[Sca-cooks] non-sweet Elizabethan dishes

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

So far i've been able to please vegetarians at feasts i've cooked.
I've never had a complaint about getting "only sides". As an
ex-vegetarian myself, and one who has lived and traveled in
developing countries where a grain (rice or couscous) is the main
dish at a meal, i don't consider vegetable or grain dishes to be
"just" sides dishes, but, hey, that's me.

I confess that i arrange my courses in my own way, not actually
following "period" menus. Most courses go out with one meat, one
vegetable, one grain, and either one fruit or an additional vegetable
(and bread). There are often separate sauces. The vegetarians can
"dress" their grains with them if they like.

Sometimes the vegetables are pies, sometimes soup - besides the
"obvious" vegetables on a dish. Sometimes the grains are fried slabs
(and mixed with eggs and cheese), sometimes mixed with fruit (German
cherry rice). And i try to be aware of the colors of the dishes in a
particular course, so the courses don't all look the same.

For the German Boar Hunt (Dec. 2001), which used mostly 16th c.
recipes, there were a couple otherwise vegetarian dishes that had
bacon (a lentil dish and a spinach dish) - for the vegetarians, i
just left out the bacon in their servings (it was added near the end
of the cooking, so it was easy to dish for the vegetarians).

I always post the ingredients in the hall - at my first feast, just
outside the kitchen door, and the remaining feasts, on lists on every
table - as far as i can tell, i'm the only cook who does this. I do
put menus on each table. I want to make things known to diners who
may have food problems. We don't have a tradition of feast booklets
here - i've learned about it from this list and when i mentioned it
to an old Westie, she rather sniffed at the idea. I think the idea is
great. Since i'll be doing one or two feasts in 2003, i may try it
then.

In the kitchen, i try to keep things uncontaminated, but my
assistants don't always remember - i walk around the kitchen
reminding them that their simple act of using the same spoon in
several pots could make someone really sick or even kill them. I
generally plate every dish on a separate plate to avoid
cross-contamination in the kitchen - once it's on the table, i no
longer consider it my job. I can only hope that diners make there
"issues" known to their table companions so there are no "accidents".

Anahita