SC - Purpose of the Feast-long

[Philippa Alderton]

Lord Ras writes:

> For many years, the basic attitude of most
kingdom groups were based on the premise that the purpose of a feast is
solely
to feed the masses.  Thankfully that attitude is rapidly being relegated to
extinction.< 

Wish it was in my area.

> 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'd be happy if people would just cook edible food. Too many people around
here seem to be of the opinion that edible period food is an oxymoron, and
they seem to go out of their way to prove it.

>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.<

Unfortunately, we seem to have no system such as this in place, which is
why I went to the trouble to work with Ras and Adamantius on their feasts.
Our local Laurel runs a one-man show, and is one of the people who thinks
period food isn't very good. The one time he decided to work with a
co-feastocrat (as she was called), The feast went way over budget because
she bought all kinds of stuff without telling him, and tried to run the
whole show without coordinating at all. (It was the Chocolate Cheesecake
Lady, btw) I can understand why he has no desire to do that again... it is
a sign of our friendship that he's agreed to work with me on designing, and
eventually serving, a period feast around here. 

>It would be nice to hear what some other groups do to encourage period
cookery
at events.  What system do you use?  How do you encourage others to
practice
their Art in cookery?  How is your kitchen staff managed?  What positive
changes do you see in the road from feeding the masses to providing a total
medieval experience at events?  How do feast customs in your area allow for
a
fuller experience of the Dream?<

Working with you and Adamantius were the best Feast experiences I've ever
had, despite all the challenges at Crown. I seldom get much of a chance to
work on feasts around here, because I'm the only Chirurgeon on site, and I
need to be available for the fighters. I'm trying to get local people
interested in becoming Chirurgeons so that I can spend more time in the
kitchen, as I did at your events, and simply function as Kitchen Chirurgeon
at need, but I haven't got much help in getting the information I need to
get these kids set up.

What can you guys suggest? I also, while I'd have no trouble cooking for 20
or so people, am a bit nervous about feeding 100 or so of my favorite
people- it's a daunting task.

Phlip

Phlip at bright.net

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider that cain't be throwed.
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