SC - Wedding feast-longish

[LrdRas at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/30/98 5:25:52 PM Eastern Daylight Time, him at gte.net
writes:

<< This is my first time to do this (for my spring wedding) ...<snip>.....So
many, (almost all) of the recipes call for almond milk.  I read that they used
that because fresh milk was hard to get and keep.  My Groom does not like nuts
at all, so I need to limit the use of
 almonds.>>

The duel concerns of planning both wedding a feast can be a heavy burden.  I
don't envy you at all.  You seem to be working hard at gaining a solid
background knowledge of period cookery so I'm sure everything will be fine.

The aversion your fiance has to nuts of all kinds is unfortunate when you are
dealing with the preparation of medieval-style food.  Since a large number of
people with specific food aversions point to flavor as the primary factor
generating their aversion, the inclusion of one or two dishes with almond milk
should not be a problem. 

Almonds (when compared with other stronger flavored nuts like walnuts or
hazelnuts) are very bland when raw.  The milk produced from them shares this
characteristic.  As an added advantage, almond milk takes on the flavors of
the surrounding ingredients rather well.  This combination makes it a
wonderful liquid alternative in not a few modern recipes as well. 

I am not aware if your fiancee's aversion to nuts includes coconuts but If
authenticity is not a major issue, you might try experimenting with replacing
the almond milk with coconut milk.  My own experiments using this substitution
have been successful when I have based a modern creation on period sources of
inspiration.  You might want to try an experiment or two of your own in that
area.

<<...<Snip>... In the mid 12th Sen. would everything be baked in a crust?  >>

Definitely not!  Although there are not a few recipes from the mediaeval era
that use this technique, many more recipes exist which clearly indicate that
many types of food preparation was used.  The most prominent forms of cooking
techniques we see are boiling, spitting, grilling and roasting.  Braising and,
possibly, sauteing were also used.  Meats were most often cooked rather
plainly (e.g., boiled) and served in chunks with a myriad of sauces standing
by to provide oral stimulation and diversity.

<>

This sounds good to me.  I was puzzled by the inclusion of both soup and stew.
You might want to try a service of a chilled fruit soup (e.g., cherry soup)
with something like beef tips served over egg noodles.  If a fruit soup is out
of the question then the use of gazpacho, borscht or a cold vegetable pureed
soup (e.g., asparagus or spinach) might be a good alternative.

I would be hesitant to include a fish pie in the service.  We have served fish
pie as a feast course for two years in a row at Will's and are of the opinion
that this is one of those dishes that a person either loves or hates.
Although the fish lovers quickly claimed the leftovers, we received the most
negative comments about the fish pies.  Again, not knowing what degree of
authenticity you are trying to achieve, I would suggest a tuna tartlet or
something like that produced in small individual servings.  Tart shells that
hold a few tablespoons or so of filling are available commercially in most
areas.


 <<The side dishes have not been picked yet.  I wanted a lot of different
kinds of dishes. (and I need to appeal to the modern tastes of my family) >>

Vegetables were often served plainly (e.g., boiled or baked) and salads were
often identical to those we still make today.  Vinegar was often used as the
sauce of choice.  In fact, many people of German descent still make it a point
to keep a carafe of cider vinegar on the table at mealtimes for use over
spinach and other greens and vegetables.

 <<Is it possible, that the written recipes would not have covered the plain
ol' spit roasting,>>

Spit roasting during the middle ages was universally practiced.  A quick
glance through my period cookbooks revealed a great amount of spit roasting.
My favorite basting sauce consists of one cup of raspberry syrup mixed with a
quart of commercial Italian dressing,

<<Any thoughts?  Thanks,
 				Helen>>

I hope you find this useful. Good luck. :-)
  
 <<"If life turned out like we planed it, what would be the point of living
it?" >>

For the deja vu rush? :-)
============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================