[Sca-cooks] Red Tower Iron Chef

[kingstaste at mindspring.com]

Here it is, a couple of days late.  I have gotten a bit fuzzier on the
details on some of it, but I'm sure those that were there and are here will
fill in and correct me where needed.
Christianna

	Our first Iron Chef competition was yesterday at our annual South Downs
Baronial event, Red Tower.  Elewyiss organized the whole thing, but as she's
still probably trying to recoup, I'll post a bit about what happened.

	We ended up with three teams, drawing 'ringers' from as far as Atlantia and
Trimaris (Chirhart and his lady came down specifically to play, and Mairi
Ceilidh came up with a team to join the Sol Haven team).  Team Atlantia also
included Signore Serena da Riva, Team Sol Haven also included Sayidda Dinah,
and I'm not sure if any of the other participants are members of this list
or not, I'm sure more details will be filled in later.

	The contestants were allowed to bring all the spices and ingredients they
could fit into a standard sized shoe box.  A grill and a building with
running cold water and sink issues were provided.  I believe a couple of 2
burner stoves were also provided, they could bring any equipment they
wanted.  They were given the list of ingredients on Friday night, and the
secret ingredient was revealed to them at 10AM on Saturday morning.  They
had 4 hours to cook.
I don't have the final list of ingredients, but from what I remember they
were:
lamb
cabbage
carrots
green beans
onions
asiago cheese
milk
lard
raisins
pears
green onions
red wine vinegar

and the secret ingredient was:
almonds

	The first team was from Drakenmere, a small group out of Statesboro, GA.
They did a fine spread of 5 dishes, including an almond milk soup, a lamb
and carrot dish (Samadone?) served on a bed of almonds and cabbage, rapeye,
and sekanjabin - they were the only team to provide us with a beverage,
which we greatly appreciated since it was really hot!  (I was surprised none
of the teams served us almond milk to drink.)  They used The Medieval
Kitchen and Take a Thousand Eggs or More as their sources. (Sekanjabin from
the Miscellany.)

	Team Atlantia did a beautiful job of presentation, both in the serving
platters and as individual portions on the plates.  They served 7 dishes,
including lamb kabobs with an almond garlic sauce, a cabbage salad with a
pommegranate and almond sauce, a stuffed cabbage head with lamb, almonds,
raisins and saffron?, and pear slices sauteed in lard, sprinkled with
almonds and topped with a ground almond quennelle that had also been fried
in the lard.  It was served with almond mus.  Everything was wonderful,
although the stuffed cabbage head was my least favorite, being on the really
good but not fantastic side.  They used a variety of sources including Libre
del Coche and Rumpolt.

	Team Sol Haven did an incredible 17 dishes.  They did not get the memo
about using the secret ingredient in as many dishes as they could, and were
working under the assumption that they were to use as much of the bulk of
ingredients they had been provided as possible.  Mairi Ceilidh said what was
left over made up about two handfuls of stuff.  I know I can't remember all
of their dishes, but they included: an almond and green onion soup (which I
drank straight out of my bowl, the spoon not being fast enough), asiago
cheese slices holding up a mincemeat-like substance who's actual name
escapes me just now (serves me right for letting this sit half-written for
several days :( along with cheese fritters, another version of Samadone,
roasted lamb studded with garlic and served with a cameline sauce and a
knock-your-head-off garlic sauce (only dish I didn't like - it was so hot I
spit it back out on my plate), angel's food made with fresh cheese they made
during the competition and served with candied almonds and dried cherries in
wine, alongside a poached pear with fresh-made almond milk.  There was lots
more, but I cannot recall them just now.  Their sources included Original
Mediterranean Cuisine and featured what they called "Mediterranean Rim
Cuisine".

	The final winner was Team Atlantia.  They were presented with some lovely
six-drawer spice boxes in court, the other teams receiving small pottery
pitchers for each member.  They were judged with a 0-10 scale on
presentation, period-ness, secret ingredient, and taste.

	Everyone seemed to have a great time, and were thrilled to be able to
participate.  Problems included the sink and no hot water, and the box not
containing any sort of binder material - eggs, flour, grain products, etc.
The food was all delicious (ok, except that garlic sauce - sorry, Mairi
Ceilidh), and my only complaint was that the first two teams only served us
a tablespoon of each dish, and by the time I got to Sol Haven's entry, I was
hungry!  They more than made up for that, and I was full for the next 24
hours after I got up from the table.
	Lots of folks asked if it would be done again, which I'm sure it will be.
In Court I said it was as fierce (and hot) a battle as the ones that had
been fought on the field.  Where there is competition, there will be
competitors.  I would like to get a different name, though.
	Elewyiss did a very nice job of getting the whole thing together, buying
the ingredients, and throwing an event where she could pull it off (did I
mention she was co-autocrat?).  As a judge, I was very happy to have been a
part of it.

	Christianna