Title: Mdwntr-AS-Fst-art
Subject: Midwinter A&S Faire, Feb. 99, by the Barony of South Downs, Meridies.
Author: Edited by Mark S. Harris
Last saved by: Mark S. Harris
Keywords: feast, menu, recipe, Meridies, South Downs, SCA

Mdwntr-AS-Fst-art - 9/28/99

The feast menu and some recipes from the Midwinter Arts & Sciences Faire hosted by The Barony of the South Downs of Meridies on February 26-28, 1999.

NOTE: See also the files: Martyrs-Feast-art, headcooks-msg, Fst-Menus-art, feasts-msg, feast-decor-msg, feast-menus-msg, feasts-fish-msg, feast-serving-msg.

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    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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This feast was served at Midwinter Arts & Sciences Faire hosted by 
The Barony of the South Downs of Meridies on February 26-28, 1999.  It was presented by Mistress Rhiannon Cathoir-mor and fra (signore) niccolo difrancesco at Indian Springs State Park in Jackson, Georgia.

The theme was a competition between the Barony and the Consortium of
Southern Shires, a coalition of the groups in southern GA and AL for
the purpose or mutual support and development.  Sadly, the Barony lost
out, causing the Baron to wear a hideous artifact: The Glove decorated
with gaudy gemstones and rhinestones and mirror studs.

The attendance was reported to be 402, with feast attendance at
175-180.

Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 09:58:28 -0500
From: "Nick Sasso" <Njs at mccalla.com>
Subject: SC - My feast menu and recipes for your use and consideration

At long last, I am ready to post my menu and translations from our feast
last weekend.  It was well received, even with the problems that glare out
at me.  I have come up with cures for the flaws in a couple of the dishes,
and would appreciate any comment on what you read.
We prepared food for 200 in a state park Kitchen.

*Fine White Bread*

1st Course
Venison Frumenty
Pasties in the Lombard Style
Monchalet
Funges

2nd Course
Connynges in Cyrip
A Tarte of Greens
Safron Rice

3rd Course
Sausages Menagier
Appel Muse

Flathonys
********************************
Frumenty of  venison    serves 150
(Two 15th Century Cookery Books: Harleian MS. 279)

15 cups cracked or whole wheat berries
45 cups venison stock (just under 3 gallons)
10 egg yolks
saffron

boil the stock (or water) and add the wheat and saffron.  Cover and let
simmer 15-20 minutes stirring frequently.  Turn off heat and leave covered
30 minutes and stir.  Check doneness.  When just ready to serve, add the egg
yolks and stir.  Serve hot with meat dish.

Lombard Pasties serves 150
(The Goodman of Paris c.1393; trans. Eileen Power)

ITEM in the Lombard manner when the chickens be plucked and prepared, take
beaten eggs (to wit yolks and whites) with verjuice and spice powder and dip
your chickens therein; then set them in the pasty with strip of bacon as
above [large slices of bacon on the breast]

15# boneless chicken breast 
Bacon or dried, cured ham
2 eggs, beaten   
lard
Verjuice or cider vinegar  
flour
fine spice powder (1)  
ice cold water

As we do not enjoy eating whole chicks, I use boneless chicken breast.
Since the crust is so rich, a smaller pasty is sufficient.  (Simmer the
chicken pieces in water until mostly done to ensure doneness of final
product)  Cut each breast in half and dip chicken pieces in egg wash made
with eggs, a dash of verjuice/vinegar and a little spice powder.  Place
these pieces in pastry made of lard, flour and water.  Place on each piece
of chicken, a piece of lean bacon or dried ham Smithfield would be good as
it seems it would approximate European bacon better).  Seal pastry together
and return to refrigerator to chill (15 minutes).  Remove form refrigerator
and bake at 400F 15 minutes or until golden and chicken is cooked.

(1) FINE [SPICE] POWDER.  Take of white ginger and ounce and a dram, of
selected cinnamon a quarter, of cloves and grains [of paradise] eash half a
quarter of an ounce, and of lump sugar a quarter and reduce them to powder.
(p. 298)

Monchalet serves 150
(The Forme of Cury, A Roll of Ancient English Cookery, c. 1390)

XVI.   Take veel or muton and smite it to gobets. Seeﬂ it ¥ gode broth.
Cast ﬂto erbes  yhewe1 gode wyne. And a qntite of Onyons mynced.  Powdo fort
and Safron. And ayle it w ayren and vions.  But lat not seeﬂ aft.

50# Mutton or lamb, cubed 
1 gallon table wine (full red)
1 gallon stock or water  
5#. minced onion
1/2 c. dried herbs (e.g. thyme, rosemary, hyssop) 
3 Tbl.  powder fort 
10 eggs
1/2 tsp. saffron threads

Braise the mutton/lamb in the stock and herbs.  After 20-25 minutes, add
onion and wine.  Let continue to braise till done.  Add powder fort and
saffron.  When ready to serve, add to it beaten eggs slowly and stir
vigorously so as to prevent scrambled eggs.  Serve forth

funges (serves 150)
(The Forme of Cury, A Roll of Ancient English Cookery, c. 1390)

X.   Take funges(1) and pare hem clene and dyce hem.  Take leke and shred hym
small and do hy to seeﬂ in gode broth.  Colo it with safron and do ﬂinne
powdo fort.

30# mushrooms  
1/2  tsp saffron threads
20 leeks   
6 Tbl. Powder forte (to taste)
3 1/2 gallons broth

Take mushrooms and clean them and dice them.  Clean your leaks REALLY well
of dirt and slice fine.  Place all in large stock pot.  Boil stock and add
on top of mushroom/leeks.  Cover and let steep.  Stir after 20 minutes and
again 20 minutes later.  This method allows the leeks and mushrooms to cook
and still remain tender without getting mushy.  Color with a couple of
saffron threads and season with powder fort

(1) funges mushrooms

(Connyng(1)) Chykens in Cyrip   serves 150
(The Forme of Cury, A Roll of Ancient English Cookery, c. 1390)

XX.III.IIII.  Take Conyng and seeﬂ hem wel ¥ good broth. Take wyne greke and
do ﬂto with a porcion of vyneg abd flo of canel, hoole clow quybibes hoole.
And ooﬂ gode spices and raisons corance and gyngyn ypared and ymynced.  Tkae
up the couyng and smyte hem on pecyc and cst hem into the Siryppe and seeﬂ
hem a letel on the fyr and sue it forth.

50# chicken pieces on the bone 
3 Tbl whole cubebs
5 gallon stock or water   
1 1/2 Tbl whole cloves
6 gallons white port  
4 cups Zants raisins/currants
2 cups cider vinegar  
2 Tbl minced fresh ginger
10 cinnamon sticks

Normally, Simmer the rabbits in the stock until done and tender.  Cut up
into serving pieces.

Prepare syrup with remaining ingredients, adjusting to taste.  Add rabbit
pieces to syrup and simmer 10-15 minutes.  Serve forth.

(1) connyng   coney or rabbit

Tart (Tourte)   Makes (25) 8" tarts
(The Goodman of Paris c.1393; trans. Eileen Power)

TO MAKE A TART (TOURTE), take four handfuls of beets, two handfuls of
parsley and a handful of chervil, a sprig of fennel, and two handfuls of
spinach, and pick them over and wash them in cold water, then cut them up
very small; then bray two sorts of cheeses, to wit a hard and a medium, and
then add two eggs thereto, yolks and whites, and bray them in with the
cheese; then put the herbs into the mortar and bray all together and also
put therein some fine powder.  Or instead of this have ready brayed in the
mortar two heads of ginger and onto this bray your cheese. Eggs and herbs
and then cast ld cheese scraped or grated onto the herbs and take it to the
oven anbd then have your tart made and eat it hot.

10 bunches greens (beet, chard, spinach) 
6# muenster cheese
50 eggs     
25 pie shells
6# romano cheese   
4 Tbl. Fine spice powder (1)

Wash and clean the greens in cold water, chop small.  We used food processor
to speed the process, but keep some to knife chop as well for texture.   Add
grated cheeses, eggs and  4 Tbl. (more or less) of fine spice powder1.  Mix
all together.  Pour into pie shells and bake at 350F until set and cheese &
crust golden.

(1) FINE [SPICE] POWDER.  Take of white ginger and ounce and a dram, of
selected cinnamon a quarter, of cloves and grains [of paradise] eash half a
quarter of an ounce, and of lump sugar a quarter and reduce them to powder.
(p. 298)

Saffron Rice serves 200
(period-like no reference)

20# white rice  
2 tsp saffron
6 gallons chicken Stock 
2#  butter, cut in pieces
salt to taste

boil stock and add saffron and rice.  Bring back to boil and simmer 15
minutes, stirring once.  Cover tightly and let sit for 30 minutes.  When
tender, add butter and stir gently to incorporate.

Sausages (Le Menagier) serves 175 in a feast setting/100 as a single meal,
(The Goodman of Paris c.1393; trans. Eileen Power)

TO MAKE SAUSAGES.  When you have killed your pig, take flesh of the ribs. .
. and the best fat, as much of the one as of the other, in such quantity as
you would make sausages; and cause it to be minced up and hashed up very
small by a pastrycook.  Then bray fennel with a little fine salt, and
afterwards, take your brayed fennel and mix it very well with a quarter as
much [fine] spice powder; then mix it thoroughly your meat, your spices and
your fennel and afterwards fill the intestines, to wit small ones.  (And
know that the intestines of an old pig be better for this than those of a
young one because they be larger.)  And afterwards put them to smoke for
four days or more and when you would eat them, put them in hot water and
boil them once and then put them on the grill. (p. 308)

Redaction:
30# ground pork (65% lean) 
1/2 c. salt
2 cups ground fennel seed  
natural sausage casing
1/4 c. fine spice powder (1)

Grind pork and fat together to yield 35-50% fat (original specifies 50%).
Combine spices at 4 parts ground fennel seed to 1 part fine spice powder.  Mix into ground pork salt to taste.  (Unfortunately, Non-fat dry milk was added as a binder by the professional sausage maker who produced our sausage)  Stuff into
casings and twist into links approx 4 inches long.  Cold smoke for 8 hours
to 4 days.  To cook, put in hot water and bring to a boil (30-45 minutes)
then grill (or roast) till golden.

(1) FINE [SPICE] POWDER.  Take of white ginger and ounce and a dram, of
selected cinnamon a quarter, of cloves and grains [of paradise] eash half a
quarter of an ounce, and of lump sugar a quarter and reduce them to powder.
(p. 298)

Apple Muse   serves 150
(Two 15th Century Cookery Books: Harleian MS. 279)

ixxxix. Apple Muse.--Take Applelys an sethe hem, an Serge1 hem ﬂorwe a Sefe
in-to a potte; ﬂanne take Almmaunde Mylke & Hony, an caste ﬂer-to, an ﬂan
take Pepyr, Gyngere, & Brede, y-grounde y-fere and temper it vppe with ﬂe
same brothe, or ale draft, & coloure it with Safroun, & Seﬂe it to-gederys,
& serue it forthe.

Redaction:
3 gallons apple sauce (apples,  1/8 tsp. saffron threads
     water, corn syrup)
2 quarts (US) Almond Milk 
2 cups +/- fine bread crumbs
3 Tbl. ground black pepper  
24 oz. Sam Adams Ale
1 1/2 tbl. Minced ginger

Combine all ingredients and boil together.  Adjust texture with bread crumbs
as needed.  Honey may be added to adjust sweetness.

(We used apple sauce from a jar for conveniece sake in this feast due to
time and space constraints.  To accomplish from apples: cut into pieces and boil
35# apples.  Pass through a sieve or food mill into a pot.  Proceed as
above.)

Flathonys makes 25 pies
(Two 15th Century Cookery Books: Harleian MS. 279)

Flathonys.  Take mylke, and yolks of egges and ale, and draw hem thorgh a
straynour, with white sugur or black; and melt faire butter, and put thereto
salt, and make faire coffyns, and put hem into a Nowne till ﬂei be a little
hard; ﬂen take a pile, and a dish fastened there-on, and fill ﬂe coffyns
therewith of the seid stuffs and late hem bake while.  And Ven take hem oute
and serue hem forthe, and caste Sugur ynough on hem.

100  egg yolks   
14 Tbl melted, unsalted butter
3 1/2 gallons milk (or cream)  
3 tsp salt
5 1/2 (12 oz) beer or ale  
25 pastry shell (or coffin(1) )
12 1/2 cup sugar   
sugar to sprinkle on top.

Prepare pastry/pie shell before beginning custard.

Beat lightly the egg yolks, add milk and ale and whisk together till mixed.
Add sugar, melted butter and salt.  Combine and add to shell.  Bake at 350F
30 minutes until set and crust golden.

(1) Coffins were very tough, almost inedible crusts made of flour and water.
They were intended, it seems to be a holder for the filling rather than a
part of the consumed tart.

<the end>

Edited by Mark S. Harris	Mdwntr-AS-Fst-art	Page  of