SC - Trenchers Oh my!

[Olwen the Odd]

I have a friend who makes his trenchers to take along to events to use as 
his feastgear plates and bowls.  Of course, he kinda came up with his own 
version of a recipe, but he says that although a little tough, if there is 
enough sauce, he does nibble some of his plate.  He also is very puffy about 
being able to "clean up" faster than everyone else.

>Ah, but trying to eat the trencher would be educational, nicht wahr?
>Actually, I would post the information about trenchers with my ingredient
>list, letting everyone know they were meant to be used as plates and not
>eaten.  This does nothing to protect those worthies who don't read the
>warnings.

This bit reminded me of an event feast from several years back.  The cooks 
for that event sent out everything in portion control.  What a mess.  There 
were six of us at our table; we got six meatballs on one platter, six 
sausages on one platter, six of everything came out on seperate platters at 
seperate times.  The feast (or "snack" as it came to be known) took hours!  
And I know for certain that all the food that had been prepared did not even 
make it out to the hall. (I know, cuz I helped in the kitchen for awhile, 
nothing I worked on came out).

I'm sure there can be a good way to do this type of thing, but you will find 
that there will always be lots of leftovers and toss outs.  We try very hard 
to plan feasts and buy supplies with a strick portion control in mind, but 
it seems there is always too much of something.  We have been very 
successful with many of our plans, but you just can't know who out there 
just "won't touch" certain foods.

I will be very interested in hearing more about your finds and trials.  I'm 
sure you will keep us posted.

>I've started looking at the logistics of period feasts and I'm finding them
>very complex and ordered for portion control and reducing wastage.  I'm
>considering trying to present the fare and control the hall in a period
>manner sometime in the future, but when I do so, I will need to provide an
>informational sheet about what is occurring.  The actual dynamics of the
>service are different enough from the standard SCA feast that the populace
>will need to be educated as to what is occurring and what is expected of
>them.  Such is likely the case with your trenchers.
>
>Bear
>
Olwen
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