[Sca-cooks] feast serving

[Bronwynmgn at aol.com]

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In a message dated 1/9/2002 7:43:09 PM Eastern Standard Time,
mark.s.harris at motorola.com writes:


> How do they know when to come back to get the next course? What if
> each course is actually composed of half-a-dozen (or more) dishes
> that come out at seperate times?


The herald simply calls servers to the kitchen for the next course, and when
they arrive they are told they will need to collect X number of dishes.  If
anything is left over, then the herald calls for any table which did not get
dish Y to send a server for it.

> You mean that most feasts can't find one server per table as volunteers
> and the only way it works is to be able to draft folks who then feel
> compelled to take on the job of server?

Most of the ones I've been to have not been able to find people willing to
act as servers for the entire feast.  It's not so much a draft thing as
simply understanding that someone from your table needs to fetch the food.
>
> If you have folks "fighting" over who should go up and get the next
> course, then it would seem that you would have plenty of dedicated
> servers available without conscripting folks. Or do you actually
> mean fighting to have someone ELSE go up and get the next course?
> Oooh. I can think of some interesting tournament possiblities using
> this...
>

It's not so much fighting over it as taking it in turns.  It has sort of
developed into the "poor man's version", I suppose, of being honored by
serving high table.  At least at most of the recent feasts I've attended, the
gentlemen at the table have taken it in turns to get each course, and
sometimes two of them go up for the dishes so as to only have to make one
trip.  It's even almost sort of period; although the men at the tables would
not have had to get the dishes from the kitchen, in many times and places
they did serve the food onto the lady's plate, or onto the trencher they and
the lady were sharing.  My husband and I try to remember to do this at
feasts, but I'm still too independent sometimes :-)

Brangwayna Morgan