SC - Good Food Feast or doing an over the top feast at $50 per head. (longish)

Mon Nov 24 06:48:57 PST 1997

Hi,

As previously mentioned and requested, below is the menu and introductory for the
Good Food Feast. I have added a bunch of comments immediately after to try and set the scene.
Spelling mistakes within this document are just there to test your powers of observation (this mailer
has no spell checker).

The feast was run in the Barony of Politarchoplis on the 25 of November and was served to 50
guests by 20 servers and 9 kitchen staff. The event was created by the Politarchopolis Assault
Catering Corps. Politarchoplis's motto is "Eat, eat you're all to thin". The Politarchopolis Assault
Catering Corps is a slightly varying group, who creat events to show the motto is appropiate.
People eating lunch before a PACC "light supper" have required medical treatment.

We have been discussing this feast for about 3 years. The idea was part of a household 
discussion on what we could you provide as a feast if there were no or few financial restrictions.

We decided to provide a fully catered (drinks included) feast that was a replica of an (wealthy)
italian nobleman's dinner C 1440 to 1500. We wanted the food to be the best ever offered
to a feast in Lochac with a suitable atmosphere to match. We also wanted to push back the
boundries of what was concidered possible to provide in a feast. The feedback we have received
suggests that we can be proud of our efforts.

Guests paid $50AUD per head, Servers paid $8. Kitchen staff paid $0.

The Kitchen staff started at 9am, the servers at 3:30pm for "rehearsals" and their dinner and the
guests arrived at 6pm for a 6:30 start. We started at 6:45pm and finished on sheduled time. the last
people left the site at 3am.

The servers had all agreed to just be "servers" for the night. There would be no familarity with
the guests. One of their main functions was to make the guests feel like they were an invited
noble guest. They were great! There was some very interesting discussion on the Lochac list
about how uncomfortable one guest was, being served by people he knew and not being able
to help.  After being assured that the servers were having fun too, he felt better. The formality
and structure of the event was quite different to previous feasts. I hadn't thought what an
impression finding out that someone was going to wash your dishes, not once but three times,
over the evening while the guest relaxed and was entertained, could make on our guests.
It was especially strong on the guests who were the "I need to help" types! As is the above
mentioned guest. However most of the guests said that they could get used to blinking and
finding a server was beside them offering drinks, food, drinks, help, drinks, food, or more food.

Not mentioned below in the menu, is that we also provided with the food, red and white wines,
ales and cordials (cordials are sweet non-alcoholic concentrates in Australia). The wines
were from 2 of the better wineries in Australia and the beer was "Irish Red", a light flavoured dark
beer, brewed in a local boutique brewery. The cordials were made by a local Politarchoplian,
served were lemon, raspberry and rose.

The hall we used can easily seat 200 with some room left for dancing. We split the hall in two,
the front half was used as the feasting area and the back portion was the relaxing, entertainmant
and dancing area.

The feasting area was laid out in 4 corners of a square with gaps between each corner.
Think of a square and rub out the middle of each side. The guests were seated on the 
outside of the corners (only on one side of the tables) so thay were all looking into the centre.
The tables were laid with white cotton cloths with a red damask table runner down the middle.
Candles were provided using 2" diameter short candles on black metal 6"tall holders placed
along the inside edge of the table. Water was available on the tables in white jugs with a
red griffin on the side. The centre area was used as a display position for subtlies.

The hall divider was 10' high and 50' wide, draped vertically in alternate red and white lengths
of material with a banner of the opposite color placed over the top to provide a further contrast.
The centre of the divider was pulled back on each side like a tied back curtain to provide a door
to the entertainment area.

Behind the divider were the drinks servery and the musicians (Politarchoplian musicians guild)
who played background music all night. A second consort (Concordia Mirabilis) played
entertainment pieces and the dance music between courses.

Between each course the guest were invited to watch and participate in entertainments
in the back area. While they were absent the tables were cleaned and all of the guests dishes
were washed, dried and their places relaid ready for the next course.

The feast started with each guest being met at the entrance to the building by the servers dressed
in red and white tabards who took their feasting baskets and guided them to their place as the
guest was announced by name to the hall. The servers laid the guests place and offered them a
drink. The feast had begun.

All food was presented by a procession of servers who then split off to serve their appointed
tables. Each table (a corner, seating 13 guests) had four servers, a drinks butler, two food servers
and a supervisor.  All food was served on matching bowls and platters.

Some other items not mentioned in the menu were, the serving of a Bayler, (sp?) a large sea snail
which many guests tried to our collective surprise (the taste was very much like abalone), the
displaying of an intricate colored toffee and sweet pastry stained glass window of a knight in armor
which was immediately smashed and served to the guests, the blind soothsayer who came and
read the entrails of the sucking pig before carving and many other little extras to keep the guests
constantly amused and hopefully amazed.

We were very happy with the result of our labours but the feast was more difficult and more work
to run than feeding 250 as a principality event. Oh yes, we also ran on time :)

Charles (of the Park) not the other (original) Charles on the list.
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                      The Good Food Feast

          A feast of three courses with divers dishes
                      and entertainments

     Course the First 
     A platter of sausages forcemeats and meat puddings 
          Cuttlefish croquettes Isica De Lolligine 
          Crabmeat Croquettes Isicia de Scillis De Cammaris Amplis 
               to accompany above - Mayonaise with mild herbs? 
          White Sausage Isicia De Cerebellis 
               to accompany the above a Green Sauce 
     In broth: 
          Dumpling of Pheasant Isica Plena 
          Chicken Forcemeat Isicia De Pullo 
     Braised beef ribs 
     Ember day tarts 
     Brie tarts 
     Pears poached in wine with custard 

     Dancing 
     A dance display by Master Delbert 
     Dancing for all, led by Master Delbert 
     Refresher - flavoured ice 

     Course the Second 
     Whole baked stuffed fish  (We served a 10lb whole fresh snapper)
     Smoked trout and salmon (whole smoked fish were served to each table)
          with the above a green sauce
     Stuffed trout in pastry 
          with the above Sorrel and bitter orange sauce 
     Seasoned stuffed roasted boned quail 
          the above joined with strawberry sauce 
     Salat 
     Sweet spinach tart 
     Mock entrails 

     Divers Entertainments 
     Music by Concordia Mirabilis. 
     Nicodemus - A reading of poetry. 
     Dance display by Master Delbert 

     Course the Third 
     Whole Roast Suckling Pig stuffed with fruits and nuts 
          sauces to accompy the pig will include; boartail 
          gravy, camaline, gallintine, yellow pepper, boiled garlic 
          and sauce Robare.  (Served after a soothsayer read the entrails. and Sir Hugh the Little
                                        carved.)
     Herb fritters 
     Green peas 
     Rissoles closed and fried 
     Rosemary trees with snow, surrounded with comfits and sweetmeats. 

     Dancing 
     Biscuits and good sweet strong wine 

The Servers menu consisted of:

Bread
Pea and ham soup
Lucanian sausages
Vension pies
Herb fritters
Spinach pancakes
Salat
Rissoles closed and fried 
and the pickings from the guests tables
==================================================================

Introduction given to the guests:

                     The Good Food Feast 
     A Politarchopolis Assault Catering Corps production. 

Welcome to the Good Food Feast. We hope you will be delighted 
by small efforts to produce a feast to remember. The feast is 
served in three courses of five to nine dishes. There will be 
breaks between each course for dancing and entertainments . 
The feast will start at 6:30pm and finish by 11:30pm. A word 
of  advice, we highly advise that you eat lightly through the 
dishes as we have saved some of the best for last. 

The hall is divided into half. The rear half is where you will 
eat and the stage portion is where the dancing and 
entertainment displays will occur. During the breaks between 
courses we would ask all to move to the entertainment section. 
This will give us the opportunity to tidy the feasting section 
and to wash your dishes ready for the next course. 

The damask napkin laid at your place is yours to take home as 
a keepsake of the feast. 

Thanks due and gratefully given to: 
     All the servers who volunteered to take a lesser place to 
     make this night special for the guests. 
    The musicians for their sweet sounds. 
     Master Delbert for the dancing displays. 
     Meloria de Curci and Drake Morgan for cordials, beer and ingredients 
     William for letting us take his parents. 
     John Dai and Adam the Renegade for sharing their bathtub with a pig 
     Julianna Richelot for sewing and cooking. 
     Baroness Politarchopolis for sewing. 
     Filippa Ginevra Francesca di Lucignano for cooking above and beyond the call of duty, and 
     Baron and Baroness Politarchopolis for letting us do this 
     feast. 

An eternal debt of gratitude to the Corps who do the work to make my silly daydreams
become reality, especially to Aelfthrythe who created most of the food you eat tonight. 

The Politarchopolis Assault Catering Corps (this time) consists of: 
     Charles of the Park 
     Francesca Cellini 
     Aelfthrythe of Saxony 
     Adelin of the Welsh 
     Dickon Shorth and 
     Francois Henri Guyon 
     Adam the Renegade 

                Eat, eat, you're all too thin. 

- --
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Charles Dean    charles at macquarie.matra.com.au
Matra Internetworks - Internet service providers.
Ph (06) 251 6730  Fax (06) 253 4840
PO BOX 714, Jamison Centre, ACT 2614 AUSTRALIA
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