SC - Re: Serving Whole Chickens

[Elise Fleming]

Stefan wrote:
>Did medieval feasts have carvers for each table? Or just the head table?

My impression is that whole birds were usually reserved to the high table
and were carved in front of the lord before being served.  Lower tables, it
seems to me, received pieces-parts.  IIRC, one source mentions a whole bird
for the lord and some smaller portion for the second lower table.  Then
there was some form of chopped up bird for the rest of the folk.  Does that
fit with anyone else's recollection?

Story:  Fussy, crabby me was asked by the Duke's lady (not a Duchess) to sit
with him and her at head table.  We were presented with a whole bird which
the server laid in front of the duke and then proceeded to leave.  I
grumbled that a good hosting kitchen would have the server proceed to carve
the bird rather than expect the high table muckety-mucks to lean over and
wrestle it into submission (a la Stefan's story which is all too familiar).
The duke grinned and called loudly for attention, stating that it was one of
the marks of a knight to be able to carve, and asked Sir X to come and carve
the chicken.  Sir X claimed that the squires should learn to do so and
passed the chore down the line.  Finally, the kitchen came to claim the bird
and cut it to pieces.  To me, it just ain't "cooth" to ask folk to carve
stuff like that!

Alys Katharine