SC - Serving at a Feast

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Bonnie L. Clapshaw wrote:
> 
> Greetings unto the List.
> 
> I am looking for advise or suggestions regarding feast servers.
> 
> I am in charge of the servers during the feast at AnTir's Fall Crown
> Council this November.  I would like to have the Head Table served as
> period as possible.  My understanding (to date) is that only those of
> high enough rank served the King and Queen when they dined and that
> some jobs had a specific title and person such as a Carver.
> 
> Is this true?  Where would be a good place to start researching?
> 
> Any help and advise would be greatly appreciated.

Check Bridget Anne Henisch's "Fast and Feast", Terence Scully's "The Art
of Cookery in the Middle Ages", and last, but (surprisingly enough) not
least, the Larousse Gastronomique entry entitled "Ecuyer Tranchant".
This last is an office that reached its height of complex responsibility
(and commensurate perks) in France immediately prior to the revolution,
but it had its origins in the fact that it was considered a bad idea, in
period, for the King to allow anyone but a trusted retainer (generally a
knight) near him with a sharp knife.

One of my great pet peeves over fourteen years in the SCA is the
frequency with which various peer-types leap at the chance to do this
job at high tables, only to botch it severely, resulting in an
unappetizing presentation and much food waste, which is essentially an
insult, however unintentional, to both the cooks and the other diners,
who might otherwise have seen their money spent more wisely. 

So, my inclination is to see to it that someone who knows how to carve
and serve is the one to do it, and if you want them to be high-ranking,
you can either discreetly inquire about those people's actual skill
levels and experience, or you can offer to find someone to teach them,
or you can write to your royalty about advancing the rank of those who
carve and serve well ;  )  . 

I hope I'm not foaming at the mouth excessively on this topic; it's just
one of my buttons...please disregard those portions of this response
which come under the heading of mad ranting...

Adamantius
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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