SC - Fw: Naan #1

[marilyn traber]

>    Does anyone else have similar horror stories? I'm sure we would all
> be amused by them! Murkial, you should not feel guilty in the least. You
> have made a blow for creative freedom & acknowledgment for all of us SCA
> cooks! ;)
> 
> Master Huen

I've got a cute horror story (and I won't even go in to 12th Night).

A Barony close to us asked me to do the feast for their Rapier Champion tourney.
Although it was just two weeks after I was to return from Pennsic, the autocrat 
assured me that there would be no problems. After all the feast was only for 
around 100 people and it was in a full commercial kitchen in a former steakhouse.

I had a decent budget and was actually looking forward to it since I rarely get to
cook in a good kitchen or when I do it's for 300+. I'd gotten a menu planned and 
the budget all in order just before I left for Pennsic. The Barony had a work day
the weekend after I got back so my co-cook and I went to get things sorted out in the
kitchen. Upon arriving on site we discovered the steakhouse had been abandoned
for quite some time and the "commercial kitchen" consisted of a sink, a gas grill,
a warming drawer and a walk-in. Plus, it appeard the grill had never been cleaned.
There was built up grease an inch thick on the blower, we had to clean it with undiluted
bleach. I basically sat in a corner doing massive restructuring of my menu in my head
and muttering "you're a genuis, this doesn't matter" as a mantra.

After cleaning the mess I made a new menu in my head and went shopping all week.
I did wind up feeding everybody and they seemed to enjoy the meal. One other thing
happened, I was using a Cajun cooker as a water boiler and evidently the gas feed line
had been plugged with mud so I'm busy cooking along and look to see a propane gas can
on fire in my kitchen. We did manage to get the gas turned off and the fire out before
anything exploded.

In case anybody wondered I did Berry Kuchens, proscutto wrapped honeydew, Sicilian
grilled pork, grilled vegetable pasta, sweet & sour chicken in a loaf, peach & nectarine
shortcakes w/homemade whipped cream, and another vegetable dish that I can't remember
right off. This was before my period food craze.

Yers,

Gunthar
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