SC - Passage East III - Part 1

[Ann & Les Shelton]

I served as head cook for Passage to the East III in the Canton of
Falcon Cree, Barony of Nottinghill Coill, Atlantia last weekend.  The
event was recreating the date of September 26, 1490, the celebration of
the Festival of Cosmas and Damian, patron saints of the Medici family in
Florence.  My primary references were Milham's Platina and Scully's
Cuoco Napoletano, although I also used Santich and others for
supplemental information.  I also generated a handout which informed the
feasters of the effects of the food they were eating {taken from
Platina}.

Things that went right:  the site itself was almost perfect for this
event, the feast totally sold out (136), it came in under budget, the
portioning worked out almost perfectly {everyone went away filled up but
very few leftovers}, I had a great kitchen crew, and the post-feast
reviews were positive. 

Things that could have gone better:  a long story.  The event was held
at a VFW Post with a new Post Commander who was convinced we were
Communists who would steal the silverware and pillage the pantry if he
didn't stand in the corner of the kitchen glaring at us with his arms
crossed and a cigarette dangling from his lip all day {the only time
"Commander Charming" showed a sense of humor was when he introduced his
wife as his "Commanding Officer for the past 42 years."  What a riot!}.
Every time you turned around, he was underfoot.

When we were trying to set up Friday night, the VFW folks were having a
party with a band {nothing like "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues" to
put you in the mood for a medieval event} and grilling steaks, so we
couldn't get into the kitchen.  We weren't allowed into the building
until 10 am Saturday; when we finally got in, they had thoughtfully left
us all their dirty dishes in the sink for us to wash.  So, we didn't
have the greatest working relationship with the site.

The other problem was the weather.  Halfway through the feast, it
started sleeting, with a later chance of snow.  The Queen lives in the
mountains of North Carolina and wanted to get off-site ASAP, so we had
to dish out the remaining food pell mell.  It also meant that half the
clean up crew bailed out to beat the weather.  By 11:30, it was me and 2
pre-teen girls doing the last of the clean-up.

As to the feast itself, it went as follows {I don't read Latin, so there
are probably horrendous grammatical errors, but I won't have a snit if
someone corrects them!}:

I.  	AQUA ODORIFERA ALE MANE
	{Fragrant Water for Washing Hands}

II.	MALIS UVAM IUGLANDE ET AMYGDALIS
	{Apples, Raisins, Walnuts, and Almonds}

	PANE ET BUTYRO
	{Bread and Butter}

III.	ESCICIUM EX CARNE
	{Meatballs}

	CONDITUM PANTODAPUM
	{Seasoned Salad}

IV.	GALINE HO CAPONI CUMSUO SAPORE
	{Chickens or Capons with Their Sauce}

	VERMICELLI
	{Pasta}

V.	CARNERO CUM BRODETTO ET RISO
	{Mutton with Thick Broth and Rice}

	TORTA BULIGNESA
	{Bolognese Tart}

VI.	PORCELLO
	{Roast Pork}

	BRODO NERO PER PIATTI X
	{Dark Sauce for 10 Platters}

VII.	PIRUM IN TORTA
	{Pear Tart}

	NUCATO
	{Honey-Almond Candy}

	PISTACIIS
	{Pistachio Nuts}


I'll break the recipes down into several postings.

John le Burguillun