SC - Syllabub Was: SC-Lebkuchen

[LHG, JRG]

LrdRas at aol.com wrote:
<snip>

> For me, it is an integral part of the Medieval experience at an event.  I
> suppose that perhaps those of us who live in the older shires of the East and
> Aethelmearc are a little spoiled because we have over the last 8 to 10 years
> finally dragged ourselves away from ethnic food and traditional dishes to a
> point where the majority of feast participants not only expect but insist on
> period food at feasts.
>

I have to agree with Lord Ras here.  The feast is the pinnacle of the days
experience when the 'magic' of what we do comes together to create the 'middle
ages' for us.  We spend so much time on our clothes, pavillions, 'mundanity
covers', decorations, etc.  Being jolted back into the 20th century with the food
just kills all our hard work.Here in Ansteorra, many of us have worked hard to
change peoples minds. Baroness Clarissa and I have served wonderful medieval food
at events here in Bryn Gwlad. Sir Gunthar does a great job up in the Steppes. I
also did it in Stargate. Plus,HL Rosario in the Western Region has made great
changes out there.  We discovered one common denomniator with our feasts... All
were period foods, all were wonderful because the food was wonderful.  I know the
latest 'feast controversy' here in Ansteorra was whether or not steak (as we know
it now) was period. This started because a group here wanted to do a meal that fed
everyone and was yummy. But for me, it thrust us back into the 20th century, a
place we all fight hard to put behind us on event weekends.
I will say, I am very, very proud of the changes and strides this kingdom has made
in the effort of serving period food at events.  It is improving!  And as long as
we move in the right direction.... I can be very happy about that.

> With the rare exception these feasts are extraordinary affairs with 3-5
> courses consisting of several dishes in each course.  The menus are varied and
> the extant corpora of redacted recipes assures the budding cook persona the
> opportunity to produce delicious and tasty food from the very first feast they
> produce.  A goodly number of feasts (including my own) consist entirely of
> period recipes never before redacted or dishes that have been reworked to
> simulate an end product closer to the original.

Wish I could say all our recipes are redacted by us. They are not. But we try to
verify any redacted recipes (in available period cookbooks) by checking them
against the original to assure they are accurate.In a feast class that Clarissa
teaches (I help on occasion), we employ the KIS principle for first timers  (KIS=
Keep it simple).  This takes away the fear (I've seen it in their eyes) of doing a
feast, many think they have to start with a complex multi-course feast. We
recommend doing it as a single course at first (especially for an outdoor event
with limited facilities) and expand from there.

>
>
> IMO, it is a far better thing to do period feasts but if the kitchen steward
> is inexperienced ethnic or traditional food is the next best thing.  So long
> obviously new world foods like corn, green beans and potatoes are ignored
> (except in the case of the re-creation of Aztec or Spanish colonial feasts)
> the budding cook will be on the right track until they get a little more
> experience.

I agree on this statement. Though, doing an Aztec feast here, we'd be accused of
serving modern mexican food! Tho I have thought about it.  Living in Texas,
Tex-Mex is actually what is most common (but there are a number of 'interior'
mexican restaurants that serve foods that can be very close to the Aztec recipes).

>
>
> In our shire, kitchen stewards must have served as an assistant steward for at
> least one period or period-like feast and exhibited some expertise in their
> ability to produce good food.  They are usually offered the lunch menu as a
> start or the breakfast slot for the very beginning stewards.  This works well
> and provides the shire with a broad base of experienced cooks for any event.
> Kitchen helpers are usually given their own recipes to do or, in the case of
> the clueless, prep tasks are assigned. Youth involved in the Pages program are
> given tasks which become more involved as they progress in skill (e.g. the
> Garlicky Chicken recipe that many of you found so good was produced by a 17
> year old male who has worked in the kitchen for several feasts prior to being
> assigned to this recipe. :-))
>

Interesting system.  Here we have started a 'mentor' program. Experienced cooks
and event stewards are paired with a new person.  Basically it has worked well.
The cook really makes a lot of decisions, we just act to guide them in the right
direction and ask questions to make sure all important issues have been looked at.

> As an added incentive to get good cooks in the kitchen, the Shire has
> traditionally made the Kitchen Steward an autonomous position and he/she
> becomes a temporary officer of the shire along with the other o'crats of the
> event.  Although he/she is responsible to the shire with regard to funding,
> the Autocrat of the event never interferes in anyway with menu selection or
> kitchen staffing.

That is basically true here and I have seen what can happen when the Autocrat
determines the menu as well. I do believe working with the autocrat to make sure
the feast and the event theme work (I wouldn't want to serve Roman food at a
German event).  Other than that, the menu is the cooks responsibility! But we have
had requests for dishes. Savory Toasted Cheese is a big favorite here in my barony
(Thanks, Clarissa).

>
>

Respectfully,
Meadhbh
(who is still cookin' after all these years)

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

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".

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