[Sca-cooks] Bread for 'trenchers'

[Stefan li Rous]

Hrothny asked:
> Greetings, smart and resourceful cooks (note the sucking up?),

Huh? "Sucking up"? Okay, check this file in the fooD-UTENSILS section  
of the Florilegium:
drinkng-strws-msg  (6K) 11/29/01    Period and ancient drinking straws.

>    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.

> 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).

> basically throw-away
> plating, yet I do want to encourage the diners to dig in to the top  
> layer
> and enjoy the 'sops'.

Trenchers appear to have been made with a lessor refined wheat or  
other grains. They also appear to have been intentionally several  
days old. They also weren't meant to be eaten by the guests, but  
rather saved and given as alms to the poorer folks. Sops appear to be  
none of these things. I do understand what you are trying to do,  
though. There is a tiny amount of info on sops in this file in the  
FOOD-NREADS section of the Florilegium:
sops-msg          (12K)  2/13/04    Slices of bread soaked in a sauce.

> 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.

> 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?

No, you are correct about the bread density. However, the directions  
we have for cutting trenchers do seem to cut off the crusts and not  
use them. But this may have not been universal, because I seem to  
remember different directions which cut the trenchers in different  
ways. However, I doubt a "dock-side tavern" would have used trenchers  
at all. Trenchers appear to have been a show of wealth.

>    Comments? Warnings? Experience on price differences?

Folks have done trenchers for SCA feasts before. So you can see what  
did and did not work out for them as well as a bunch of info about  
period trenchers in this file, also in the FOOD-BREADS section:
trenchers-msg     (84K)  2/13/04    Wooden and bread trenchers. Plates.

Bear, in doing research on medieval trenchers, has found that there  
doesn't really to be much on them in the modern literature. One of  
his projects was going to be some more comprehensive research,  
although I'm not sure what he has done since he last mentioned this.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****