[Sca-cooks] Royal Buffet post-mortem

[Michael Gunter]

Hi,

I managed to complete and serve my Royal Buffet
at Ansteorra Coronation last weekend. I learned
a few interesting things.

I know I've posted the dishes before but here
they are again for reference sake.

Roast beef
Garlic/Pepper Sauce
Camelyne Sauce
Lombard Mustard
Roasted Carrot Salat
A Salat of Lentils
Chicken in Sage Sauce
Cuskynoles
Apple Tartes
Homemade Marscapone Cheese
Sweet Brie Tarts
Pork Pie
Tansy Cakes

There was a fountain with ice water
flavored with a bit of Rose Water.

Some things I learned:

When making Chicken in Sage Sauce use a whole
chicken, I just used the breasts and they seemed
a bit dry to me.

Although I planned this to be a luncheon it had to
sit out for a couple of hours so the finger foods
ruled.

People won't try stuff unless you tell them to.
I even had cards explaining what everything was
and people still avoided some items.

I forgot the batter for the savory cheese wafers so
they weren't served.

Popular items were the roast beef and garlic/pepper sauce.
Cuskynoles, brie tarts, apple tarts, some of the pork pie and
the tansy cakes.

The carrot salad, lentils, chicken and camelyne sauce
were practically untouched. They were all very tasty
and I'm not sure why they weren't eaten.

I know the Royals and entourage ate quite a bit of it
because they were starving by the time I had it set up
and I assisted them in describing the dishes and such.
I've heard that the Royals of Trimaris also ate from it.

But I think that most of it was eaten by the children
that were running fairly unsupervised all through the
area. Most of the dishes eaten were things that could
easily be grabbed and eaten without a plate and it was
all slices of roast beef and the sweet items.

Although fighters seem to have pretty much the same
tastes as children.  ;-)

I had to attend duties in Coronation as Royalty and
Chivalry so I didn't get an accurate assessment of who
ate what. The food was left out for hungry courtiers
to grab when they had the chance. It seems that nobody
wanted to fill the plates I had provided. I've usually
not had this problem with buffets before so was surprised
that only "finger foods" were eaten.

Too bad more people didn't try the other stuff. The carrots
were a wonderful fresh tasting summer salad and the lentils
were rich and smooth. The camelyne sauce went very well
with the beef as well.

But at least people got fed and Their Majesties said They
recieved several compliments on it.

Gunthar
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