[Sca-cooks] Spanish Food Service Resources

[Lijsbet de Keukere]

Hello, Juana! Well met!

We in AEthelmearc have been inspired by your efforts, and are very excited
to bring this incredible undertaking to the East Coast! My SCA persona is
from Brugge during the end of Charles the Bold's reign, so when I heard
that you guys were using pretty much that as your next theme, my little
Dutch heart went all a-flutter! I only wish I could make it out for the
event - but, truth be told, my husband and I are planning a trip to Brugge
that summer. Every five years, the town hosts a giant festival called the
Pageant of the Golden Tree, which celebrates Charles the Bold's marriage to
Margaret of York. It happens to coincide with my birthday, so most of our
resources are going towards that adventure! I have, however, joined the
Burgundian PPF Facebook group, so I have been following your exploits
eagerly. :)

We just went public with this event in late September, so planning is VERY
much in the beginning stages. In fact, I have not even begun to set the
menu. Before I think about what to cook, I'd like to figure out the
structure. I know that, according to the PPF - Burgundy web site, there are
two formal meals, rather than the typical SCAdian dayboard and formal
feast. I love this idea, but I'm curious to know if this is how meals were
organized for festivals and celebratory occasions, or if this is an
affectation for your own group's needs. So, I guess, first things first, I
want to know if I'm planning one meal or two, giving preference to how it
would have been done in 1526 Seville if that information is available. If
not, I'd be curious to know if there were any cultural differences
pertaining to this practice between, say, the French and the Spanish, or
the English and the Spanish, or did they all pretty much organize their
celebrations similarly?

Once I know this, I will be able to begin looking at what I'm serving, and
in what order. Usually, I'm able to utilize the menus recorded in the
beginning portions of period cookbooks to gain insight into what this order
should be. I have so far been unsuccessful in finding these kinds of
examples, so I was hoping to find them in that first portion of de Nola. I
just started translating this text, but I would really appreciate your
translation if it is available. I'm really flying blind on this one, so the
assistance that would come from that would be MUCH appreciated. I'm also
looking forward to exploring Arte de Cisora - I hadn't come across this
text before.

Thankfully, I'm just in charge of cooking the food and planning the menu -
service is being run by someone else completely. To keep track of both
would be far too much!

I'm sort of at this point where I am just devouring information, and
looking to learn as much about Spain's food culture from this time period
as I can. I would love to talk more with you about how you ran your kitchen
for the PPF - Spain, and where you and your team were able to find your
information.

Again, thank you so very much! I'm really looking forward to talking with
you further!

Lijsbet

On Tue, Oct 20, 2015 at 11:20 AM, Donna Green <donnaegreen at yahoo.com> wrote:

>
> Greetings Lijsbet,
> I cooked the Spanish PPF we did here in the West a few years ago that
> Brighid mentioned (waves at Brighid).
> The service related part of Nola (before the recipes) deals primarily with
> the duties of the various officers of the household. I have the printed
> translation of that. I'll get you the particulars later in the week if you
> like.
> We also used Arte de Cisoria by Enrique de Villena (1423) as a serving
> reference.
> Please feel free to pick my brain on your upcoming project. Those of us
> involved in the Perfectly Period Feast*  movement are so pleased to see it
> spreading to other kingdoms.
> * Perfectly Period Feast (as done here in the West) is to go beyond a
> feast where all the food is from a particular time and place to doing the
> service from that time and place as well (there are several period serving
> manuals out there) and making as much of the material culture as we can
> also fit the time and place (plates, bowls, drinking vessels, spoons,
> benches, napery, table clothes, etc.). Our first big one (there were
> smaller test runs before) was 1480's English, then we did 1520's Spanish,
> then 1550's Italian (I may be off on the years for that one). The folks up
> in An Tir did a late period Italian one earlier this year that was great.
> The next one in the West will be Burgundian in 2017. Ours have been every
> three years or so since there is *so* much prep work involved. Mistress
> Crystal of the Westermark started this creative lunacy and many of us have
> been having much fun with it ever since.
> Juana Isabella
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>



-- 
Yours In Service,

Vrouw Lijsbet de Keukere