SC - My Second Feast

[Lilinah biti-Anat]

My second feast ever was Saturday night, the Principality of the 
Mists Boar Hunt (an amusing conceit - two fighters are the boars, a 
bunch of light fighters are hounds, and all the heavy fighters are 
hunters). I have attended only 2 large-ish feasts in the 7 months 
i've been active in the SCA, and in both cases i helped, either 
serving and cleaning (June Collegium), or cooking and cleaning. I 
prepared two dishes at this one.

Then i ended up wet from hips to armpits as i spent almost 5 hours 
washing platters, as one course was cleared and the next prepared to 
be served - as well as all the utensils used in prep, and cooking 
pots and pans as needed for each course, and the Royals' tableware 
between courses. There were 3 linked stainless steel deep sinks, and 
a fourth porcelain sink, so there was plenty of room. I had one with 
hot soapy water, one to rinse, and one for the greasy meat platters 
and pans. The fourth was for handwashing and any other watery needs. 
Toward the end of the night, i had a couple volunteers wash some 
really big pans i couldn't lift, as i've been having shoulder trouble 
since Thanksgiving. And at the end of the night there were another 3 
people washing the last of the stuff while i scrubbed down the 
counters.

The kitchen is pretty well set up, the only problem is that the ovens 
are not completely reliable (heat very slowly and not evenly), but it 
isn't a big problem. I gather there are several "traditional" dishes 
served at every Boar Hunt, like various types of cooked pork :-)

Samuil, the Feast Kitchen Steward, had everything running pretty 
smoothly. The first course even went out a tad early and we had a 
hitch only with the 3rd course - half went out on time, but because 
of oven issues the chickens weren't quite done, so they went out 
about 1/2 hour later with a delicious green sauce.

It was a "proper" medieval feast, with dancing, singing, story 
telling, game playing, juggling, fire eating, etc. between courses. 
First course went out around 4 PM, then subsequent courses went out 
at intervals of 1-1/2 hours, and the meal ended around 10 PM. The 
diners ate well with each course, as there was time to digest a bit 
between them. The menu looks fairly simple, but was quite rich and 
filling.

Here's the menu that Samuil served Saturday:

First Course: pork and turkey Sausages, seasoned cooked Cabbage, Tart 
de Brie, Baked Roots
The turkey sausages were for folks who don't eat pork - one plate of 
them went to the High Table.

Second Course: Salat, Roast Pork, Armoured Turnips, Gingered Apples, 
Barley Pottage
Much of the barley wasn't eaten - i never ate any so i don't know if 
it didn't taste appealing, or if folks were just full. And a whole 
pan of armored turnips came back untouched.

Third Course: Roast Chicken, Lombard Custard, Fungi, Rice, Buttered Worts

Desserts: Boars Head, Gingerbread, cooked Pears

We didn't make the life-sized Boar's Head - a good Lady did, of 
"period" fruit cake, i was told, iced with brown colored marzipan. 
Quite spectacular. And one of the kitchen helpers had baked 14 loaves 
of gingerbread ahead of time.

There was also lots of bread (plenty of excellent bakeries in 
Berkeley). And mulled cider to drink.

There were a fair amount of leftovers (but not too much), as 80 were 
anticipated and only 50 came.

The biggest problem i could see, and the Steward commented on, was 
the lack of assistance in clean up. As some of the cooks got to the 
kitchen around 9 in the morning, by 10 at night they were REAL tired. 
I got there around 11 AM, as my ride got a flat tire on the freeway, 
and i got home close to 11:30 PM and there was still a little more 
work to do in the kitchen when i left, but my ride was going, so i 
couldn't stay any longer.

The biggest problem i had personally was need of a good pair of 
shoes. Next time...

Then during clean up, one of the elders of the SCA came into the 
kitchen asking who'd be Kitchen Steward for the feast next year. 
Well, i (was) volunteered. Eek! Fortunately i have around 11 months 
to prepare and get some more experience :-)

Anahita Gauri al-shazhiya bint-Karim al-hakim al-Fassi
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