[Sca-cooks] Feast for Nithgaard (State College, PA) birthday event, Sept. 14

[Alexander Clark]

Thanks for the link. Always interesting to see what glosses people come up with.

I have doubts or questions about some of the glosses in this version
of the menu.

"Viaund Ryal. (A soup of almond milk, wine, and spices)": There are
several recipes (from sources written not so long before or after this
feast) based on wine without almond milk, so I doubt that this item
could be identified as an almond milk version. And this tends to be a
thick potage, so I doubt that it is well described as a soup.

"Teste de senglere enarme. (Boar's head with tusks)": I'd be
interested to know how "enarme" can be found to mean "with tusks". My
understanding is that "senglere" means "singular", i. e. a lone pig,
and only the adult male (who also has the big tusks) prefers to spend
much of the year alone. So I'm not sure the tusks would have been
worthy of comment. OTOH ISTM that "enarme(d)" may refer to larding.

"Graund chare. (Large roasts)": I don't know of the evidence that this
should be roasted rather than boiled in accordance with the Viandier.

"Capoun de haut grece. (Capons, larded)": I thought that capons were
fatty from being fattened, and it was the lean meats that were larded.

"Crustade Lumbarde. (A sort of savoury custard pie . . .)": The
recipes in Austin strike me as being sweet and not savory.

"Leche lumbarde. (A paste of dates . . .)": Harleian 279 has one like
this, followed immediately by another without dates. I don't think the
item on the menu can be identified as one or the other.

"Blaundesorye. (A white soup)": As with the Viaund Ryal, I think that
this would have been rather thick to be called a soup.

"Pome dorreng. (Meatballs, cooked in a golden batter)": I think that
these were more likely coated with a green batter.

"Doucettys. (Small cheesecakes)": Leche frys may be cheesecakes, but
doucettys don't tend to contain cheese. I don't know one that does.

"Egle. (Hedgehog??)": I don't know why one would guess that this would
be like a hedgehog or yrchoun; ISTM that it may well be an illusion
food, but more likely depicting an eagle.

For another menu to compare, there's the "Conuiuium Johannis
Chaundelere, Episcopi Sarum" on pp. 60–1 in Austin, from about the
middle of the reign of Henry V. But like many surviving menus it's
another three course menu. Harl. 279 also has a few two course menus
from early in the reign of Henry VI.

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/CookBk?rgn=main;view=fulltext

-- 
Henry/Alex

On Sat, 23 Mar 2013 08:55:42 -0400, Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com> said:
> The October 1399 Coronation feast of Henry IV is online for comparison.
> http://www.theoldfoodie.com/2006/10/coronation-of-henry-iv.html
>
> Looks like an interesting challenge, given the number of dishes and complexity
> of the menu. I would think pricing would be a concern as well as anticipating the
> number of diners. And will the kitchen support such an endeavor?
>
> Please keep us informed.
>
> Johnnae
>
> On Mar 23, 2013, at 4:25 AM, Alexander Clark wrote:
>
> > Greetings! My local group, the Shire of Nithgaard, has scheduled an
> > event for Sept. 14, and I'm to the the chief cook. The theme of the
> > event is birthdays, including our shire birthday (we're turning 36!),
> > but also including the birthday of Henry V.
> >
> > So I'm planning the feast around a Henry V theme, based on flesh-day
> > menus from the early 15th century. snipped for length
> >
> > Now I'm having fun dreaming of serving this menu. We shall see how it
> > works out in real life. :-)
> >
> > --
> > Henry/Alex