SC - Book Review

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Kekilpenny at aol.com wrote:
> 
> Is anyone familiar with this book?
> 
> "Medieval Feast, by Aliki. This picture book for ages 7 to 11 details the
> elaborate preparations that had to be made whenever a lord and lady had to
> prepare to entertain the King. It took them weeks to set up the rooms and
> prepare the feast itself. And they really did bake four and twenty blackbirds
> into a pie! This is a must-read for those studying medieval history. Cat.
> #72, $5.95."

Overall, I like it. Not all of the historical information is strictly
accurate, but it's pretty close, and it's hard to be both general and
accurate on the topic of A Medieval Feast; so much of what is true of
one isn't true of another, so you have to be very slective. There's
nothing in there about overspicing bad meat or anything like that. The
subtlety of a pie of live birds seems to me, based on what I've seen, to
be more a renaissance thing, but that's a minor quibble when you
consider that the information is given to children in such a way as to
portray these people's customs and actions as reasonable and
understandable, even if a bit alien to us. For example, the author
speaks of the stress on the lord of the Castle who may not be able to
afford the financial burden of a Royal Progress visit and series of
feasts without spending most of his stores and fortune, and possibly
even endangering his serfs as they struggle through the winter to come,
all with the risk of Official Displeasure and its various tangible
ramifications, should the feast not go well for some reason.

It paints with a pretty broad brush, but I think it does its job, which
is to educate and entertain children on this topic, and if the kids find
out later about the four-and-twenty blackbirds, that won't negate the
benefits of the rest of it.

Or, to put it another way, my kid liked it, and related it to SCA feasts
he's been to, some of which I've cooked, and he had a better sense of
all that went into producing such a feast, even now. Then he went around
the hall telling people, "See that rice stuff? My Dad cooked that for
you! Do you like it?"
  
Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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