SC - Compost and Kitchen Crew management

[Elaine Koogler]

I served it at Coronation last fall.  I prepared it a week ahead of time, and it
was very good by the "day of".  It was also very good two weeks later, etc.  So
I guess I'd give it at least a week, if possible.

I think I used a big plastic bucket, but feel sure that glass bottles would work
just as well.

Kiri

lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:

> -- ONE --
>
> I'm thinking of making Compost The Medieval Dish for the feast i'm
> doing in late Nov-early Dec, even though it isn't one of the
> "traditional" dishes for that feast. The main dishes are pork, pork,
> pork - in just about every course except dessert. And that's because
> it's The Boar Hunt - a day of hunting boar (a couple heavy fighters
> so designated) by other heavies and "hounds" (light fighters so
> designated). The feast comes after a day of good clean fun (or not so
> clean if it's raining).
>
> Months ago when i first took this assignment (cue Mission: Impossible
> music) i asked for recipes from the good folk on this list and will
> be playing with them before i decide (my thanks again to those who
> sent them).
>
> Usually dishes are cooked on the spot, starting around 8 or 9 AM with
> the pork roasts, as there's a pretty good kitchen there. The feast
> starts around 5 PM: a course is served, folks eat, the dishes are
> cleared and there is singing, or dancing, or juggling, or other
> stuff, then another course, then more stuff, etc. Hall clears around
> 10 PM and the kitchen is theoretically clean by 11 PM.
>
> But, as i said, i'm thinking of making Compost. i'd have to start
> this some time ahead of the feast. What i'd like to know is, how far
> ahead of the feast should i start this?
>
> Also, must i have one of those big ceramic crocks or can i use a
> couple big glass jars (i think mine are 2-gallon size) or what? The
> feast is for between 50 to 100 people. There are i think four courses
> with four dishes in each course.
>
> -- TWO --
>
> I've worked two feasts and i finally attended one at which i didn't
> work for the first time last weekend, but i don't yet know how to
> "manage" the cooking crew. I intend to volunteer for a couple more
> feasts this year to learn more, but i thought i'd pose this to the
> list.
>
> Since i've never managed a kitchen crew before, i'm not sure of the
> "best" way. There's cooking going on from around 8 AM until shortly
> before the dessert course, although most of the crew arrives between
> 10 and 11 AM. What happened last year was one or two people worked on
> each dish - chopping, mixing, cooking. When the dish was done, they
> moved on to another dish or took a "play" break.
>
> Last year i spent about 5 hours washing when i noticed that the
> serving trays needed to be "recycled" and no one else was washing.
> Also, as people finished cooking their dishes they just put the dirty
> stuff in the sink and moved on to the next dish.
>
> I want to find a way to rotate the crew so that stuff actually gets
> washed, but no one person spends the whole evening doing it. I'd
> like, first, to ask (tell) folks to wash the items they used when
> they're done using them, so that part of the stack up in the sink is
> eliminated. There are three sinks - i'm guessing, one soap, one clear
> first rinse, one clear final rinse...
>
> How to other Kitchen Stewards do this? Do i just informally watch and
> pick people out from time to time and cycle them over to the sink? A
> posted list of names and jobs, then i watch to make sure people move
> to their next job? Try to get a volunteer washing crew in addition to
> the cooking crew?
>
> Thanks for any hints,
>
> Anahita al-shazhiyya bint-al-karim al-Fassi
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