SC - Philip's Bad feasts

[Michael F. Gunter]

> 
> Bad cooking is bad cooking, medieval or not.  Frankly, when I am eating
> a feast, I want properly prepared food.  And I want it served correctly.
>  Too many people fail to realize that the organization of the feast hall
> and the instruction of the servers are integral to making a feast a
> pleasing experience. 

I was at an event recently where I was at High Table. The service was
a little off, when they came out they were wonderful but I wound up 
refilling people's drinks and even scraping everybody's dishes so they
could be used for the next course. This is bad when the people at High
Table have to do their own service. On the occassions the servers did
come out they were very courteous and helpful.

That's why at my last Coronation feast and at 12th Night the servers will
be assigned tables with the orders "make your table happy".

> BTW, I
> try to avoid cheese, except for specific effect, it's a budget killer
> for tight budgets.
> 

Agreed. 12th Night has no cheese except for that cooked into dishes. I'll
be spending that extra money on good meats and vegetables. (and almonds,
lots of almonds)

> > I've found
> >that people here actually know what good food is and work hard at preparing
> >it, but you couldn't prove it by the first few feasts I was exposed to. The
> >only reason I kept trying to eat that crap was convenience and being
> >sociable.
> >
> >phlip at morganco.net

Well, Philip, now that you know better get out there and volunteer. Serve up
a real feast using all the wisdom you gain from this list.  :-{)}

> I was running behind and didn't have the facilities to broil the chicken
> properly, so I browned the chicken in oil and dropped it into pots with
> a little water spiced with tarragon and left it to steam while I got the
> first course out the door.  So chicken doesn't have
> to be "deadly".

Sounds good. Something we do when we do the roast chicken bit is to boil the
chicken for awhile in a good spiced broth. Then we roast it to get the flavor
in and brown it. This makes a nice chicken broth to use, gets flavor and moistness
deep into the meat, and is fully cooked. It also saves baking time.

> Bear  

Yers,

Gunthar
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