[Sca-cooks] Bayeux Tapestry (wasGrilling was Sweating meat)

[JIMCHEVAL at aol.com]

The relevant portion appears here, and is reasonably well-explicated.
 
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/domesday/world-of-domesday/food.htm


Otherwise, starting at left there is what might be a cauldron,  though it's 
not being black raises the possibility that it might be part of the  animal 
itself being used to cook - several groups, including the early Scots,  did 
this when on the march. 
 
The next servant is holding a tray and a flesh hook - used to retrieve meat 
 from the pot. These are old enough to be mentioned in the Bible and could 
be  ornate enough to suggest their use as something like a scepter:
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flesh_hook
 
The portable stove between him and the next servant probably was not a  
grill (that is, a gridiron), but I admit I'm fuzzy on these, beyond they're  
allowing small items to be heated when no permanent hearth was available.
 
I tend to think of a spit as being a more substantial construction, though  
I suppose the arrows here used to cook the fowl would be considered spits 
as  well (is there no word for a smaller one?). 
 
One interesting touch is that the roast fowl are being handed off to men  
(no doubt lords) who are using their shields as tables.

Behind them a  servant is "horning the water" - that is, summoning people 
to wash their hands  and eat.
 
The fact that the King and bishop etc are seated at a sigma (curved table)  
is interesting, but it's been suggested that this echoes iconography from  
Byzantine imagery and perhaps should not be taken literally. Note that even  
these high-status people are eating completely with their hands - some with 
 amusing alacrity, despite the royal presence.
 
And of course there's a wine-bearer (echanson) in the foreground. Very  
often these were beautiful young boys (including one future saint), make of 
that  what you will.
 
The servant's raised hand no doubt has a specific meaning - that the task  
is unfinished?
 
Beyond that, anyone who REALLY wants to dig into this has their pick of  
works:
_https://www.google.com/search?q=%22bayeux+tapestry%22+&btnG=Search+Books&tb
m=bks&tbo=1_ 
(https://www.google.com/search?q="bayeux+tapestry"+&btnG=Search+Books&tbm=bks&tbo=1) 
 
Jim  Chevallier
_www.chezjim.com_ (http://www.chezjim.com/) 

A  History of Coffee and Other Refreshments in Early Modern France 
by  Pierre Le Grand d'Aussy  

 
In a message dated 4/15/2013 12:29:12 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
t.d.decker at att.net writes:

The  Bayeux Tapestry shows what appears to be grilling and spit roasting.  
It  
also shows what appears to be a two prong fork for handling  meat.

Bear