[Sca-cooks] Feast Food for Picky Royalty

[eirenetz at comcast.net]

> I hope maybe the cooks on the board can help me with a major feast problem.  I 
> finally got a list of what the Royalty will eat/not eat and am totally befuddled 
> as to what to do.

Are you cooking for the entire reign or is this just a one-time deal? When met 
with this kind of problem, I usually tell the food-challenged person (in the 
nicest possible way, of course) that they would probably be happier - and I 
would be happier - if they didn't plan to eat my cooking. As this may or may 
not be an option, I have a couple of suggestions. Only a couple; I'm pretty
bamboozled by his food choices, too. 

First of all, instead of hot dogs, offer bratwursts. They somewhat resemble both
hot dogs and period sausages, and have little of what we would consider to be 
period 
flavor. I cut them into little chunks for finger foods at picnics, and serve 
them with a mustard sauce. They'd likely be well-recieved by the rest of the 
feasters too, but they are a little pricey.

String cheese isn't too bad - at least it's white. Would he eat other white 
cheeses? What about losyns, his portion without the sugar and spices? In 
desparation, I might try to make his with white Velveeta - I'm not sure it's
food, but at least it's not as obtrusive as Ho Hos.

Is he the kind who examines everything on his plate before eating it? If so, 
it might not work to just give him a plate without telling him what's on it. But
I'd try it. I don't percieve eating what's put in front of you as "adventurous", 
just polite (within reason of course). 

What about the Queen? What does she like? Can she influence him? 

<snip>

> It now looks like I have to make a 
> seperate feast for him. Do you think this is too accommodating? Or should I 
> change my menu slightly (omit the beef, add more cheese kinda thing). Most 
> royalty I have cooked for are usually pretty adventurous, so I'm kinda stressing 
> over this.

I will typically accomodate feasters who give me prior notice, unless it's a 
huge accomodation. I have one frined who has a bad reaction to anything onion,
mint, curry, or most green veggies. In cases like hers, I usually advise them 
to not eat my cooking. There are lots of strategies for dealing with food-
challenged people. Changing the ingredients might do the trick; leave the 
onions out of one pie, for instance. Provide extra chicken to the table that 
can't eat pork. Cook some veggies in veggie broth instead of beef for 
vegetarians. Provide a wide variety of foods, and vary the ingredients. The 
all-garlic feast isn't a great idea if you want to feed a lot of people. 

I recently had the chance to go to a Lenten feast. It smelled great, it was a 
very cool concept, and the reports were very good. But I can't eat dairy 
without unpleasant consequences and so I opted out, knowing that it would be 
very hard for me to get a complete meal. Asking the head cook to cook a hunk 
of beef for just me seemed wrong on so many levels. I think it's the 
responsibility of every feaster - even the Crown - to find out what's being 
served and then decide if they want to eat there or at the Steakhouse.   

Good luck!

Eirene