[Sca-cooks] Tableware

[Harris Mark.S-rsve60]

Bear said:
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>I wonder if trenchers were specifically used for feasts.  When they
>served more people than usual and didn't have enough of the plates
>that would be normally used.  People didn't bring their own feast gear
>in period.

Actually the rich and powerful travelled with full baggage trains and often
their own cooks.  They would be served on their personal tableware and
linens by their own servants and room would be made in the kitchen for their
cooks.

Since the illustrations often show trenchers being presented to the highest
ranking nobles, they are certainly not being used to fill in where there
were not enough plates.  Also, the handbooks on serving and etiquette
provide very precise instructions on how trenchers were to be prepared and
presented.
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Yes, but how often were trenchers used for meals? Just the major
feasts? Or everyday or somewhere inbetween?

If it is something done everyday, then why would the directions
need to be repeated in so many places? We've said before that
some of the simpler dishes may never have been written down
because a recipe wasn't needed. If something is being done
everyday, why would instructions be needed?

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>Using trenchers doesn't make that much sense for everyday meals.
>Its better to wash and reuse a plate, but makes a lot of sense for
>feeding a large number.
>
>Ranvaig

You need to keep in mind that dining in a great household was a ritual as
well as a meal.  It was a display of the wealth and power of the head of the
household and was meant to create a sense of community among the members of
the household.  Trenchers served to demonstrate wealth and piety.  Only a
wealthy and therefore powerful house could afford the expense of using bread
for plates, which were taken up between courses and given to the poor as
alms.
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No disagreement here. But every day???

They were for show. I believe some of the manners books specifically
say to not eat your trencher, lest you appear poorer than you are.

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Originally trenchers were just small round loaves sliced in half, as shown
by an illustration in an early 12th Century copy of Gregory's Moralia, but
by the late 13th Century they were being squared and presented to the table
in an increasingly more elaborate ritual.
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Thank you. I had been wondering at some of the variety in the different
trencher descriptions and cutting methods. This makes things much
clearer.

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A comparison of accounts between the 13th and 16th Centuries show a decline
in the expenditures for bread, suggesting that trenchers moved from being
used at every meal to being used primarily for pomp and ceremony.  For
example, Dembinska comments that in mid-16th Century Poland it was common to
use bread trenchers on fast days.
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And the evidence that they started out being used at every meal is?
Decline in bread expenditures per person? per household? Or only
compared to other food purchases?

It's interesting that Poland seems to be lagging the rest of
Europe then, since there were a fair number of fast days and
above you said that 13th through 16th Centuries show a decline.
Was this "use bread trenchers on ONLY fast days"? Or used
trenchers off and on through the year, but especially on fast
days?

I believe you've said that you did a paper at the last CooksCon
on trenchers. Unfortuately, I've not gotten my Proceedings from
that yet.

I would love to see a comprehensive article on trenchers in
"To Serve It Forth", TI or for the Florilegium. I think
either the folks in the SCA are making tremendous progress
in understanding and using trenchers in the last few years
or the new communications channels are just making me aware
of efforts that have been ongoing.

Stefan li Rous