[Sca-cooks] illusion foods

[rdownie at mts.net]

I have created many stand alone subtleties & illusion foods over the years as well as 2 illusion food heavy feasts. The first one I cooked I believe is already archived in the florilegium. 
Here are some rough notes (pulled from an old facebook status) on the second one from Crown Tourney in the Barony of Castel Rouge in the Kingdom of Northshield in May of 2012:
 
 I took the week before of work so that I would have time to do it justice.  I was in charge of the feast, with help from some wonderfully dedicated volunteers.  This was definitely a group effort & everyone did a fantastic job!
We had 125 feasters and came in under budget :-)
 
This was our menu:
 
1st Course:
We started the course with a theatrical introduction.  We had someone dressed as Poseidon, Roman god of the sea, pulled on a chariot (a heavy duty gardening wagon covered in a painted cardboard façade) by 2 people dressed as sea horses.  We had a bit of fun with the current King.  Since he is originally from the Maritimes, we boasted that we had procured "grain fed prairie lobsters" for him (bread shaped like lobsters & tinted red on the outside)
- Grain fed prairie lobsters (homemade milk bread shaped like lobsters)
- homemade white artisan bread
- homemade roasted garlic & rosemary artisan bread
- homemade mozzarella
- homemade lemon & chive cheese
- homemade hummous
- butter
- olives
- homemade candied walnuts
 
2nd Course
We also did a theatrical presentation for this one.  We had put wheels on a table & made a blue covering that reached all the way down the sides (completely covering the underside of the table) with fish decorating the sides.  On the top we had foil lined paper mache swans covering the chicken dish.  We had someone pushing the table from underneath so that it looked like it was moving by itself (& the swans swimming on the water).
- spring salad with homemade lemon herb dressing (we made a fancy bouquet
- Limonia (chicken with lemon juice, almond milk & poudre douce) garnished with marinated lemons
- barley & lentil pottage (side dish)
- clove cookies
 
3rd course
I'd wanted to do a theatrical presentation to introduce this one too, but ran out of time to throw something together.
- slow cooked shredded pork
- roasted root vegetables
- roasted onion salad (we caramelised the onions with some brown sugar)
- homemade lemon sorbet
 
I unfortunately wasn't able to get any pictures due to the hectic pace in the kitchen.  
I was able to find a few pictures taken by feasters & put them in a public facebook album:
https://www.facebook.com/fernandafg1/media_set?set=a.6535736022.19575.679716022&type=3
 
Unfortunately my notes & pictures are scattered in different back-up files following  several computer changes/crashes. My job has gotten progressively busier so I have not had many opportunities to create any more illusion foods recently - hopefully this will change soon!
 
Faerisa
 
> From: StefanliRous at gmail.com
> Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 18:57:05 -0500
> To: SCA-Cooks at Ansteorra.org
> Subject: [Sca-cooks] illusion foods
> 
> Back in July, Johnnae posted:
> <<< Article on Heston Blumenthal and the serving of "meat fruit"
> 
> http://eater.com/archives/2014/07/11/meat-fruit-dinner-by-heston-blumenthal-london.php
> 
> BTW, the award winning book Historic Heston is slated for an inexpensive edition to be priced at $50. >>>
> 
> Wow. That meat fruit sure looks like a tangerine. I’m really amazed. A LOT of work though.
> 
> In the article it says 
> <<< "The 15 hours of work daily though pay off in service — which is "dead easy" Palmer-Watts says — and with the customers. Meat Fruit is more than just a hit dish. "People are getting their picture taken with the dish, not only taking pictures of the dish,” >>>
> 
> I’ve heard of an occasional, very good illusion food having been made in the SCA. Has anyone ever had folks taking “selfies” of themselves with the food you’ve created?
> 
> I’d love to hear some stories about successful illusion foods that you’ve done. And if period in style, I’d love to get photos that I could put in a Florilegium file to encourage others.
> 
> Thanks,
>   Stefan
> 
> One of the files in the Florilegium on illusion foods. I probably ought to move it from the FOOD section to the SWEET AND DECORATED FOODS section, but later, when I find the time.
> illusion-fds-msg (147K) 12/13/13 Medieval illusion foods. Disguised food.
> http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/illusion-fds-msg.html
> --------
> THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
>    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at gmail.com
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/marksharris
> **** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
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