Elizabethan banquet was SC - Kitchen steward.

[Anne-Marie Rousseau]

Hey all from Anne-Marie
Bonne asks:
> So, Anne-Marie, tell us about that Elizabethan banquet . . . 
> 
well, since you asked! :)

We spent a lot of time reading and studying up on the styles of Elizabethan
banquets and how food was served, in addition to meticulously researching
the recipes. It was important for me and Eden (my co-conspirator) that
EVERYTHING be as period as possible. We read and studied and asked experts
like Alys. It took us about 8 months of research.

The afternoon started with a production of a play by that newcomer
Shakespere (cant remember which one. it was short, only 1 1/2 hrs). the
audience was seated in front of the stage in chairs (ideally they would
have been benches, but oh well), and there was a large area between the
chairs and the stage for the lower class. We had severeal "vendors" going
through the crowd "selling" oranges, nuts and bottled beer (ginger) (we
have a citation that the opening of these bottles would disturb the actors,
who thought they were being hissed at).

after the play, the tables were set up for dinner. The meal consisted of
three courses, each with a meager 6-8 dishes in them. We attempted to
balance the food as prescribed by Markham and May and others. We had taken
the time to recruit and train a whole passell of servers, led by our very
own steward, who with great ceremony attended to the washing of the hands
of the notables and announcing the dishes to the head table as we found
described in our research. Each server knew what the dishes were and could
answer questions and were rejoined to do so "in persona" if at all
possible. Our steward made a great show of berating the servers where
appropriate, etc. At the end, the baron paid the steward, who then
distributed the coins to the servers. At one point I even came out as the
cuisinier and did a bit where I had heard that certain notables were not
happy with the meal (someone hadnt eaten their turnips!) and proceeded to
wring my hands and pout until she at least tried them (she was a very good
sport).

After the meal, diners were invited to partake of dancing and songs and the
dainty treats of the banquetting tables, which groaned under the weight of
all kinds of wonderful things. Great pains were taken to decorate and
garnish everything within an inch of its life.

We should have had more dishes per course, and the banquetting table should
have been ina cool gazebo out on the lawn, and we coulda had neat special
banquetting plates that had poems and songs written on them, so you could
see them if youate all the cookies but all in all, it was a lot of fun. the
food was outstanding, and I think a major part of the events success was
that we took the time to present the food in a manner appropriate to the
overall theme.

Before you ask, yes, a publication is in the works for the recipes and our
research. It may end up a CA, but will definately be available as a Feudal
Gourmet through our Guild. I'll let you all know when its ready!

- --AM
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