SC - Feast Themes-Feast of Illusion (long)

[Mark Schuldenfrei]

>On Tue, 17 Jun 1997 08:47:54 -0500 (CDT) L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt
><liontamr at postoffice.ptd.net> writes:
>
>>I'd like to hear more about Mistress Sincgiefu's (sorry if I mangled
>>that)
>>Feast of Illusion. That sounds lovely.
>>
>>
>>Aoife
>><snip>
>Great event! That feast is probably the highlight of any that I have
>attended in over 19 years in the SCA! Not only was the food period and
>delicious, it was so entertaining! We had a great time speculating on the
>dishes as they came out and marvelling at the work that went into the
>feast. And I understand that it was a lot of work.
>
>Julleran

>It probably was.  Our local cooks guild tried the "skin removal" trick for
>the farcd chickens as it was written (using a straw to inflate the skin off
>the bird).  It was difficult, and almost painful.  I found it easier to use
>a knife to remove the carcass from the bird and leave the skin whole. (Next
>time I try it, I may use a bicycle pump with a basketball needle, instead.)
>
>	Tibor (So there we were, me and my Baroness, blowing up chickens...)


Hello, and thank you all very much for your kind words!  I have not been
ignoring you, I've been frantically searching for my notes. I seem to have
lost the computer file, but fortunately I found a hard copy.  Here is the
menu, with what additional notes I can remember. The citations are from my
notes - keep in mind I haven't looked at them in 3 years!

You are right, it was a great deal of work - we started months ahead of
time.  And by "we" I mean the ENTIRE shire of Hartshorndale pitched in to
help.  I couldn't have done it without them!

Feast of Illusions in 2 Courses, with a separate menu (and hall) for the
children:

Pre-feast nosh of mulled cider and fresh fruit.

Placed on the tables before service:
- -Butter concealed in hollowed-out lemons with cloves on lids for 'handles'.

- -Salt hidden in acorns.  I gathered large acorns several months ahead of
time, hollowed them out, sterilized them, and bored holes in the tops with
a Dremel MotorTool.  I then filled the acorns with salt and glued the caps
on with white glue.   They were stored in an airtight container until
needed.  (BTW, there was no pepper on the table.)

- -Cider & assorted other drinks.

- -Freshly baked bread, baked on site.  I used one-fourth of the yeast called
for & allowed the bread to rise in a cool place overnite.  I also added the
egg yolks leftover from the creme bastarde to enrich the bread.

1st Course:
- -A Peacock - the body was made of bread dough,  & covered with chicken
liver pate and sliced almonds. The head was gilded & stuck with
fancy-headed pins.  The tail was fashioned of lettuce, red beets, eggs,
cheeses, parsley, radishes, anchovies, etc., and garnished with a few real
peacock feathers. (Cerruti, p. 102, Platina, p. 15, Good Hous-wives
Treasury [quoted in To the Queen's Taste, p. 40])

- -"Oysters" - mushrooms fried with lard and garlic, served in oyster shells
with candy 'pearls' - We may have had to substitute onions for mushrooms
due to availability, I don't remember. Also, the candy melted - If I had it
to do over, I'd use carved blanched almonds.  (Epulario, p. 29; crab
variation, A Proper New Booke of Cokerye, p. 17; crayfish variation,
Chiquart, p. 46 #68.)

- -Beef "Olives" - thin strips of beef rubbed with 2 different spice
mixtures, rolled, wrapped in bacon, pressed & broiled.  (Epulario, p. 10;
Sabina Welserin [unpubl. translation] # 196; similar to 'a lowsid bef' in A
Noble Boke of Cookry, p. 95.)
- -Served on same platter with Black Olives with garlic (Cerruti, p.112-3),
also green olives without pimientos (Menagier).

- -Candied Walnuts stuffed back into their shells & glued shut with flour &
water paste.  These leaked & were a tasty mess. (Menagier; Cerruti, p. 76.)
Served with figs & almonds.

- -Farced Chickens filled with ground beef & pork sausage.  (Menagier, p.
276; Tallevent #65.)  Farced chickens take about 20 minutes each to
separate the meat from the bones.  Work on a cold surface & put the flesh
in a chilled bowl. Slip your hand in the rear end of the chicken, between
the skin & the meat & loosen the membrane.  Use a short-bladed paring knife
to remove the meat.  Alternately, slit the skin up the back, peel back the
skin & remove the flesh that way - Use toothpicks to re-fasten the skin
together, & remove the toothpicks before service.  (A straw [see also Swiss
Family Robinson trying this trick on a kangaroo!] probably won't work on
commercially available birds because the head and neck have been removed &
the hole at the bottom is too big.)  Stuff the bird between the skin &
bones with the meat mixture, & shape the meat to look like a whole chicken.
- -Served with Creme Bastarde-filled eggs on a bed of greens.  The blown egg
shells were sterilized & filled with Creme Bastarde.  The holes were
stopped with flour & water paste. (Take 1000 Eggs, p. 196)


2nd Course:
- -A Non-edible boar made of papier mache, gilded, (Gilded Boar's Head -
Chiquart, Du Fait de Cuisine) garnished with radish roses & surrounded by
tea candles stuck in hollowed out apples.  The boar was hollow & contained
a Haslet of fruits. (Take 1000 Eggs, p. 218.)  Served with great fanfare &
'cut open' with a sword. Servers grabbed handfuls of 'entrails' & ran
around to the guests.

- -Roast Pork (Traite de Cuisine, p. T1) with

- -Herb Sauce (Menagier, p. 26-7, 'saucpiquet for coney')

- -Golden Rice cooked in meat broth - served underneath the roast pork
(Cerruti, p. 84; Menagier, p. 277.)

- -Chardwardon garnished with blanched almonds(Take 1000 Eggs, p. 157)

- -Yrchon (hedgehogs) -small rye breads filled with chicken, almonds, raisins
& spices, stuck with slivered almonds.  (Sabina Welserin, #114 has similar
recipe.)

- -Gyngerbrede 'grapes' garnished with grape vines - (Take 1000 Eggs, v2, p. 288)

For afterwards, a sideboard with mulled cider & assorted sweets.

Children's menu:
Raisins, sliced apples, assorted fruits, Gyngerbrede 'grapes', cheese &
crackers, small sausages (hot dogs), cookies, milk & juice.

There may have been a few more last minute items, but if so, I don't remember.

Regards,

Sincgiefu
renfrow at skylands.net
http://www.alcasoft.com/renfrow/