[Sca-cooks] Re: How meals are served in period

[Louise Smithson]

Maggie, 

As a student of Late Italian cuisine I offered a class at MKCC last year regarding design of the Italian feast based on the menus available in Scappi.  I posted notes from my class here http://www.geocities.com/helewyse/italianfeastplanning.html

Scappi gave wonderful detail about all his feasts allowing us to determine how feasts were served in the vatican at least.  Messisbugo (Banchetti) also gives some feast menus and they too appear to follow a similar plan, using the sideboard to serve the first and last courses.  If you let me know what month you are doing feast I may be able to get some menus translated for you after Pennsic (too much to do too little time to do it in advance of Pennsic).  The only supper type menus seem to be those served on saints days.  http://www.geocities.com/helewyse/octobermenus.html scroll down to the very last menu for details. 

Helewyse

 

I've been curious about how meals are served in period. I"ve always 
been told that it was served in courses/removes, with each being a 
miniature meal in itself.

Was this always done?

Recently I noticed a feast that was served apparently an item at a 
time, not in "courses/removes" and was done really really well.

Is there a document somewhere that describes a _simple_ meal? (I tend 
to doubt that because why would anyone write about a meal that wasn't 
unusual in some sense?)

I'm trying to plan a meal that the event steward has asked be themed 
in late period Italian, so that will play a part in it too. (I've 
been reading "The Stars Dispose" and "The Stars Compel" and getting 
lots of inspiration from their interpretations of Apicius).

Thanks in advance!
Maggie MacD.




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