[Sca-cooks] Article on Medieval Feast

[Robin Carroll-Mann]

[ Converted text/enriched to text/plain ]
On 4 Aug 2001, at 2:25, BaronessaIlaria at aol.com wrote:

> For some reason, I could not get into it... :(
>
> Ilaria

I couldn't get into it this morning, either. Here's the text of it, as cached
in Google:

www.mcgill.ca/public/reporter/13/kaleidoscope/
Wench! More ale!
The Department of Art History and Communication Studies is gearing up to host
the 21st Canadian Conference of Medieval Art Historians. When the subject
turned to what to feed the visiting scholars while they're here, Allison
Kassab, an art history master's student assisting in setting up the event,
thought it might be fun to offer something a bit more historical than poutine.
"I thought it would be nice to put together an authentic medieval feast."
Her brother had studied cooking at the Riverside Academy, so Kassab had a lead
on a reasonably priced group of student chefs keen to test their skills on an
unusual menu request.
Scholars, who are travelling from across Canada, the U.S. and Europe to take
part in the conference, can look forward to Cebollada (onion soup) served in a
carved bread bowl and a pickled vegetable salad among the starters and a
second course featuring honey-glazed root vegetables and roast chicken and frumenty
(a grain dish) served on a trencher (or bread plate).
Then comes the elaborate part of the dinner. "They used to save the most expensive
items until after they had filled you up already," notes Kassab. "Illusion"
meal items -- dishes that weren't what they were billed to be -- were often
parts of a special meal. In the conference meal, for instance, the illusion
dish will be "farced swan," a swan-shaped pastry stuffed with spiced ground
meat.
"Appearing generous and having access to uncommon foods was important to
status," Kassab notes. "Often to serve [something like] swan or dolphin was
too expensive but they could shape food to look like it and announce it on the
menu anyway. The more imaginative, realistic and entertaining it was, the more
it made up for the 'false advertising.'"
Then there will be Hasselet (intestines) of boar, another illusion food. It's
really dried fruit with a raspberry coulis under a miniature tuile (cookie)
boar. And, of course, ale, cider, mead and wine, with décor and music
appropriate to the meal being served.
The presenters, many of them from McGill, will hold forth on art, architecture
and questions of representation at the conference. McGill participants include
art historians Hans Boker (the event's chief organizer), Bronwen Wilson and
John Fossey. We suspect most of the buzz outside the presentations will focus
on the eats.

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Brighid ni Chiarain *** mka Robin Carroll-Mann Barony of Settmour Swamp, East
Kingdom rcmann4 at earthlink.net