[Sca-cooks] Bread for 'trenchers'

[Terri Morgan]

Greetings, smart and resourceful cooks (note the sucking up?),
   I'm cooking for a tavern event at the end of the month and am reviving
the old custom of serving the supper on a large trencher. It's been years
since this was done and there's no record of which bread recipes we used
back then. (Which is okay, given that our resource base has expanded
considerably since that time.) I thought I'd send out a cry for comments
since I'm uncommitted to a particular recipe or culture/time period (this is
a truly anachronistic, actually pretty much fantasy, tavern, so to cut down
on my frustration, I'm going with 'poorman's authenticity' rather than beat
my head against a wall for no purpose). Anyway... I don't want to spend a
great deal of money on the bread-making since it's basically throw-away
plating, yet I do want to encourage the diners to dig in to the top layer
and enjoy the 'sops'. So what I need is a heavy bread that can hold, say,
sausages & onions or chicken with a good sauce, some baked or stewed
veggies, and something savoury for tang - all without cracking apart. I'm
assuming that a heavy crust would help, too.
   Given all that, does anyone here have a recipe that springs to mind? Or a
type of ingredient that would give the bread 'good bulk' if used with a
'standard' bread recipe? I admit, I haven't baked in *years* so am totally
unfamiliar with rye, nuts, peas, or beans as stretchers but was thinking
that it seemed logical they'd be used at a scurvy dock-side tavern (rather
than fine white flour and such). Or maybe that was just wishful thinking
about bread density?
   I'd rather spend my budget on meats and carbs for all those drinkers than
on what it takes to make their trenchers.
   Comments? Warnings? Experience on price differences?


hopefully,
Hrothny