[Sca-cooks] Field kitchen horror stories

[rtanhil]

We all have them. Anyone who has ever had to deal with an
outdoor kitchen knows it can be either heaven or hell, and
which one depends on the autocrat, the budget, and the
weather.

For the Coronation of Darius II and Roxane II here in the
East, we got a great site. At first blush, it looked ideal.
The hall was big, parking abundant. The kitchen was small,
but looked adequate. It even had its own washing room.

Then it got complicated. The feast was a collaboration of
two head cooks Baroness Merlinia, OL (and of course Baron
Eirik, her husband and collaborator), and myself. We did
alternating courses of Roman and Persian cuisine. Their
incoming Majesties weren't big on sauced, complicated food,
so we had to go simple or keep the sauces on the side.
Merlinia based all her recipes on Apicus, I believe. I used
Charles Perry's translation of "Medieval Arab Cookery", with
a few modifications to please their majesties.

Two cooks in one kitchen doesn't always work out too well,
so I planned to cook my part outside. This coronation was
the first weekend in April in northern New Jersey, so the
weather could really have killed us. But it didn't. It was
cool--in the 50s--but not brutal. And it did not
precipitate. We were both able to use the refrigerators and
washing station. Merlinia and Eirik used the inside kitchen
and really made the most of the one grilltop and oven that
were available. I had 3 2-burner Brinkman propane stoves
(which I highly recommend for their BTU output, ease of use,
and reliability), and 3 rented grills. An embarasment of
riches if everything worked. I don't even think we used one
of the Brinkman's.

Merlinia made a Roman appetizer course. I'm sorry. I no
longer remember what she made, but I'm sure it was period
and delicious. I believe vineleaf wrapped shrimp were
involved.

Then the fun started. I was supposed to serve grilled lamb
with apricot sauce (a modification of mishmishiya), grilled
chicken with grape lemon sauce and quince sauce, zirbaja
(chickpea stew), spinach with garlic and cumin, and rice.
Master A. did something miraculous to the lamb involving
olive oil. But the grills would not cooperate. The gas jets
were completely blocked. The grills did not work at all.

We had 60 lbs. of raw lamb and about the same of par-boiled
chicken. I took heed to the bit in Perry's translation that
called for boiling the chicken prior to grilling. It seemed
safest given chicken's long cooking time.

Lord John of Bisby to the rescue. He cleaned the grills on
the fly and we were able to serve the second course only
slightly late. The lamb and the chickpea stew were very
popular.

I have no idea how Eirik and Merlinia managed not to go
crazy. First, it looked like we were going to have to serve
thier course before the Persian course, so that whole
schedule got pushed up, then it turned out we didn't have to
change it after all, so it got pushed back. Not once did
either of them offer to kill me. Merlinia's main Roman
course was fish in some sort of egg or cream-based sauce
(sorry--memory like sieve), Varo's beets, and possibly wheat
polenta. It also was very well received.

For dessert (Persian) we had some almond pastries and some
date-filled pastries, dried apricots, and a few fresh fruit.

All things considered, it worked out fine. The moral of this
story: rented equipment might not work. Make sure you have
John of Bisby on hand (or failing that, someone with a cool
head who knows something about taking things apart to make
them work).

Berelinde