[Sca-cooks] Protectorate Feast-Part I

[Terry Decker]

As Bear promised:

The Protectorate XXVIII Feast was planned for 272 people, 228 paying and 48
comps. Unfortunately we came nowhere near this. Known World Academy of the
Rapier in the southern half of the kingdom drew most of our light weapons
crowd. Limited advertising and threats of extreme weather added to the
problem. Overall attendance was 100-150 people below previous years.

My usual habit of purchasing over time to get the best prices did not
happen, due to a late authorization of expenditures and my travels. Most of
the purchasing was done in the two days before the event. Some purchasing
decisions (having to go with smoked ham rather than air or salt cured) cut
expenses, which was a fortunate considering the decline in attendance. The
forty pounds each of ham and chicken thighs unused will be frozen for use at
a local event.

We had no accurate count of paid feasts until the gate closed. Based on the
count at around 2pm, I shifted to preparing only for 160. At the final
tally, I had 141 paid and 17 comps. My break even was between 138 and 139
paid. This is the closest I have come to going in the red on a feast since
my first one, where the total profit from the feast was $1.86.

Friday, I baked the bread, made the stock, and began preparing the apples
with the assistance of some local members who had a few minutes each to
spend working with me. The feast prep was done with a pick up crew that
floated in and out. I truly appreciate these people for we had dinner
prepared to go by 4:30 in the afternoon with a 6 pm start. Feast was delayed
by court being held in the hall, but we got rolling at 6:20, so the food
wasn't damaged by the delay.

There were problems with the bread. The yeast was more active than normal,
giving a faster rise and forming gas bubbles under the crust which later
collapsed giving some of the loaves a wrinkled apple look. There was also a
problem with undersalting in one of the batches. It was irritating to me,
but I doubt any of the people eating noticed.

There were some problems with the new table layout and the servers, but we
muddled through. Everyone was properly stuffed and the only real complaint
that reached me was about a just turned 21 server who had a little each time
she passed the brewer's serving station.

The menu for the feast was:

The First Course

Carbonata

Roasted Onion Salad

Apple Sauce

The Second Course

Zanzarelli

The Third Course

Limonia

Brodo of Fish

Kidney Beans

Peas with Salt Pork

Bread

The Final Course

Baked Cheese Bread

All recipes are from Italian sources, most filtered through Redon et al, The
Medieval Kitchen, and Scully, The Neapolitan Cookbook. The exception is the
apple sauce recipe taken from Chiquart's Fait du cusine which comes from
Savoy, an independent duchy with ties to France and Italy. The adaptions of
the recipes are mine. Modifications were made to some of the recipes for the
feast.

I did use fresh spices for all of this. The ginger was commercial rather
than fresh from the spicer and I had to double quantities of it to match the
power of the other spices.



Carbonata

Per fare carbonata

Togli la carnat salata che vergellata di grasso et magro enseme, et tagglia
in fetta, et ponile accocere ne la padella et non le lassare troppo cosere.
Dapoi mittele in un piatello et gettavi sopra un pocho, di succharo, un
pocho di cannelia, et un pocho di petrosillo tagliato menuto. Et similmente
poi fare di summata o prosutto, giongendoli in scambio d'aceto del sucho
d'aranci, o limoni, quel che piu ti placesse, et farratte meglio beverre.



To make carbonata, take salt meat layered with lean and fat, and cut it in
slices, and put it in a pan to cook; do not let it overcook. Then put it on
a plate and sprinkle it with a little sugar, a little cinnamon, and a little
finely chopped parsley. And you can do the same to prepare salt pork or ham,
using orange or lemon juice in place of vinegar, whichever you prefer; it
will make you drink all the better.

Martino, Maestro, Libro de arte coquinaria

8 thin slices of ham (air or salt cured for preference)

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 Tablespoon finely chopped parsley

3 Tablespoons wine vinegar, bitter orange juice or lemon juice

Lightly brown the meat in an ungreased skillet and transfer to a platter.

Sprinkle the sugar, cinnamon and vinegar or juice over the meat

or

Stir the spices and vinegar or juice together in the skillet and pour over
the meat.

Sprinkle parsley on the meat.

Serves eight.



For the feast, I had to use a regular smoked ham rather than salt or air
cured. I got spiral cut and sliced the meat from the bone hoping to save
time. Next time, I will probably use whole hams, bone them and slice them
with a commercial slicer.

As I was using a grill, I created the sauce in a small sauce pan from
oranges. The sauce is thin, but the meat does not need to drenched to
brighten the flavor. This was one of the three dishes which received the
most comment.



Roasted Onion Salad

De la insaleggiata di cipolle

Togli cipolle; cuocile sotto la bragia, e poi le mande, et tagliale per
traverso longhetta et sottili; mettili alquanto diaceto, sale, oglio, e
spezie, e da a mangiare.



Of onion salad. Take onions; cook them in the embers, then peel them and cut
them across into longish, thin slices; add a little vinegar, salt, oil, and
spices, and serve.

Libro della cucina del secolo XIV

2 lbs of sweet onions

olive oil

wine vinegar

salt

pepper

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/8 teaspoon ginger

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

For ease of preparation and clean up, wrap the onions individually in
aluminum foil.

Roast the onions for about 1 hour in coals or a 500 degree F oven. Remove
and cool.

The onion skins should be blackened and carmelized

Trim the top from the onion and pull the outer layer to the root end to
provide a hand grip.

Cut the onion longitudinally from near the root to the top.

Sever the onion strips near the root end and place in a bowl.

Sprinkle with salt, pepper and spices.

Add a small amount of oil and vinegar to taste.

Toss and serve. Serves eight.

For large scale serving, make a vinegarette to taste of the oil, vinegar,
salt, pepper and spices.



Apple Sauce

Emplumeus de pomes

Por donner entendement a celluy qui le fera sy prennes de bonnes pomes
barberines selon le quantite que l'on en vouidra faire et puis les pares
bien et appoint et les tailles en beaulx platz d'or ou d'argent; et qu'il
hait ung beau pot de terre bon et nect, et y mecte de belle eaue necte et
mecte bouillir sur brase belle et clere et mecte bouillir ses pomes dedans.
Et face qu'il ait de bonnes amendres doulces grant quantite selon la
quantite des pomes qu'il ha mis cuire, et les plume, nectoie et lava
tresbien et mectes broyer au mortier qui ne sante point les aulx, et si les
broie tresbien et les arouse du boullon en quoy cuisent lesdictes pomes, et
quant ledictes pomes seront asses cuictes si les tires dehors sur belle et
necte postz, et de celle eaue colle ses amendres et eb face lait qui soit
bon et espes, et le remecte boullir sur brase clere et necte san fumee, et
bien petit de sol. Et entretant que il bouldra si hache bien menut ses
dictes pomes a ung petit et nect coutel et puis, estre hachies, si les mecte
dedans son lait, et y mecte du succre grant foison selon ce que il y a
desditz emplumeus de pomes; et puis, quant le medicin le demandera, si le
mectes en belles escuelles ou casses d'or ou d'argent.



Apple sauce. To explain it to whoever should make it, he should take good
barberine apples depending on the quantity to be prepared. Then he should
peel them carefully and cut them into pieces into fine gold or silver
platters. He should take a good earthenware pot, very clean, and boil some
pure water over good bright coals, then add the apples. He must also have
good sweet almonds, in large quantity depending on the apples to be cooked;
he should skin them and wash them well, then crush them in a mortar that has
no garlic odor; when they are well crushed, he should moisten them with the
liquid in which the apples are cooking, and when the apples are sufficiently
cooked he should remove them to a nice clean surface, and strain the almonds
with this water, making a good, thick milk, and return it to the boil over
bright, clean, smoke-free coals, with a tiny bit of salt. And while it is
boiling, he should chop the apples finely with a small, clean knife; when
they are chopped, he should add them to the milk and add a great deal of
sugar, as required for this applesauce; then, when the physician calls for
it, he should serve it in fine bowls or dishes made of gold or silver.

Maitre Chiquart, Fait du cusine

1 1/2 lbs of cooking apples

1 1/2 quarts of water

1 cup almonds

almond extract

4 Tablespoons of sugar

Pour boiling water on the almonds. Let stand for 15 minutes. Remove the
almond skins.

Peel and core apples. Cut into eighths.

Bring the water to a boil in a non-reactive pan. Cook until very tender.
Remove the apples and reserve the water.

Crush the almonds to a mealy consistence, adding the reserved water to form
a thick liquid.

Strain the almond liquor through a fine cloth (muslin kitchen towel, three
or four layers of fine cheesecloth, etc.

Squeeze out as much of the almond milk as possible.

Chop the apples fine, but don't puree.

Bring the almond milk to a boil. Add the chopped apples and the sugar. Whisk
together gently and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Add almond extract to
taste.

Remove and cool. Serve cold.

Serves eight.



I didn't use bowls of gold or silver, but this came out well. I did use
Golden Delicious apples to keep them from turning mushy.

I used a food processor to chop the apples, pulsing the blade to try to get
bits of apple rather than puree. The almonds were blanched and slivered from
the store to save time and were also crushed in the food processor with some
of the apple water. I found one that the best results came from slowly
adding the water until the nuts and water became a creamy slurry without a
lot of splashing liquid. I added two teaspoons of almond extract to 30
pounds of apples.

This is the second dish that received much favorable comment.