easier, as will entertainment and decorating needs. The theme not need be elaborate, having two main colors, or type of flower will give the Feast Manager an outline to start from. Menu - There are fundamentally three ways a menu can be: Totally period, a mix of period and modern, not even close to period. My suggestion is to do a mix bring in elements of period with period style dishes. Eel was a popular period dish, however having it as a main course would not be wise, instead serve a smaller quantity so that people can taste it. Have enough non-meat courses, yet keep in mind that to most people a feast is meat Please, remember dessert this can truly be a moment to delight and astonish the populace. Keep in mind food allergies, but you will not be able to appease everyone so list all ingredients on the menu. It is a great idea to post menu with ingredients before the feast. By having a variety of courses you can reduce the amount of each course, have enough different dishes to appease everyone, and leave your populace stuffed to the brim. Cost - My Exchequer will not approve an unlimited feast budget, if yours will than congratulations. Many factors go into the budget: cost of hall, food, non-food items (printing,, trash bags, wood, etc...). Most feasts can be planned for 100 people. Feast cost is number of people divided by budget, or another way of looking at it is if you have $250.00 than that works out to $2.50 per person. If you charge a $5 feast fee than you have about $500.00 to use for the over all feast cost (including rental of hall, food and everything else.) When planning the budget determine what your actual food cost will be after everything else is planned for, this will allow you to plan the menu. A 60lb sucking pig will cost about $200.00, while 60lbs of pork ribs will cost about $60.00. By knowing how much you have you can change the menu to meet the demands of your Exchequer, while keeping the favor of your design. Overall Resources - Look to your group resources while planning a feast, what donations can you hope to receive. Would other members have items such as pots and pans, white Christmas lights, ladles, tablecloths, trash bags, a cup of sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, could a member make breads, or butter dips. The point is let others play also, most people would love to have the opportunity to help, but do not know how. Maybe the perfect center piece for the High Table is sitting collecting dust in somebody garage. Cut cost by letting someone donate a box of cornstarch, or by having a Household do the dessert. Call around to Food Vendors asking for a donation or a cost break. We are a non-profit organization and we have a non-profit tax id number (check with your Seneschal and Exchequer). A word of caution there is a difference between a donation and borrowing an item, be sure and have people mark the items they want returned. Let the children help at feast by taking a around trash bags (Alms for the Poor). Some Advice - One of the best teachers are failure: here are words of wisdom from those who have been there: Have the mother of all lists, go to the bathroom to clam down if you start thinking of poisoning the soup, have a lot of meetings, plan for your death; the feast must go on, have someone in charge of you making sure you eat and drink, feed your servers and cooks snacks, have extra money for the day, plan on it raining, when called up to Court thank your help, do not let children, dogs, fly away long hair or smoking take place in your kitchen (I have seen it done), have a thermometer (hot 140 and up, cold 40 and below), you can never have to much ice, dress to cook, take breaks, first aid box, do not find out how the kitchen works the day of the event, have a schedule; enforce it, post the menu, the cooks schedule, the servers schedule, the ingredient list, the recipes, the entertainment schedule where they can be found in case you die, let the Royalty know what time feast is, test the recipe twice, do not store others feast gear, have a place for the populace to wash up (not in the kitchen) , only people who need to be in the kitchen should be in the kitchen, do not scream at people who have knives. The Feast Manager is the director, producer and artist of the feasting experience. It is the Feast Manager who takes us back in time with the sites, sounds, smells and tastes of the Middle ages at the same time all preparation , expense and product must take place in this reality. The Feast Manager can be compared to the contemporary restaurateur, except for the fact that the restaurant is not open all the time, no ongoing staff, limited supplies, equipment and the location changes places. The comparison lies in that each must have a plan of operation, must be organized, the job must fit the person and your customers have top priority. Customers, yes I said customers for the participates of the feast have paid for entertainment, atmosphere, service and food. The Feast Manager is responsible for the overall feast experience, it is a large responsibility. To assist the Manager there are supportive roles that must be filled, having these positions filled will prove to be an invaluable relief. But, please remember the right person for the job. Head Cook - In most cases this should not be the Feast Manager. The Head Cook is responsible for securing, training and overseeing their cooking staff , any preparation and cooking the meal. The Head Cook along with the Feast Manager works to balance a menu that meets the requirements of space, supplies, equipment, time and cost of the feast. It is also a good idea to have a timed Cooks schedule; what time should the roast be put in, be sure and schedule a break. How many prep cooks the Head Cook as depends on size of feast, kitchen and cook. A word of caution just because someone is a great cook for a family of four does not mean there are ready to oversee a meal for a hundred. Head Server - The Head Server is responsible for acting as the go between the cooks and servers. It can become very confusing and upsetting to have more than one voice asking for this and wanting that. In most cases the servers are not from the site and have stepped in a the last minute to help. The Head Server will know the feast, the site, table arraignments and serving needs. The Head Server will work with Feast Manger and Head Cook to correlate serving needs. Work with all parties to make sure that servers do not interfere with entertainment. I would also suggest that Head Server work with Feast Manager and Entertainment Director on set-up for the feast hall. Entertainment Director - What makes a Medieval Feast a true out of time experience is the atmosphere. The Entertainment Director schedules entertainers, arranges for lighting, decoration, background music. Correlate with the Head Server when something is coming out, plan the entertainers around the food, having a singer performing while servers are serving is rude. The Entertainment Director might be in charge of printing menus, advertisement and Heralding the Feast. Head of set-up and tear down crew - This person will be in charge of arraigning for helpers to move tables and chairs and any other labor work needed for set up and tear down. This person will schedule dishwashers for the Head cook. They will arrange for any other labor or cleaning needs. Managing a feast can be fun. All it takes is careful planning, adapting to the situation as it arrives, letting everyone do their job, maintaining control, and do not forget to smile. There will be things you would have done different, there will be things you will do again, but no matter what; there will be one precious moment when you will see your Medieval Feast Dream come true. A Small Reference List - Black, Maggie. THE MEDIEVAL COOKBOOK. Thames & Hudson. 1992 Buxton, Moria. MEDIEVAL COOKING TODAY. The Kylin Press. 1983 Cinqueterr, Berengario delle. THE RENAISSANCE COOKBOOK. The Dunes Press. 1975 Cosman, Madeliene Pelner. FABULOUS FEASTS. George Brazlier. 1976 (Not the Recipes) Hammond, P.A. FOOD AND FEAST IN MEDIEVAL ENGLAND. Alan Sutton. 1993 Renfrow, Cindy TAKE A THOUSAND EGGS OR MORE, VOLS 1 & 2. Tannahill, Reay. FOOD IN HISTORY. Stein and Day.1973 Wilson, C. Anne. FOOD AND DRINK IN BRITAIN From the Stone Age to Recent Times. Penguin. 1984. Copyright 2000 by Eden Blacksmith, 1730 Gates, Kingman, AZ 86401. . Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited and receives a copy. Edited by Mark S. Harris Fst-Managemnt-art Page 5 of 5