SC - kitchen kits (long)

[Yeldham, Caroline S]

Hello from Caroline

I hope I can help - I've been cooking this way for the last 6 years in
living history in the UK (30 - 100 people, about half the weekends each
summer).  I wanted to answer some of Anne-Maries points as well, so have
included her text.
First, Celestria, you are being very sensible, it will take a long time to
get everything together.  How long probably depends on what suppliers you
can track down to make things for you, how much they charge and your
disposable income (I'm still working on it and feel I have quite a long way
to go)

> To cook "medievally" you need:
> 
> 1.  What is the most important piece of equipment, kitchen or otherwise,
> to
> have "authenticated" by the next war, May Potrero in CAID?
> 
	[Yeldham, Caroline S]  Well, I don't know about SCA requirements,
but the primary safety requirement is for all your clothes, and those of
anyone working around the fire to be made out of wool (lining can be wool,
cotton or linen - depends on group/climate etc) and shoes of leather.  If
you get too close to the fire manmade fibres will melt on you, natural
fibres will frazzle up and blow away (in the temperatures we are dealing
with) - much to be preferred.

> 1. fire source. Much depends on your kingdom, and where you live. The
> oh-so-medieval ground fires are almost always verbotin here, so I'm
> commissioning a fire box type gizmo from a local guy with a forge. It will
> be the requisite foot off the ground, and fairly shallow. 
	[Yeldham, Caroline S]  Its a pity, do try for ground fires if you
can (dig up the turves) - we don't have much of a problem here in the UK
even on archeological sites (some of them even have existing fireplaces!).
I presume Anne-Marie is referring to the risk of fire spreading in dry
conditions.  If not possible, Anne-Marie's solution sounds reasonable.


> My reserach shows
> that food was cooked on charcoal more than fires (I even have a picture of
> cooks cooking on little black squares. Briquets! :)). 
	[Yeldham, Caroline S]  ? I would say wood was much more common -
charcoal production was labour intensive and skilled job, and needed the
right sort of wood.

> You'll need a way to start your fire, whether flint and steel (The Duke of
> Burgundy's badge was a fire striker), or a couvre chef (a little domed
> gizmo to cover the coals from the night before so you can start the next
> days fire with them). 
	[Yeldham, Caroline S]  Couvre feu? - I understood its where 'curfew'
comes from - the medieval version of 'lights out'.  I must confess that
since we are always lighting the fire before the public come in, I use
matches.


> 2. Fire toys. Pokers and prodders and pot lid lifters and hooks and chains
> and a trammel to suspend pots over your fire. If you cover your fire area
> with a canvas tarp you will be safe from sun and rain. 
	[Yeldham, Caroline S]  I wouldn't cover the actual fire due to the
risk of burning up your canvas - cover the tables beside it where you will
do most of the work.

> I saw a neat gizmo
> at GWW of a blow pipe...a small bit of metal pipe with a cap with ahole in
> it. Blow on the fire to get it going. Neat! And just like the medieval
> copper smelters.
> 
	[Yeldham, Caroline S]  Bellows would be more common

> 3. Pots. Medieval pots were copper, tin, ceramic, etc.
	[Yeldham, Caroline S]  Depends on period - but certainly for late
15th century bronze cooking pots were common, as were pottery ones.

>  I am planning on
> making do with the more readily accessible cast iron. 18th century
> recreationists sutlery sells neat ones with feet that look just like the
> medieval ones, not the flatter modern Lodge cast iron style, and for about
> the same price. I also saw footed skillets and am attmepting to pin one of
> those down. Most cool! You'll need stirring things as well...skimmers and
> ladles and spoons and a fleshe forke if you want to get really authentic
> about it.
> 
	[Yeldham, Caroline S]  You will need to track down suppliers for any
of these - I could give you references for the UK, but I assume that's not
much use.  As for picture references - try Fast and Feast by Bridget Ann
Henicsh - lots of 14th century pictures of cooking, or for even better
pictures from the end of the 16th century, try and find some Scarpi pictures
(I think Cindy used them for her Take 1000 Eggs (?) - the Penguin version of
Elizabeth Davids' Italian cooking
	has clear versions - look for the 'how to set up an outside
kitchen', also the different knives used. in period.  We had copied the spit
arrangement he shows which works very well, and the trivet as well.   He
shows a lovely cauldron stand with spit holders for small spits which I
rather covet.  In the meantime we use large wooden tripods with a long
wooden bar in between to suspend the cauldrons (they stand 6' to 7' high)
	 
> 4. A wooden bucket of water and/or sand right near by. Just in case, its
> fire after all. You can get these through the sutlers, or Panther
> Primitives, etc. I got mine at a hardware store...its supposed to be a
> decorator item, and I lined it with clear epoxy to make it invisibly
> watertight.
> 
> 5. Lots of hotpad units. I'm planning on making mine out of wool scraps
> (cheap up here), sewing lots of layers together, and leaving my modner
> ones
> at home.
> 
	[Yeldham, Caroline S]  I use lengths of linen.  Lots of cloth (linen
of different types) - to strain with, to bolt with, to mop up with, cover up
food (esp. when flies are about).  Have a look at Terence Scully's work on
Chiquart - its amazing how much cloth he specifies.


	[Yeldham, Caroline S]  Trestle table(s), platters, bowls, jugs, pots
of all sizes, chopping boards, knives, spoons, sieves, basket ware, chests,
sacks.  I never have enough things to put ingredients or dishes in the
process of being made, or finished dishes on, temporarily or for serving.


> 6. Recipies!!! Of course you'll only want to cook medieval food in your
> medieval kitchen, right? :) Funny, most medieval recipeis lend themselves
> well to cooking on an open fire, ie boil and serve, simmer and serve, fry
> and serve. I am still attempting to figure out how to bake bread and pies
> in my cast iron ware. I took a class and so just need to practice to get
> the hang of it. at GWW we ate off the fire exclusively and ate like kings.
> 
> 
	[Yeldham, Caroline S]  I'm cautious about baking over an open fire
(although I do have a current project to get hold of a medieval testum made
of pottery - maybe  later this year!).  Virtually all medieval baking was
done in brick ovens and was the job of a baker, not the cook.  It depends on
the site, but sometimes the best solution if you need to bake pies is to
take them to the modern oven out of sight of the public! 

> 7. most importantly, either do away, or hide everything that's not
> documentably authentic for the period. Put the coolers in a tent and only
> bring stuff out after transferring to a medieval container like a wooden
> bowl, or plate. Better yet, do away with the coolers altogether if you can
> (Cariadoc and Elizabeth did an article on this for the TI not too long
> ago). Throwing a piece of fabric over a cooler does not make it medieval
> magically. Neither does painting Celtic knotwork on a propane stove.
> Sorry!
> :)
	[Yeldham, Caroline S]  Chests are also useful for this.   
> anyway, good luck! 
	[Yeldham, Caroline S]  
	Absolutely!
> maybe we can compare notes when I find source for more
> of the toys I need.
> --Anne-Marie
	[Yeldham, Caroline S]  Hope I haven't gone on too long

	Caroline 
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