[Sca-cooks] Near Eastern Cooking for 150!!

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Sigh. What you get into when you say, "Sure, i'll help."

I offered to help cook for Purgatorio, an upcoming Kingdom event
(camping, of course) (the Coronation of our new King and Queen). I
thought i was going to be one of several cooks. Little did i realize
that i had actually offered to create a menu and supply recipes to
those several cooks. Urk!

Because there's an early quiet time, Duke Fabian had the excellent
idea of providing a buffet for a nominal charge to keep folks in the
party mood, rather than having them wander off-site to restaurants or
into their own encampments. And to his credit, he requested period
food, and specified that he preferred Near Eastern.

Now, i've cooked 3 times for 80 to 100 in "real" kitchens, and for
150 over a period of a week for a wedding (Indonesian for the
omnivores, and modern Middle Eastern for the vegetarians), putting
stuff in a big freezer.

I need to come up with a menu by tomorrow (and i'm still working on
the Mists Bardic, which is the week-end after Purg).

So far, I've suggested:
-- meatballs (in all the Near Eastern cookbooks), which can be frozen
-- and a simple dipping sauce (like Sinab which is mustard with raisins)
-- chicken with carrots and chickpeas (Andalusi)
-- couscous, which can be made in batches on the spot
-- a vegetable tagine of some sort for vegetarians
-- purchased flat breads
-- cookies from period recipes
-- fruit puree (actually Catalan, but seems rather Near Eastern)

So, any other ideas? I've never done such a big feast at a camping event.

Anahita