SC - When planning a feast ....

[Huette von Ahrens]

At 2:00 PM -0600 10/24/00, Edgar, Terry wrote:

>I once was served a dish at a feast that I recognized
>immediately from a period cookbook I have.  It was cooked correctly and was
>no doubt totally period.  It was flavorless only because no spices were
>added.

That's odd--I would have said that period food generally makes a 
wider use of spices than standard American. What was the (original) 
recipe?

When you say that it was from a period cookbook, do you mean that the 
cook was following a modern worked out version, or the original? 
Since the originals don't usually give quantities for spices, how 
bland the finished version is depends largely on the preferences of 
the cook.

>I frankly couldn't eat it.  This is not intended as an insult as I
>would not say what feast it was or what dish it was, but If I were serving
>the same dish, it would be at least salted before I served it.  (I wouldn't
>serve it anyway if I hadn't tried it out first)  Many could argue this as
>changing some sort of recipe, but I would rather my guests be tantalized
>with tasty delicious food if that means adding spices to it.

The usual claim I see is that one has to leave spices out to make the 
food edible. I don't find either that or your version very 
persuasive. So far as salt is concerned, Platina explicitly says that 
he doesn't bother to mention it in his recipes.

If you actually have a period recipe that is unacceptably bland, 
wouldn't it make sense to simply do a different period recipe instead 
of adding ingredients to this one? There are thousands of them out 
there, after all--and most of the ones I have tried aren't 
particularly bland.

>Double check to make sure everyone gets each course served.  I was at a
>feast once where a whole table was missed for a whole course.  Appoint a
>"hall steward" to organize the servers.  Be sure to have a couple dedicated
>to serving the "high table".

Something I like to do is to have someone in charge of 
redistribution. That means wandering around looking for a tables that 
has only eaten half its serving of X and obviously isn't going to 
have any more, and moving the platter to another table that has eaten 
all of its X and, you suspect, would like some more. That not only 
results in less wastage, it also makes people feel as though you are 
paying attention to their needs.

- -- 
David Friedman
Professor of Law
Santa Clara University
ddfr at best.com
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/