SC - When planning a feast ....

[Huette von Ahrens]

- --- LadyPDC at aol.com wrote:
> I will be directing my first feast in the near
> future.  It is in the planning 
> stages now.
> 
> From all of your experiences, what would be some
> definite do's and don'ts 
> which you would follow and suggest to others for the
> planning stages, the 
> creation stages, the presentation stages, and the
> post-mortem (as it were)?
> 
> Constance de la Rose

Here are a few [ha!] suggestions I have to make.

Huette

1) If the site has not been chosen, always insist in
being part of the selection committee/group, so that
you will be able to help choose the best site with the
best dining hall and the best kitchen.  Too many site
autocrats don't know much about cooking and tend to
choose a site with the worst kitchens.

2) Always view the kitchens well before the feast to
be aware of what amenities they do or do not offer. 
This way you can plan around what they don't offer. 
And compensate by bringing [if you can] those items
you know you will need.  Always talk to whomever is in
charge about how to light the ovens and work the dish
washers and who to go to when there is a problem with
their appliances.  Make sure that they have someone on
site who is authorized to help with disasters or at
least get a phone number of who needs to be called.  

3) Always have a reliable assistant to coordinate
setting up and decorating the feast hall, because you
won't have time to once the cooking starts.  Always
have a reliable head of servers, who you will give a
list of dishes in the order they are to be served &
with a current recipe list so that all questions can
go to him/her instead of interrupting you when you are
trying to concentrate on something else.  If further
information is needed, the head server should be the
one to go to you and get said information.

4) Always have two or three reliable experienced cooks
on your staff so that if others flake out on you at
the last minute, you will have strong cornerstone who
will support you and help you put out your feast.

5) Never put an untried recipe on your menu.  Even if
others say it can never fail, if they don't show up,
you will have to make it without the knowledge of how
to avoid the pitfalls of failure.

6) Always know where the nearest grocery stores are
and what their hours are, just in case you discover
something you have forgotten or something gets ruined.
And be sure you have money in your wallet, your check
book in your purse and your credit card handy, just in
case.

7) Find out who has a handy empty freezer, so that you
can buy your supplies early and on sale.  And then use
it once your prep cooking starts.  I once bought an
old, but still functioning, free standing freezer from
a friend who was going to turn it in to the electric
company who was offering a $25 rebate for old
freezers. It came in handy many times before it bit
the dust.

8) When deciding on your menu, think about things like
how each dish will interact with the rest of the
course.  Think about their color [don't serve every
dish that has the same color] their shapes, their
textures and their tastes.  While these concepts are
very modern, since you are serving modern people they
react to these things and will react to your meal more
favorably when your dishes have a variety of tastes,
colors, textures and shapes.  I recently went over to
a friends house for dinner and everything that she
served me was brown, including the cauliflower.  It
was not a pleasant meal.  Many years ago, I went to a
local SCA banquet, and while every dish was period,
had a reasonable variety of color and textures, every
dish was sweet, and many diners went home unhappy with
the meal.  Again, I have to emphasize that this is not
a period concept, but it is one that needs to thought
about when serving modern people.

9) I always bring cleaning supplies, towels, hot
mitts, etc. bought especially for the feast, so that
you don't have to rely on inadequate supplies that the
site may or may not have.  I usually buy cheap stuff
and either toss them if they become too grungy or
leave them for the next group to use.  

10) Always do at least one test run before the
banquet. More if you have time.  The more familiar you
are with your menu, the less likely you will have
cooking disasters.  

11) Do as much prep cooking as you can before the
feast.  This will give you more time to concentrate on
the truly last minute items.

12) Don't forget to have fun. 

 



=====
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they 
shall never cease to be amused.

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