[Sca-cooks] Seeds and chestnuts (was Re: It's over ... and what I would do differently)

[Christiane]

Maire said:

Actually, it's one month per seed.
Stefan, in the version of the Persephone myth that I first heard, she is the
daughter of Ceres, the goddess responsible for fertility/growth/crops, etc.
One day, when Persephone is out picking flowers, she's abducted by the god
who's the lord of the underworld/lord of the dead.  She knew better than to
eat or drink anything while she was done there, but one day (distracted?
hungry?), she ate 6 pomegranite seeds which she was offered.  Because of
this, even after she was rescued by her mother, she was committed to
spending 6 months out of every year down in the underworld.
The side effect of this is winter--when her mother grieves her daughter's
absence, plants cease to grow and flourish.
See? Actually even kinda food-related, especially when you catch the
mother's name (Ceres-->source of the word "cereal").
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The name of our first event was "Demeter's Return," and yes, it was a springtime event. It was a faire demo we did in conjunvction with a local nature center. Last year, however, we decided not to do that event any more, and instead opted for a fall feast, and because of that, it was natural to name the event after Persephone.

We employed pomegranate seeds as tokens for our A&S contest; each person at the event received one seed to cast their vote.

In putting together the menu, I took a look at "underworld"-themed and fall-available foods. I had wanted to serve fava beans — which have been associated since Roman times with the dead and the underworld. But favas are a spring food. Then a cook posted Messisbuogo's' marzipan "beanpod" recipe, and around the same time I stumbled upon the traditional cookies known as "fave dolce," sweet favas. I really think Messisbuogo's diners would have appreciated the conceit of fava pods and beans molded out of marzipan, and I briefly thought of doing marzipan myself. But I absolutely HATE marzipan. I can't even stand smelling that sweet almond smell for too long. My ancestors would despair of me. The fave dolce idea seemed to be the way to go, and I just used my standard shortbread recipe, because my entire shire adores shortbread cookies, and I molded the cookies into vaguely fava shapes. What really would have been cool is if I had the time to dust them with pale green sugar ...hmmm, something to keep in mind for another time.

One of the shire residents generously donated 5 pounds of chestnuts she had gleaned from the woods. I was very excited, because we were having roasted pork, and chestnuts are a fall food in Tuscany, often paired as a side dish with pork or served on their own, or rendered into flour to make cakes. But my attempt at chestnut-shelling fell completely flat. Never try and shell a large number of chestnuts by yourself! It's an exercise in frustration!

Gianotta