SC - Re: The Perfect Feast

[alysk at ix.netcom.com]

For me, a lot of it starts with the setting and the presentation.
White tablecloths, not what folk bring or don't bring themselves.
Diners seated on one side of the table and served from the other.
Food presented in appropriate dishes (neither too big nor too small)
_with a serving utensil_!  I really don't like having to eat food
with someone else's saliva in it from their already-used spoon.
Some sort of appropriate decoration on the dish, especially if the
original mentions it.  A recipe book available with at least the
name of the dish, source, and period recipe.  I don't need the
modern version, necessarily, but would like to know where any 
deviations occurred.  Hot food served hot, and cold food served
cold.  Food served on time and without long minutes (hours) between.

As a comment to the above... I ate a Midrealm Crown Tourney feast one
year where the server brought out a huge platter with eight (yes, count
them) small slices of roast pork.  Nothing else.  No decoration, no
sauces, no side dishes.  After 20 minutes, a dessert-sized bowl of
8 cooked apple halves appeared.  Some 10 minutes later a sauce appeared.
(Yup, it was the sauce for the pork which had been devoured 30 min
before.)

Alys Katharine