A few years ago, my in-laws gave me this book for Christmas, and I have to confess that I kind of half-read it and then put it in the big box with all the other historic cookery books and basically forgot about it. As I was digging in the box the other night, though, I pulled it out (mostly because of the, you know, 1250 date in the title) and although I feel like it doesn't do enough to differentiate between eras and locations (England in 1250 and Italy in 1450 have less in common than one might imagine).
So, reading this has led me to a source I had not previously heard of ... Dello Scalco ('How to organize a banquet'), Italian, 1528. The Oxford Compaion to Italian Food tells me that author was a Chief Steward in a noble Italian home, responsible for overseeing both the kitchens and the service, and he traveled widely. I cannot seem to find any complete translation of this work (either on-line or even referenced on-line, although I'm not done digging), but the glimpse that I have is very interesting indeed.
In particular, check out the menu that starts on page 20 of Cooking in Europe 1250-1650. You can't see what's on page 21, but it's more of the same: 'themed' platters, incuding another cold course and then a fruit and roasted nut course. I really, really love the idea of having a cold course set and ready to go, so there can be food on the tables right as everyone sits down. Also, although of couse we've always served "family style" at SCA events, I do find myself wondering more and more about the use of the term "platters". The Food in the Anglo-Saxon period article I linked a few days ago provided this tidbit about pre-Norman feasts: "And unlike in the Medieval period there were no food courses and elaborate entertainments in the Anglo-Saxon period; all the food was served at once, on platters made of wood"
Anyhow, back to the Dello Scalco menu (which, again, is much later and farther south than what I'm aiming for). Some items from the first course that caught my eye include:
- Salad of sprouts with halved hard boiled eggs
- Slices of beef pie with slice of citron
- Flakey little pastries filled with blancmange
- Pastry roses filled with marzipan
- Slices of pork loin in vinegar with toast
Honestly, one could do worse than just having those five items as the first course at a feast.
Service is one of my big pet peeves at Society feasts. I understand that it's tough to always get your timings right, but I've been to far too many feasts where you get a dish ... and a pause ... and another dish ... and a pause ... and another dish ... and so on, and I'm wondering if doing some kind of mixed platters for at least part of the service is a) authentic and b) a solution to that problem.
Anyhow, I have a copy of The Mead Hall: The Feasting Tradition in Anglo-Saxon England waiting for me to pick up when the library opens tomorrow, and perhaps that will solve some of my nagging questions.
Finally: the email group for feast planning is now up and running. I very much want the planning of this feast to be a collaborative process. If you would like to be involved, you can join the email list in one of two ways. You can go to the Google Group page (just click the link) to sign up, or you can send an email to me at waxtablet (at) gmail (dot) com and I will subscribe you. I hope you will join us!
PS: You should be reading Fearless Kitchen. It's written by Lady Safiya Shirazi from Carolingia and it's awesome.
PPS: I can't get the spell check to work in Blogger, so y'all are going to have to suffer with my awful spelling. Sorry. Please don't judge me.
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