[Sca-cooks] Curious - catering for large numbers

[Elaine Koogler]

While I wasn't the head cook, I was pretty much involved with the feast we
did for Atlantia's Twentieth Year celebration, where we served 600.  What we
did was to get the premier cooks of Atlantia (invited to participate by the
head cook on recommendations from the various baronies in the kingdom) each
to prepare a single dish to feed the total number.  We also presented the
populace (1 copy per table, plus posted online) with a listing of all of the
dishes, with the cook, along with a copy of the recipe, including original
and redaction, and a brief blurb about the cook.  It was all very well
received and pronounced a complete and total success.

The lady who coordinated all of this now lives (unfortunately for us) in
Wisconsin, but Master Tirloch, who is on this list, was her assistant and
could probably provide more details than I can.  However, I do know that she
asked each cook to provide a listing of 3 of their best dishes, preferably
from different "food groups" so that she could create a menu that was
balanced and did represent the best of Atlantian cuisine.  She then notified
each cook of their dish.  The cook either provided the front money for the
dish, giving the head cook the receipts at the event (which were reimbursed
there) or provided front money from the event purse.

Just a suggestion, but this might be a grand idea for your kind of event as
well, where you're celebrating the beginning of a Kingdom.

Kiri
----- Original Message ----- We are expecting between 5-800 people to dine
on Saturday night.(and yes that is the people eating, we aren't offering an
off-board option)  I am curious to find out who else on this list may have
catered for this sort of number at an SCA event.  I have many friends who
are chefs, but generally they are cooking in a very different way from the
way an SCA event is catered, and I would love to hear tips from anyone with
this sort of experience.  The largest event I have catered previously was
450.