SC - Seasonal Foods

[rebecca tants]

Ok - this is gonna sound like some "duh Barbie" questions, but I 
wasn't raised on a farm, I was raised on Hamburger Helper...so here goes:

What are some good on-line sources for information on which foods
would be available in period at a certain time of the year?  What
can folks tell me about what they know on the topic?

The reason is as follows:
Sept 6th I have to cook a feast for a painfully small event in my
Barony.  Since we are also hosting Coronation 3 weeks later, no one 
is actually registering for this one - they are mostly just planning
to show up.

Therefore, I am going to show off my flexibility by cutting off 
reservations at 2pm, going shopping for the main items of 
dinner and having it on the table around 6pm.  (If I don't we
could conceivably lose a LOT of money on the feast, and we 
just don't have it to lose.)

I would like to plan a feast that probably won't be for more then
30 people that 1) can cook in under 2 hours and 2) reflects what
we would have seen on the table at that time of year.

I read the article on the Medieval/Renaissance Food home page
which tells me that for September I would probably have:
broad beans, beef, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, chicken, clams, eggplant
fish, grapes, peaches, pears, plums and scallops 
But that list somehow seems incomplete to me.  Were there times of
year for cheese?  certain types of cheeses?  What about things like
rice/barley/bulgar - any limits on the time of year for that?  when would
wine have been made so that it would have been available?  since grapes
are on here, does that mean it was just the start of the season?

This is going to be a relatively simple feast in most ways, but
I refuse to do it badly just because it's a minor event with a 
itty-bitty crowd.  If there are other foods I should be
looking for seasonally here, give me pointers - at least I can
do my best for the few who will be there to taste it!

Ruadh (who wishes she knew this stuff, but was WAY too far away from
it as a kid....)


- -- 
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      'Becca Tants, aka Roo, Lady Caitlen Ruadh, Delftwood, AEthelmearc
    becca at servtech.com                http://www.servtech.com/public/becca 
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