SC - food at re-enactment group

[Yeldham, Caroline S]

> At 01:36 PM 14/05/98 +0100, Caroline wrote:
> >Sorry, I meant 'how were they served in period - ie under period
> >conditions', not how to serve large quantities today!
> 
	And Rowan replied
> >
> Ah, sorry I misunderstood you my lady. I guess there might be several
> answers...
> 
> (1) With a large number of kitchen staff you could have several people
> making frittours at once and serving them forth as they were made.
> Certainly
> the  woodcuts/pictures of large kitchens seem to be well stocked with
> staff. 
> 
	This may be the key - I just don't have the staff numbers!

> (2) Although I agree they are best hot, they are still good warm and they
> can be kept warm while other batches are being cooked
> (3) How many people were being fed anyway? Frittours for 50 is not too bad
> with 2 people, it's hot frittours for 300 that's the problem.
> 
	But in period if you were serving an ordinary dinner in a manor
house or castle (yes, there were smaller establishments but the manuscripts
don't come from them), that's the kind of scale you would be looking at if
you wanted everyone to have some - see the records of Ingatestone Hall, 100
messes for dinner is not uncommon - so you are looking at somewhere around
400 people.

> (4) Why should our "hold and reheat" ideas be modern and not used earlier,
> even if they used different re-heating options? (although deep frying was
> used then as now even if microwaves were not :)
> 
	Have you seem any evidence for deep-frying?  I must say I haven't,
and I would be very nervous about deep frying over wood or even charcoal
burners.  On re-heating, I'd probably used residual heat from a brick-oven
to keep them warm, if I had such available, but it would seem an inefficient
use of resources.
	 
	Caroline
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