SC - EK Crown Feast

[LrdRas]

In a message dated 5/4/98 9:08:31 PM Eastern Daylight Time, DeeWolff at aol.com
writes:

<< Not only were they NOT disgusting, but they were my favorite part of the
feast
 !! >>

My arrival on site after a long 4 hour drive was awesome.  The beauty of the
site combined with a setting sun was both calming and refreshing.  Master A
arrived about 9ish and the "work" began. with the usual slicing dicing and
chopping. :-) Around 12:30 or 1 am , A, Phlip and I retired to soft chairs and
couches and chatted inanely until about 4 am.

Saturday morning found us all back in the kitchen at 8 am.  After the stocks,
broths and other things were set to boil.  Lunch preparation began.  Around
noonish, I retired to the second kitchen (the site has 3) to begin preparing
the game dishes for High Table.  Lady Phlip began getting the outdoor grills
ready and the cooks in the main kitchen began the Feats frenzy.  I was unable
to "help" much in the main kitchen but occasionally poked my head in the door
to savor the luscious aromas and sneak bits of rabbit and chicken.  During one
of those visits several cooks from the list showed up and I met them. 

A short while later, A sent the Cuskynole crew done to my kitchen where we had
a great time mass producing Cuskynoles for final cooking back at the main
kitchen.  One of the four people on the cuskynole crew was a 10 yr. old boy
whose ceaseless labor, good humor, chivalry and service was an example to
every one of us.  Another person was a young guy in his mid-20's at his first
event who happened to be a professional chef. :-) The resulting product looks
almost EXACTLY like the picture in the original Cusk recipe.  Imagine that!
(Anyone who would like a copy of the picture of the finished cuskynoles should
e-mail me with a request and specify the format you wish to receive it in. )
:-)

Although several problems occurred throughout the day (e.g., the food for luch
didn't arrive until almost noon) things appeared from my limited viewpoint to
have gone rather smoothly.

The feast smelled wonderful however, my entire portion of the feast consisted
of a half on one cuskynole. :-0

Things that could be done differently in the future, IMO would be more pre-
prep on Friday evening, the provisioning of a cleanup crew that consisted of
persons who had NOT been working in the kitchen all day and making sure that
someone is specifically assigned to make sure that food was being reserved for
the cooks, most of whom did not get to even taste the final dishes.

All in all, Master Adamantius' ability to coordinate his crew while
maintaining a sense of calm in a sea of disaster was extraordinary and
awesome!  A better or more patient teacher I have never seen in the SCA.  From
his first entry into his domain, it was very evident who was the captain of
the ship.  He exhibited self-constraint and patience from the beginning to the
end, ruling his world with a firm hand that was clearly evident despite his
gentle and encouraging manner as teacher.  If anyone ever gets the chance to
work with this master cook, jump at it. The information he imparted n all
areas of cookery throughout the day was well worth the aching feet, sore
muscles and exhaustion that followed.. :-)

Since my perceptions were of necessity rather limited, I will let him tell the
whole story rather that relying on my memory and hearsay.

Vivat to Master A for a job well done and to the dedicated event staff that
made this event a truly memorable experience.

al-Sayyid Ras

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