[Sca-cooks] documentation for a sumptuous feast

[Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise]

I'm almost afraid to post this because I know several people including 
Christopher likely to run with it, but I just transcribed this and 
wanted to share it with the list:

>From 
Roy Strong. <I>Feast: A History of Grand Eating</I> p. 73-75

QUOTE: 

What is probably the best and most complete account we have of a late 
medieval banquet describes the dinner given by Gaston IV, comte de Foix, 
at Tours in 1457. It was staged in honour of an embassy from the king of 
Hungary, a mission which included not only Hungarians but Germans, 
Bohemians and Luxemburgers. To that cosmopolitan guest list of a hundred 
and fifty must be added the whole of the French court. The guests were 
seated in strict order of precedence at twelve large tables with the 
host, together with the leaders of the embassy and the most important 
French notables, served separately, as was customary, at a high table.

The feast was exceptional, not only for the number of courses involved 
-- no fewer than seven -- but also for the fact that the account 
actually describes the food served. Up until now, such details were 
normally passed over in silence or, if mentioned at all, simply remarked 
in terms of splendour and abundance. The meal opened modestly with 
pieces of toast that the diner dipped into the spiced wine called 
hippocras, but then swiftly moved on to 'grands pates de chapons 
[capons],' 'jambons de sanglier [hams of wild boar],' and seven 
different kinds of potage, all served on silver. Each table bore a 
hundred and fourty silver plates, a feat of ostentation that was to be 
repeated in the courses that followed. Ragouts of game came next: 
pheasants, partridges, rabbits, peacocks, bustards, wild geese, swans, 
and various river birds, not to mention venison. These ragouts were 
accompanied by several other kinds of dishes and pottage. Then came a 
pause.

Although there is no reference in our account to the placement of the 
tables, they must have been arranged in a horseshoe forming an arena at 
the centre. Into that space came what was called an entremet, the first 
of a series. Twelve men wheeled in a castle on a rock. Whether the men 
were concealed inside the rock or not we do not learn, but the castle 
itself had four corner towers and a large keep at the centre with four 
windows, at each of which could be seen a richly attired lady. The 
central keep was adorned with heraldic banners bearing the arms of the 
king of Hungary and those of the other great lords who made up the 
embassy. At the top of each of the four towers a child sang like an 
angel (though what they sang we do not learn.)

After this display the feast resumed with a dish called 'oiseaux armes', 
which has defied definition by culinary historians, served with yet more 
pottages. But the real distinction of this course was that 'tout ce 
service fut dore' '-- all the food was apparently gilded, or at least 
given the appearance of being golden. Then came the second entremet: six 
men, dressed in the regional constume of Bearn, carried in a man 
disguised as a tiger wearing a collar from which was suspended the arms 
of the king of Hungary. The tiger spat fire and the Bearnais danced, to 
great applause from the onlookers.

Following a fifth course which included tarts, darioles (small moulded 
dishes, sweet in this case) and fried oranges, another entremet came 
forth. In terms of sheer spectacle this must have eclipsed everything 
that went before. Twenty-four men were needed to bring it into the hall, 
an indication as to both its size and weight. It was a mountain 
containing two fountains, one of which spouted rosewater, the other 'eau 
de muscade'. Suddenly out of this rocky promontory rabbits scampered 
while live birds emerged to fly around the hall. Four boys and a girl, 
all dressed as savages, descended to dance a morisco. Then the
count distributed largesse to the various attendant heralds of arms, the 
one from Hungary recieving, in addition to the two hundred e'cus 
bestowed on the others, a fine length of velvet.

The sixth course consisted of dessert, red hippocras served with certain 
kinds of wafer called 'oublies' and 'roles', after which came a final 
entremet. A man attired in embroidered crimson satin appeared astride a 
similarly caparisoned horse. In his hands he carried a model garden made 
of wax which was filled with roses and a variety of other flowers, and 
set it before the ladies (an indication that they must have been seated 
separately from the men). This, we are told, was the most admired of all 
the entremets, although what followed in the way of food as a finale 
must have been equally extraordinary. It involved a heraldic menagerie 
sculpted in sugar: lions, stags, monkeys and various other birds and 
beasts, each holding in beak or paw the arms of the Hungarian king.

Unbelieveably, the banquet was not yet over. In came a live peacock with 
the arms of the queen of France encompassing its neck and the arms of 
the ladies of the French court draped over its body. In response, all 
the lords present advanced and pledged to support the cause of the 
Hungarian king (it was customary to make vows of chivalry on birds). Our 
account closes with one other important detail. In the middle of the 
room there was apparently a platform, an estrade, from which singers and 
an organ provided music during the dinner.

END QUOTE

Since the original of this description was in Catalan, I would suggest 
that the fried oranges are really the cheese balls described in De Nola. 
Having the ladies sit separately, if indeed they did, would have 
followed the Eastern European meal tradition.

-- 
-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net 
"History doesn't always repeat itself. Sometimes it screams
'Why don't you ever listen to me?' and lets fly with a club."