[Sca-cooks] The Menu
Suey
lordhunt at gmail.com
Thu Aug 26 14:10:37 PDT 2010
A friend sent me a long article on cookery in Navarra during the
14th and 15th in the king's court. The capital was Oliate which is a
gorgeous medieval pueblo near Pamplona. I thoroughly recommend the
entire area - ten days at least. It is very romantic.
Anyway this article by Fernando Serrano Larrayoz, "La consideracion
y el ejercicio cortesano en Navarra durante la baja edad media,"
published in En la Espana Medieval. 2008. vol. 1 357-412 informs us that
the king used "French service" which meant that all plates were served
at once. Each eater told the waiter which dishes he wanted. This
continued until the 19th when they changed to the "Russian service".
Then the meal consisted of 2-3 or 5-6 or more courses. All was organized
around the roasted meat. In this case, the eaters choose which dishes
they would like.
Not all eaters could choose all the dishes presented in either the
"French" or "Russian service." According to rank, variety, quantity and
refinement had its restrictions. Sounds like the commoner's menu of the
day as opposed to the 'Executive menu'.
I am still reading the article but I think that an interesting
explanation to substantiate putting several plates on the tables at once
or even to buffet service today.
Suey
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