rasng-fd-fsts-msg – 9/5/05
Raising food for SCA feasts as a money-saving effort or as a source for plants and animals not easily found in the modern grocery store.
NOTE: See also the files: meat-carving-bib, serving-soups-msg, Handwashing-art, bread-for-fsts-msg, exotic-meats-msg, pig-to-sausag-art, butch-goat-art, butchering-msg.
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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
I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.
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Thank you,
Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 15:23:23 EDT
From: KristiWhyKelly at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Growing for Feast
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
gordonse at one.net writes:
>>>
Has anyone worked on a feast where the group (the event group, not
necessarily the actual cooking crew) grew a substantial portion of the
vegetables for a feast? Or the fruit, herbs, eggs, grains, or meat?
<<<
I myself have grown fava beans, cucumbers, flowers, berries (elderberries
and currants) and ducks for various feasts.
We butchered geese for 12th night at a local farmers place.
The birds, flowers and cucumbers were easy. Flowers and cucumbers were used
fresh. Ducks and geese where slaughtered and frozen.
Frankly the ducks were not cost effective, between feed and loss of animals.
If you can get them at the local Asian markets it's about the same price.
The geese on the other hand were $5 per bird, usually at the stores they run
close to $50 per bird.
The favas where difficult as I mistimed the sowing and it was a really rainy
year and I had fungus problems. Also, with the new Asian and Hispanic
markets opening up it's not as hard to find them.
Harvesting at a local farm is a lot cheaper if you are willing to go out and
pick yourself. I got asparagus for 50 cents per pound at a friends farm.
Same goes for apples 50 cents p/pound for organic heirlooms. What's best
about this option is that you can almost guarantee a harvest.
Grace
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 16:48:08 -0400
From: "Glenn A. Crawford" <tavernkeeper at phoenixroost.com>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Growing for Feast
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
I have raise Chicken, Turkey, Rabbit, Lamb, Pork and Beef. The latter three
we send out to the butcher. We have found that chicken are not cost
effective unless you are looking of hormone free.
Most of the vegetation we grow is new world. Our friend grows a lot of our
herbs. 15 miles from us is a farm that raise Red Deer and we get it at a
great price. If I am luckily my Father will get a Black Bear again this year.
Also being a caterer I have a vendor for fresh fish, 24-48hrs after being
caught it is in my frig/freezer or they have flash frozen it.
I also have vendors for meat from Alligator to Zebra.
www.adventureinfood.com
Vegetables are amazing, one company (East coast US) "Sid Wainer & Son"
www.sidwainer.com
You name it and they either grow it or can get it.
Best way to find vendor in your areas is to go to a Food & Restaurant Show.
New England just had the large one for the year in Boston at the BCEC
If you have the space and time it is great to raise your own, but most of us
just don't have one or the other.
Terrain Silverwolf.
If you want to check out some of the food I have served:
http://www.phoenixroost.com/gallery/gallery.php
Mixed in the galley are pics of some of my dishes. Remember I do tradional
feasts and fantasy feasts too. (Homemade Chocolate Strawberry Ice cream
Bombs)
Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2005 05:30:43 -0700 (PDT)
From: Marcus Loidolt <mjloidolt at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Sca-cooks Digest, Vol 23, Issue 69
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Here in Sternfeld in the middle of the Middle, we have
raised our own chickens, sheep, geese, etc. for feast,
and quite a few of our own vegetables and fruits. Not
on a regular basis, and it depends on the feastocrat
and his/her relationship to the farmers and gardeners
of the group, but yes it's been done here, especially for
specialty vegetables, and meat such as lamb or goose.
Abot Johann von Metten OL
medieval poultrier
Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2005 09:16:43 -0700
From: Susan Fox-Davis <selene at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Growing for Feast
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
>> How hard was it to time the ripening of the vegetables for the feast? In
>> thinking about this it seems as though it would be easiest to do a northern
>> European oriented feast in late spring-early summer or the fall when cole
>> crops, greens, and root vegetables would be at their peak. Though if you
>> wanted a feast with a lot of fresh stone fruits, July might be best. For
>> feasts where grapes, freshly dried raisins, olives, or apples would be
>> featured, fall would be the ideal time.
>>
>> Sharon
>> gordonse at one.net
This is the part that will make you crazy. Our ancient ancestors didn't
have to deal with kingdom calendar scheduling a year in advance. They
could hold a harvest festival whenever the harvest actually happened. I
timed a cooking contest, whose theme ingredient was "plums" to the usual
date when my parents' trees were usually at their peak harvest. Then we
had a hot snap in the late spring and the damn things ripened a month
early. Aieeeee!
I wound up buying most of the plums for the contest. Poop.
On The Proverbial Other Hand: Maybe our ancient ancestors didn't have
bureaucratic scheduling problems, but neither did they have freezers.
I'm going to go pick grape leaves in a couple of weeks, blanch and
freeze the li'l darlings. Will check the unripe grapes at that time.
The plums should hit in July, except for the few that I pick whilst
yellow for umeboshi pickling experiments.
Regarding hunted meats: the SCA population in the Los Angeles are all
notorious city kids and would freak out entirely if we hunted our own
game. Fortunately, NZ farmed venison is available from friendly
specialty butchers.
Selene Colfox
<the end>