[Sca-cooks] Brotherton Library and York: Was: Chinese Cookery Books

[Robert Downie]

Elise Fleming wrote:

> On an additional note, York will be having a weeklong Festival of Food and
> Drink while we're there.  (Yeah, all we need are _more_ tourists! <g>)
> However, another contact from York mentioned that Peter Brears was doing
> two sessions.  I found them, finally, on the Festival's website.  The first
> is a slide lecture on medieval cookery, linking it to the collection in the
> Yorkshire Museum.  The second is a two-part session in Barley Hall, the
> 14th century building being restored in York.  Nichola Fletcher, who just
> wrote _Charlemagne's Tablecloth_, will demonstrate some of the culinary
> oddities she made - stuffing a swan, a stag filled with claret, and will
> bring a raised pie to share with the observers.

This is sooo cool!  I've heard about the stag filled with wine being done many
Pennsic's ago, but never got a chance to see it.  Please tell me they'll let
you take pictures :-)

> Then, Peter Brears will
> "conduct an interactive performance entitled 'Medieval Table Manners - The
> Truth'."  He'll take volunteers (Me!  Me!) from the observers to learn to
> lay a medieval table.  Brears was the one who did a new publication of _The
> Art of Carving_ which includes laying the numerous cloths.

I was very excited when I got a copy of the book, but a hands on demonstartion
from the author would be even better...hmm, what's that green color appearing
on my skin?

> At Pennsic, I enriched Poison Pen Press's coffers with multiple book
> purchases, including _Food and the Rites of Passage_, edited by Laura
> Mason.  The "Rites of Passage" includes historical information on food and
> drink for weddings
> (Ivan Day), pregnancy and childbirth (Laura Mason and Layinka Sinburne),
> funerals (Peter Brears) and Irish weddings and wakes.

I hadn't heard of this title yet, I guess I'm going bookhunting again!

> Ivan Day replaced him,
> and that precipitated my trip to York where there was an exhibition of food
> which was photographed and explained in Day's _Eat, Drink and Be Merry_.
> The sugar paste tower and goblets in the 16th century section were
> exquisite.  Sugar paste items then appeared in the displays of 17th and
> 18th century food.  Day works with someone who makes the moulds that he
> uses for his sugar paste sculptures.

This is wonderful!  Now I'm really jealous, since I'm playing with sugarpaste
as part of my subtleties interest.  Any chance of pictures?  The rest of us
will be living vicariously through you ;-)

Faerisa