SC - private cooks at events

[Stefan li Rous]

Anne-Marie commented: 
> actually Chiquart makes a point of stating that as the cuisnier, you also
> have a responsiblity to accomodate the cooks for the visiting dignitaries
> who will show up at your kitchen door and expect to cook for their lord or
> lady, as they are fasting, or have special dietary requirements. To this
> end, you will need to have the staff and supplies to help them. 
> 
> can you imagine???!!!!!! Me, I dont share so good (and run with scissors,
> too). My kitchen! MINE! MINE!! though it does have interesting connotations
> for a monarch who chooses not to eat the cuisine presented by her devoted
> populace...

Well, I think this idea has merits. If we are going to hold Royalty out as
high and mighty and much more important than the rest of the populace then
this make sense. I find it rather insulting for the populace to have to wait,
sometimes hours, for the feast because the Royalty are not ready at the
scheduled time. And this has happened in Ansteorra. At an outdoor feast,
which was threatening rain, while the Queen waved to the gathered populace
and continued her leisurely walk to the showers. I would have gone ahead
and served the feast but the headcook wouldn't.

With a private cook, the populace could have gotten food when it was
originally scheduled and the Royal Cook could have then worried about
the Royalty getting fed.

There is a precedent. Many Royalty bring their own heralds to events.
Perhaps because these Royal heralds are more attuned to how Their
Majesties prefer to handle court. If the Royalty don't like what is
being served, then their cook. who is probably more attuned to their
desires, can provide something else. They can just tell folks they
are doing a special penitence or fast.

As far as kitchen space goes, this has a similar problem to holding a
mass, maybe non-period feast, for the populace and another smaller period
feast for those interested in it, in that kitchen space may not be
sufficent. However, food for the Royalty should not require as much
preperation space as another feast for a larger number of people. 
Because of their Royal stature, they could probably get more space
than an equal division would be. ie: more than 10/100s or 10/300s
of the kitchen that the Royal Entourage represents in numbers.

Stefan
 (Not entirely tongue-in-cheek)
- -- 
Lord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris             Austin, Texas           stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****