[Sca-cooks] Siege Cooking Competition results (long)

[nickiandme at att.net]

The whole report is located at: http://www.kateryndedevelyn.org/lilies_xviii.htm 
It includes photos. Click on photos to view larger ones. 

But the report (sans photos) is: 

Lilies XVIII – Seige Cooking Competition 
Sponsored by HL Kateryn de Develyn 

We had four teams compete this year. And wow! I don’t think the teams could 
have done a better job of overwhelming the judges with their creativity and 
their expertise. I know I was really happy and proud of what they produced for 
the judges. We have some great cooks in our Kingdom of Calontir and those who 
entered and demonstrated their talents in this competition certainly deserve to 
be listed among the best! 

I sat with the judges and tasted everything, although I didn’t contribute to the 
judging other than to make happy noises as I tasted everything. There was 
nothing served that I wouldn’t be happy to have at a feast. These folks came up 
with some really good tasting stuff! And no duplicate recipes or flavors among 
all the dishes of the teams. And that was amazing also. 

Crystal Mynes – Team 1 

Salad with Deviled Eggs 
Bryndens with Strawberries and Ricotta Cheese 
Fried Chicken Stuffed with Herbs 
Fava Beans 
Candied Carrots 
Green Peas with Onions 
Wilted Spinach Salad with Bacon Grease Vinaigrette 
Leek and Chicken Soup 
Fried Chicken Innards 

This team went first – and the judges were amazed at the quantity and quality of 
the presentation. There was color, textures, flavors and aroma! They candied 
the carrots with the raw sugar – and it was good! And I’m not that fond of 
candied carrots. So a –good- coming from me is high praise indeed. The leek and 
chicken soup was outstanding. Their salad tasted excellent. The fava beans 
–tasted excellent (I really want their list of ingredients and prep recipe for 
my personal collection). I would serve those at feast anytime. The Fried 
Chicken innards were crispy and looked good (as well as tasting good – I think I 
had to try them oh three or four times before I could adequately judge them ;-) 
sitting on their bed of spinach. 


Ameleth Moor – 15th/16th Century English Sources 

Pot Roasted Chicken 
Chicken Breast with Braised Leeks 
Soup 
Salad 
Peas with Ginger 
Glazed Carrots 
Strawberries with Cream Sauce 
Chicken Breast with Fava Beans and Hard-boiled Eggs 

This team presented their entry by carrying in their own table top loaded with 
the dishes and heralding their entry. It was tres cool! They also explained 
that they presented hard-boiled eggs to show that they had eggs to spare... and 
to fool the enemy into thinking their larder was much more well-stocked than it 
was. The braised leeks were excellent!. The peas with ginger were flavorful. 
The pot roasted chicken was to die for. I thought the fava beans tasted very 
good! And glazed carrrots made with raw sugar were a treat! I'm going to use 
raw sugar from now for glazing carrots. 


Iron Chef Goes Medieval –Platina 

First Service - Salad with Herb Vinaigrette and Poppy Seeds 
Flat bread with Herbs and Ricotta 
Second Service - Fillet Chicken rolled around an herb and ricotta mix 
Sweet Fritters flavored with apple slices 
Fava Beans with Currents 
Third Service - Soup – Leeks, Herbs, onions, peas, apples 
Savory Fritters 
Final Service- Strawberries with Sliced Apples and sweetmeats (sugared nuts) 
Persian Tea 
Sekanjabin 

This team surprised us by offering Persian Tea (tea made from spices and herbs) 
that was extremely refreshing. And their sekanjabin was excellent too! They 
also were the first to present their dishes by service. The herb and ricotta 
mix which the filled chicken was wrapped around was so good – I was ready to run 
off with it screaming mine, all mine. They also presented three breads in the 
form of fritters and flat breads. the Sweet fritters were really good. The 
Savory ones were good also. And the flat bread – I could have taken more of it 
home with me. 


Fried Brains - Apicus 

Gustum 
chicken liver Pate 
Carrot Chips (fried carrot shavings) 
Cold Minted Chicken 
Carrot Salad 
Primus 
Chicken Apicus (on a stick) 
Sweetened Apples 
Secondus 
Stuffed Chicken 
Peas with Bacon 
Leeks and Apples 
Firebrand Chicken/Bean Soup 
Finale 
Compote of early First Fruits (strawberries) 
Crostatta di Ricotta (cheesecake) 

This team had a recipe from Apicus for every dish they made. They also 
presented it in services. The Gustum was excellent. They somehow managed to 
sliver the carrots for the carrot salad. The dressing on it was good. The 
chicken liver pate – I would serve at a cocktail party. And they found time in 
their two hours to not only cook the chicken but also to chill it in their ice 
chests to serve it cold. The chicken on the stick was well-seasoned. The peas 
with bacon were tasty. And their Crostatta although still warm was excellent. 
I could easily have eaten half or more of it in a sitting by myself. 

The winning team was Fried Brains. I didn’t envy the judges in having to make 
their decisions. I’m just happy I got to taste all the dishes. 

My judges were: HE Mistress Diana, HL Bronwyn, and L Padraig. They were a 
knowledgeable crew of judges and did not hesitate to taste any of the dishes. 
They truly had a hard job. The teams were fairly evenly matched just by looking 
at the quantity and quality of dishes each produced. 

The competition was scored on: 
Max 
Points 
Possible Description 

20 Medieval recipe used as source for each dish 
10 Medieval Presentation 
50 Flavor/Texture/Appearance/Aroma 
10 Using Fresh Herbs that can be seen growing onsite 
(herbs must be store-bought or homegrown 
(ie: not harvested/picked onsite) – state/park laws) 
10 Judges discretion 
10 Bonus points for limiting it to a single time period/country 

The teams were allowed to go pick up their siege supplies in half-hour 
intervals. They had two hours to prepare and then present back to the judges 
their entry. This allowed the judges a half-hour each to judge a team’s entry. 
This also worked well in having all the teams get the same amount of cooking 
time. 

I had a lot of fun sponsoring this competition. I hope everyone who 
participated had fun also. 

Thank you to the Lilies Team that allowed me to hold this competition. 

Kateryn de Develyn