[Sca-cooks] Seasonal Feasts

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Kayah <fairyelf at accessv.com> wrote:
>I was browsing through a whole bunch of food sites today and one
>question popped into my mind...
>When cooking feasts and such, do any of you consider the seasonal
>availability of fruits and meat as it would have been done in the
>past? I'd like to get feedback and your thoughts on it.
>
>Kay

Yes, for the most part. Now, mind you, the only feast i've been
responsible for is for The Beacon's Gate Boar Hunt in early December
last year and which i am doing again this year.

For this feast, i try to cook late fall/winter vegetables - mostly
roots - although i confess i served a green sallat last year and will
again this year, which is more of a spring dish.

I also limit my fruits to apples, quinces, pears, and dried fruits.
This year i will include morello cherries - i have found German
recipes for preparing that kind for storage, so i figure using
bottled ones won't be too far off.

The other feasts i've attended have been limited to dishes from one
or two cultures more than to purely seasonal foods, as far as i can
tell from what i've eaten. We are fortunate in that the weather here
in California permits us to have so many fresh local agricultural
items available all year, and the vast variety of ethnicities and
cultures here also makes a huge range of foods available.

We have a limited number of feasts where i live (Northern California,
specifically San Francisco Bay East), but they are usually composed
of "period" dishes.
--The Kingdom of the West has feasts only at our two Collegia, IIRC,
since nearly all our events are weekend-long camping events (2-1/2
days or longer) with 300 to 1,000 people or more.
--The Principality of the Mists has a feast at the Spring and Fall
Investitures of our Princes and Princesses, and a feast at the Mists'
Bardic (to choose the Principality Bard for the year). I think these
are our only principality events.
--The Province of the Mists now sponsors The Beacon's Gate Boar Hunt
and Feast, since the Shire of Beacon's Gate no longer exists, but
folks really like the event. It's the only Province feast.
-- The various Shires, Baronies, and other subdivisions within my
Principality do sponsor feasts. I don't live in a Shire or Barony or
other subdivision, although i am certainly welcome to attend those in
the other Shires, Baronies, etc. and the other nearby Principality of
Cynagua.

I'm considering bidding on a Feast next year, either for a Kingdom
Collegium or a Principality Investiture. I'd really like to do an
entirely "period" Near Eastern feast. Since i won't really know until
about a month before the Investiture from what cultures our Prince
and Princess come, it might work better at a Collegium which location
moves between our two local Principalities...

Anahita