[Sca-cooks] Christmas feast for the public

Stefan li Rous StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
Mon Aug 18 20:16:10 PDT 2008


Kiri replied to Ilsebet with:

<<< We've found that the Digby recipe for Savory Toasted Cheese is  
ALWAYS a
winner.  You could either do it the way the recipe suggests, which is  
as a
kind of fondue...using sippets of bread to dip in the cheesy goo...or  
you
could do as it is done in the SCA most frequently, which is to steam
veggies, pour the cheese goo over the top along with some crumbled  
bacon,
brown in the oven and serve. >>>

"in the SCA most frequently"? I've usually seen cheese goo served  
over bread or as a dip for bread. About the only time I've seen serve  
it differently was in my barony's "Savory Tosted Cheese" competition,  
where the idea was to come up with a redaction that differed from  
Master Cariadoc's and then cook it.

For a number of possible redactions for this and the original recipe,  
see this file in the FOOD section of the Florilegium;
cheese-goo-msg    (44K) 10/31/06    Digby's Savory Tosted cheese.  
melted cheese.

  <<< Sallets are always good.....>>>

This is what occurred to me. Many period salads are so much better  
than the usual iceburg lettuce salads that most modern folks are used  
to, especially at banquets and such, that I think this would go over  
well and not be very expensive. Of course that works only if you  
aren't trying to do an authentic period Yule feast since they  
wouldn't have had the fresh herbs and garden vegetables at that time  
of year.

So are you trying for a season-appropriate feast or a mix of  
different seasons and/or different cultures and times?

<<< For dessert, you might try gingerbread...or perhaps daryoles. >>>

Somewhere in the meal, for dessert or otherwise, candied peels and/or  
comfits could be prepared ahead of time and that would decrease your  
work load during the feast itself.  I assume the lack of staff is why  
you are serving this buffet style instead of with waiters?
comfits-msg       (62K)  2/16/08    Period candied spices and seeds.  
Recipes.
Smooth-Cmfits-art (12K)  5/30/07    "Historic Comfits Using Modern  
Equipment" by
                                        Dame Alys Katharine, O.L., O.P.

Weren't these served in period around Yule time?
lebkuchen-msg     (42K) 11/17/07    Period lebkuchen cookies. Recipes.
And sugerplums as well?
Sugarplums-art    (19K)  7/15/98    "Visions of Sugarplums" by Mistress
                                        Renata Kestryl of Highwynds.
Or perhaps bread pudding? Not too unusual, but I suspect that only a  
small portion of your audience has ever had it.
bread-pudding-msg (10K) 12/11/06    Period bread pudding.

Or some of the baked fruit (peaches?) dishes might work well for  
dessert. Although I though some of those, pears maybe?, were cooked  
in wine. I don't know if you are restricted in using alcohol or not.  
Maybe you can cook with it and serve it in food, without a license.

I think that it would be good to serve some medieval type beverages,  
even if you are serving ice tea. I'd think that some of those that  
Gunthar recently wrote up might work well, and not be alcoholic.
Non-Alco-Drks-art (18K)  6/17/08    "Non-Alcoholic Drinks in Period"  
by Count
                                        Gunthar Jonsson, OL, KSCA.

Even if these are 'summer' drinks, they might work well at a winter  
feast.
Orng-Lmn-drks-art (10K)  4/11/07    "Orange and Lemon Drinks of Summer"
                                        by THL Johnnae llyn Lewis, CE.

Or perhaps you could make hot, mulled cider using non-fermented apple  
juice?
wassail-msg       (26K)  2/10/07    Spiced cider and ale drinks.  
Traditions.

wafers would go well with this and you could also make them up ahead  
of time. If you seal them in bags they should keep for at least  
several days.
wafers-msg       (130K)  1/ 9/08    Period savory and sweet wafers.  
Recipes.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****




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