[Sca-cooks] To Garnish and Present Med/Ren Food

[Ariane Helou]

Urtatim wrote:
>So, have people found good sources on SCA-period food presentation - NOT 
>counting sotilties - that describe appropriate serving dishes, whether 
>they piled on the parsley, etc.? And please specify time and place. I'm 
>skeptical that what was used in 14th century England was the same as what 
>was used in 16th century Italy or 9th century Baghdad.

The cookbook I've been working on (14th c Tuscan) includes, in several 
cases, the stipulation to serve the finished dish on a platter and sprinkle 
it with spices or sugar, or color it with saffron or herbs.  I don't know 
helpful that is, since it's still about the food itself than about extra 
decorations.  But the blancmange recipe, for example, says "when you serve 
it, add almonds fried in lard, and sliced white ginger."  When I tried it I 
topped it with some toasted almonds I had on hand, and the golden-brown 
nuts on a white plate looked very pretty.  I think there are also a couple 
of recipes that call for fried onions as a topping; "fried lard" shows up 
in several places too, although I'm not exactly sure what the finished 
product would look/taste like, never having dealt with lard 
myself.  (Doesn't it just melt when you heat it?  How can you "fry" it into 
something solid?  Or could "lard" be bacon or other fatty meat?)

>I have found the rare occasional recipe that specifies the garnish or the 
>color of the serving dish for a recipe, but these are the exceptions, 
>rather than the rule, in my experience.

I second that.   A recipe might direct you to serve something on a trencher 
rather than on a plate, but never (far as I have seen) will it say "use a 
wooden bowl" or "use a green ceramic platter."

On the other hand, I've found one description of a royal feast (14th c 
Tuscan, again) that not only describes the gilded roasts, feathered 
peacocks, and fire-breathing fowl that were brought out of the kitchens, 
but even the livery that the servants were wearing: velvet with silk 
ribbons, etc.  But again, not so helpful in most cases....

As far as garnish, where not explicitly described, I'll sometimes use 
attractive sprigs of fresh herbs, or pieces of fruit, or the like -- but 
*only* if they're already called for in the recipe itself.  I see no point 
in using out-of-context parsley, but I love to add a pretty bit of rosemary 
if it's already making an appearance in the stew, if that makes any sense. :-)

>Additionally, how do other Kingdoms, Principalities, Baronies, etc. deal 
>with and judge this aspect of their cooking competitions?

Well, I haven't entered anything here, but I did participate in a couple 
cooking competitions in the West, and still have the judging sheets lying 
around somewhere...here's their criteria:

Appearance: does the food look good and as the recipe describes the 
finished look?

Presentation: is the presentation period for this dish and the part of the 
world it is from? Does it interfere with the taste or appearance of the food?

The problem is, it's totally subjective.  (These were years ago, so I hope 
it's ok to share the critique at this point.)  For one entry, three judges 
rated the presentation of the same dish as everything from "Excellent" to 
"Adequate, but not exceptional."  For another, a judge recommended that I 
use a brightly-colored napkin to display my Elizabethan baked goods, as 
opposed to the white linen I had chosen -- and actually took points off for 
this, although I have never ever encountered Elizabethan (or any!) 
references to table linens of any color except white.  I'm not complaining 
or being catty; I'm just pointing out that so much of this judging is 
opinion-based, and the judges are so unlikely to share your particular area 
of expertise, that this issue becomes surprisingly difficult to deal with.


Vittoria