[Sca-cooks] Red Tower Iron Chef

[The Borg]

Thank you Mistress Christianna for both judging and mentoring. Both are
greatly appriciated.

I think the only ingredient  you missed was the dried figs. And if it's
possible, could I get the cherries and almond recipe? I would like to serve
it at kids feast at Mid Winter A&S.

When making up my shopping list, which Guillume picked up for me, I totally
forgot the secret ingredient, so we bought out all the almonds in Flovila
and Jackson. Next year I'm not gonna forget the secret ingredient. And I'm
going to budge more money.

I"d like a different name also, but what?


Elewyiss
Who is so chuffed everyone had a great time.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <kingstaste at mindspring.com>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2005 6:59 PM
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Red Tower Iron Chef


> 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
>
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