[Sca-cooks] Christmas feast for the public

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Aug 18, 2008, at 11:16 PM, Stefan li Rous wrote:

> Kiri replied to Ilsebet with:
>
> <<< 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.

Assuming you're following Digby's recipe instead of merely toasting  
cheese on a board in front of the fire, he does instruct the cook to  
include butter that has previously been used in a boiled sallet, IOW,  
boiled green vegetables, such as his specified asparagus. He then goes  
on to say that if you have any of the asparagus left over, you can  
throw them in, too. IIRC, he also suggests chives or other onions as a  
possibility.

Back when rocks were semi-soft, the interpretation in which the cheese  
goo became a topping for a substrate of green vegetables is perhaps a  
contribution of Master Geoffrey d'Ayr de Montalbano, and is probably  
one of those Eastern Rite Things handed down to its various descendant  
Kingdoms, of which Kiri's own Atlantia is one. I know that in the East  
the dish tends to be served with some sort of seasonal, non-leafy,  
cooked green vegetable mixed into it.

It's perhaps an example of how differences between Ansteorran and  
Eastern thinking may reflect differences in their respective mundane  
cultures: Are vegetables pinto beans and flour tortillas, or are they  
broccoli?

Of course, when making toasted cheese in a 17th-century manner,  
there's probably enough documentation for the dish to allow avoidance  
of Digby's recipe. I've served toasted cheese on bread at feasts which  
was essentially a pizza made with toasted, split round loaves of good  
bread, with the cheese on top, and broiled. Hey, it's melted cheese on  
bread, right, and even Digby says you can toast it with a fire shovel,  
which is an overhead, radiant heat source, right?

>
>
> 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.

The OP might check Platina (for a start) for recipes for roasted root  
vegetable salads, or it's not inconceivable that cabbages might last  
until Yule, properly stored.

Adamantius




"Most men worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls,  
when we all ought to worry about our own souls, and other people's  
bellies."
			-- Rabbi Israel Salanter