[Sca-cooks] tarts vs. pies, a bit of help

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Alexa wrote:
>--- Micheal <dmreid at hfx.eastlink.ca> wrote:
>  >  Most of us think of tarts as mini pies but the term tartlet is more
>  > properly the  name. Such things as Apple tart, Mince tarts, Butter tarts ,
>  > and so on. For anything around 3 " in diameter or smaller they may or may
>  > not have a cover.
>
>Ok, I was hoping for the small ones.  Now, the fun
>part, how do you make them look nice for say 80-120
>and still keep what little bit of sanity you have?  Is
>it too inappropriate and OOP to use the little tart
>tins-kind of what potpies come out of only shorter.  I
>know the aluminum wouldnt be period, but for sake of
>the SCA, it would make preparing this a little simpler.

Why make hors d'oeuvre tarts? They wouldn't have done so in SCA-period.

Around here (central West Kingdom) we tend to have tables for eight. 
I make one pie/tart/torta per table.

I bought a pie-cutter thingy at a restaurant supply place. It's a 
circle of metal with eight blunt metal "knives" attached. You just 
put the thingy over the pie and press down and, viola! eight equally 
sized pieces. Since folks are often concerned about everyone getting 
a fair serving, this guarantees equally sized pieces.

OK, so that's not period either. But i have to say, i really don't 
like having someone else's dirty knife cutting the pie - even thought 
that would be period. BUT... we have about 10 per cent vegetarians at 
my feasts, and by pre-cutting, they don't have to worry about 
someone's meat-contaminated knife touching their pie slice.

Some cooks have expressed objections to using this device at a feast 
as (a) it interferes with a Medieval experience, and (b) some folks 
might want larger or smaller pieces. I figure that if someone wants a 
smaller piece, they can cut one in half, and whoever wants the larger 
piece can have it.

There are also slicers that make 6 pieces - and i think ones that 
make more smaller slices.

At one feast we needed more small pieces of a rich creamy cheese 
tart/torta/pie. We just used the cutter twice on each pie and got 16 
pieces. One of the cooks had expressed skepticism about the cutter, 
but was converted after using it on one pie.

Anyway, back to the question at hand...

I think you're making way too much work for yourself trying to make 
cocktail quiches. Just do it the Medieval way with large 
pies/tarts/tortas. If you're concerned about serving size, pre-cut 
them in the kitchen.

Anahita