[Sca-cooks] Serving and High Table

[Robert Garnett]

>Hi All,
>
>1) Who is served first, especially if all the Royals are present?

The way we handled it the one time we had this problem was to serve the
King and Queen and then serve the rest of the high table after then in no
real order.

>2) As a server, do you serve them or put the dish in front of them for
>them to pass?

This will depend on the feast. Some feast we place dishes on the table and
others we serve to them.

>3) How many of each dishes is ideal?  (One?  Two, one for each side of the
>table?)

If you can break it down into groups it is really nice. That way you can
say to them this dish is for three, this tends to limit the amount of
passing things.


>4) Should the meats, chicken, etc., be presented whole or cut up? If
>whole, who do you think should cut them up?

In general cutting meat before it is served is a good thing because it
gives better portion control and makes less mess which has to be cleaned up
later. That being said it can look really good to present an animal to the
high table to be carved. Just make sure that the high table knows how to
carve and are willing to do the job.

>6) For serving the populace, how many of your groups provide serving
>utensils for each dish?  (Or do we expect folk to dip in with the
>spoon/fork they've already had in their mouth?!?)

In my barony we have a really good serving kit including a large number of
serving spoons, if it's something they cannot get with a spoon people
usually spear it with their knife.


Something that is really nice if it can be organized is hand washing. Two
servers come out with a bowl of scented water and a towel so that the guess
can rinse their hands. Not only does it add to the atmosphere bu7t it's
very medieval.

Duncan.