[Ansteorra] General event question

Haraldr Bassi ansteorra at haraldr.drakkar.org
Wed Aug 18 19:32:47 PDT 2010


Greetings,

Allow me to note that I've only been living in Ansteorra for three and a half of the almost 
thirty years I've been in the Society so much of what I will say below is shaped by my prior 
experiences.

On 2010/Aug/16 22:26, Will Manning wrote:
> How big of factor is offering feast at an event?

It is a factor. But not as large a factor as whether the event will have activities that appeal 
to me. It can be the deciding factor for an event that marginally has activities that are 
interesting to me. As I haven't participated in martial activities since 1983 many events may 
not have the same draw for me as they would for others.

> Would that be the deciding factor whether you came or not?

Possibly.

> If the sponsoring group had a tavern instead, would that be a better idea?

Maybe. I've seen several different types of "tavern" over the years. One recreates a medieval 
tavern as the primary focus and activity at an event. Others have used it as a method for 
neighboring groups or sub-groups to sell food as a fundraiser. Some events have had no food 
option but encouraged private "tavern" enterprises that were greatly appreciated.

Meal ticket options would be offered
> as well. Would your prefer to know what you are being served, and it being a
> great meal, or something period.

It is very important to have a general idea on what will be served at a feast I am considering. 
At this stage in my life, I am very very much interested in good period food over even good 
non-period food. I'd probably take decent period food over good non-period food these days, at 
least the cooks were trying to push themselves. I've made decisions to skip events because they 
had glaringly modern food for feast and there weren't enough other attractors for me.

> What if there was a cooking competition for
> period recipes, and a regular good ol meal for feast, using the word regular
> loosely.

Sorry, I don't understand. I am married to a well respected period cook who has a reputation for 
excellent period food. I don't feel that it has to be an either/or scenario. There are some 
period dishes that certainly aren't compatible with today's pallets; while there are many more 
recipes that are well within the sphere of "regular" food. I would choose to have a decent 
period feast over any other option.

My question I guess would be what kind of food arrangement, if any
> would most prefer. Would feast alone ever be the only reason you went to an
> event?

It has indeed been the sole reason for me to attend an event on several occasions. There were a 
few events annually where the feast was the primary (or even sole) focus of the event. In my 
former kingdom the camping season is opposite of here in Ansteorra, starting around Memorial Day 
and ending around Labor day (with Pennsic eating about a third of the available time). This 
required that most events be held indoors from Fall through Spring. It allowed for events where 
the feast started serving in the mid afternoon and finished around 8pm with entertainments and 
diversions between the five or more courses.

> All comments welcome and desired, hit me with it please!!!!!!

There are some very period food preparations that I personally don't want to have to deal with. 
Heavily salted and boiled meats, while extremely common throughout our period, are very 
difficult to prepare correctly and can be very bad when done poorly. But even with some of those 
recipes removed, there are still thousands of known recipes to choose from.

Haraldr Bassi, Bjornsborg



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