I wrote this before I started this blog, but it belongs here. The feast took place in December of 2010.
This
year I had the opportunity to prepare my first feast in Drachenwald. I
cooked a couple feasts in a previous kingdom several years ago, but
Drachenwald has a lot more experience eating feasts, and there are many
more phenomenal feast cooks, so I was a bit nervous that I might not
actually be up to the level that everyone would expect. Yule feast,
however, seemed a good place to start, as it was going to be a small,
local event, with mostly our shire in attendance. That is to say, it was going to be a small, local event...
I have always enjoyed stories, and make believe, and I generally see the SCA as a giant game of “let’s pretend”. So, in beginning to plan a feast for Yule, I started with a scene in my mind. Picture, if you will, a smallish holding, castle, or village surrounded by snow in the dark of winter. It’s time for a party, to remind everyone that the darkness will not last...the sun will return. What are those people going to eat?
Fresh greens and most fruits are generally going to be out of the question. Where would you get them? The ground is frozen and covered with snow. Anything leafy is wilted at best. The harvest was good this year, though, and there are plenty of root vegetables, apples, and grains put up to get us through the winter. Mushrooms were easily gathered from the woods before the freezing temperatures hit, and the trees were filled with nuts and berries.
A party calls for meat, so what do we have available? Stock has been killed, as the meat will keep in the cold, and we couldn’t afford to feed the animals through the winter anyway...but there is wild game fat and ready for winter, which will only become scarce and skinny in later months. Out go the hunters to bring me some rabbits and hare. What luck! They also bring back a lovely deer! This feast is going to be glorious indeed.
Things couldn’t be going better, and we have just received news that the King will be arriving for the celebration as well, bringing with him his lovely queen, his heir, and several members of his court. It seems that he has some business here, and the Prince of our fair isles will also be joining him. (Do you remember that this was going to be simply a small, local event?)
Now I’ll return to modern thinking. I have the scene and concept set in my mind, so it’s time to figure out how to accomplish it. I enjoy nature and plants, and recently learned that many of the pretty plants and trees I see along the hedgerows and footpaths are edible. The Wild Food Guide (http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/ancient/wild-food-guide.php) turned out to be a wonderful resource for recipes, along with information on finding and gathering foods from my local area. Many of these plants appear in Celtic mythology, and therefore it can easily be surmised that the plants existed in period. If plants were around, and edible, it’s fairly certain that someone figured this out and people actually did eat them. These wild foods don’t seem to be used much in feasts, so it seemed a fun interest point to add.
While visiting the Anglo Saxon village of West Stow, I learned a bit about what was grown in the local area during the Anglo Saxon period, along with meeting a lovely woman who told me about a recipe involving Bulgar Wheat and Hazelnuts. Nuts seem to be a little-used protein source in SCA feast making, but it seems that they could have been an important source in period where meats were not as plentiful as they are today. I was also able to purchase a wonderful little cookbook filled with Anglo-Saxon recipes (Tastes of Anglo-Saxon England by Mary Savelli).
Preparations for the feast started in the early to mid-fall as berries became ripe in hedgerows and along footpaths. I harvested Haws (fruits from the hawthorn plant), rose-hips, rowan berries, and crab-apples, all of which were preserved in a collection of jellies to be served in various forms at Yule. I started searching for Hazelnuts and Chestnuts, but unfortunately only found one tree with Hazelnuts, and didn’t trust any of the chestnuts I found...so when shopping, I supplemented my gathered nuts with nuts from a local open-air market. Apples, too, were gathered early when possible, and supplemented from the farmer’s market.
I count myself incredibly fortunate to have someone in our local Shire with a connection to some Game Wardens who was able to secure hunted rabbits and hare for much less than I would have paid in a butcher’s shop. I had heard that rabbits were not actually native to Britain, but a bit of research showed that they were apparently introduced by the Romans, and thus would have been around in the Anglo Saxon time period. Likewise, there seems to be research showing that Fallow Deer, the variety of venison I bought for the feast, were first introduced by the Romans, then re-introduced by the Normans in the 10th century. Fallow Deer were often reserved for the King to hunt, so I thought it especially appropriate to serve at a feast where our King would be present.
It seemed to me a bit silly to go to the trouble of picking wild berries cooking wild game meats simply to serve it with store-bought bread. Commercially produced bread of any reasonable quality for a feast seemed prohibitively expensive, as well. Tastes of Anglo-Saxon England provided me with two wonderful recipes, one for oat bread and another for rye bread. For a bit more variety and deciding that the feast proper deserved a finer bread, I found a recipe online for a medieval herb bread. (http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,164,156170-225207,00.html)
Finally, the week of the event arrived. I started making bread at the beginning of the week, baking several loaves each day. (The cold weather turned out to be a blessing, as I could keep food in my back garden if I didn’t have enough refrigerator space.) Our Brewing Shed doubled as a meat-locker when the rabbit arrived on Monday, and my oven was full of venison on Wednesday afternoon as I pre-roasted the meat so it would only need to be reheated in sauce on the day of the feast. Apples were chopped, boiled, and blended for soup. Vegetables were pre-cut, and the final shopping was done.
Friday night, as travellers arrived on site, the rabbit started stewing for the next night’s feast, while volunteers helped crack hazelnuts and peel chestnuts. After cooling overnight, the rabbit went right back on the stove the next morning to slowly cook throughout the day. As the day went on, dishes were cooked in turn and put in warming pans to await the grand event. Venison was sliced and set to heat through in rowan gravy. The hour grew later, and it became apparent that I had bought more of some ingredients than the recipes called for. Happily, those excess vegetables could be easily combined into an extra side-dish for the first remove.
At last the tables were set, the candles were lit, and the servers presented the first remove to the head table. Platters of food were distributed throughout the hall, as stories and songs rang out for all to hear. The Holly King arrived with gifts for all, including those in the kitchen preparing to serve the next remove. Venison and barley, carrots, beets, and mushrooms...servers with laden platters flowed out of the kitchen as in a well-rehearsed dance. At last, we all raise charged vessels for a round of toasts, and the feast draws to a close. Our Royal Guests were well pleased, and the cooks can bask in the glory of a job well done.
I have always enjoyed stories, and make believe, and I generally see the SCA as a giant game of “let’s pretend”. So, in beginning to plan a feast for Yule, I started with a scene in my mind. Picture, if you will, a smallish holding, castle, or village surrounded by snow in the dark of winter. It’s time for a party, to remind everyone that the darkness will not last...the sun will return. What are those people going to eat?
Fresh greens and most fruits are generally going to be out of the question. Where would you get them? The ground is frozen and covered with snow. Anything leafy is wilted at best. The harvest was good this year, though, and there are plenty of root vegetables, apples, and grains put up to get us through the winter. Mushrooms were easily gathered from the woods before the freezing temperatures hit, and the trees were filled with nuts and berries.
A party calls for meat, so what do we have available? Stock has been killed, as the meat will keep in the cold, and we couldn’t afford to feed the animals through the winter anyway...but there is wild game fat and ready for winter, which will only become scarce and skinny in later months. Out go the hunters to bring me some rabbits and hare. What luck! They also bring back a lovely deer! This feast is going to be glorious indeed.
Things couldn’t be going better, and we have just received news that the King will be arriving for the celebration as well, bringing with him his lovely queen, his heir, and several members of his court. It seems that he has some business here, and the Prince of our fair isles will also be joining him. (Do you remember that this was going to be simply a small, local event?)
Now I’ll return to modern thinking. I have the scene and concept set in my mind, so it’s time to figure out how to accomplish it. I enjoy nature and plants, and recently learned that many of the pretty plants and trees I see along the hedgerows and footpaths are edible. The Wild Food Guide (http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/ancient/wild-food-guide.php) turned out to be a wonderful resource for recipes, along with information on finding and gathering foods from my local area. Many of these plants appear in Celtic mythology, and therefore it can easily be surmised that the plants existed in period. If plants were around, and edible, it’s fairly certain that someone figured this out and people actually did eat them. These wild foods don’t seem to be used much in feasts, so it seemed a fun interest point to add.
While visiting the Anglo Saxon village of West Stow, I learned a bit about what was grown in the local area during the Anglo Saxon period, along with meeting a lovely woman who told me about a recipe involving Bulgar Wheat and Hazelnuts. Nuts seem to be a little-used protein source in SCA feast making, but it seems that they could have been an important source in period where meats were not as plentiful as they are today. I was also able to purchase a wonderful little cookbook filled with Anglo-Saxon recipes (Tastes of Anglo-Saxon England by Mary Savelli).
Preparations for the feast started in the early to mid-fall as berries became ripe in hedgerows and along footpaths. I harvested Haws (fruits from the hawthorn plant), rose-hips, rowan berries, and crab-apples, all of which were preserved in a collection of jellies to be served in various forms at Yule. I started searching for Hazelnuts and Chestnuts, but unfortunately only found one tree with Hazelnuts, and didn’t trust any of the chestnuts I found...so when shopping, I supplemented my gathered nuts with nuts from a local open-air market. Apples, too, were gathered early when possible, and supplemented from the farmer’s market.
I count myself incredibly fortunate to have someone in our local Shire with a connection to some Game Wardens who was able to secure hunted rabbits and hare for much less than I would have paid in a butcher’s shop. I had heard that rabbits were not actually native to Britain, but a bit of research showed that they were apparently introduced by the Romans, and thus would have been around in the Anglo Saxon time period. Likewise, there seems to be research showing that Fallow Deer, the variety of venison I bought for the feast, were first introduced by the Romans, then re-introduced by the Normans in the 10th century. Fallow Deer were often reserved for the King to hunt, so I thought it especially appropriate to serve at a feast where our King would be present.
It seemed to me a bit silly to go to the trouble of picking wild berries cooking wild game meats simply to serve it with store-bought bread. Commercially produced bread of any reasonable quality for a feast seemed prohibitively expensive, as well. Tastes of Anglo-Saxon England provided me with two wonderful recipes, one for oat bread and another for rye bread. For a bit more variety and deciding that the feast proper deserved a finer bread, I found a recipe online for a medieval herb bread. (http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,164,156170-225207,00.html)
Finally, the week of the event arrived. I started making bread at the beginning of the week, baking several loaves each day. (The cold weather turned out to be a blessing, as I could keep food in my back garden if I didn’t have enough refrigerator space.) Our Brewing Shed doubled as a meat-locker when the rabbit arrived on Monday, and my oven was full of venison on Wednesday afternoon as I pre-roasted the meat so it would only need to be reheated in sauce on the day of the feast. Apples were chopped, boiled, and blended for soup. Vegetables were pre-cut, and the final shopping was done.
Friday night, as travellers arrived on site, the rabbit started stewing for the next night’s feast, while volunteers helped crack hazelnuts and peel chestnuts. After cooling overnight, the rabbit went right back on the stove the next morning to slowly cook throughout the day. As the day went on, dishes were cooked in turn and put in warming pans to await the grand event. Venison was sliced and set to heat through in rowan gravy. The hour grew later, and it became apparent that I had bought more of some ingredients than the recipes called for. Happily, those excess vegetables could be easily combined into an extra side-dish for the first remove.
At last the tables were set, the candles were lit, and the servers presented the first remove to the head table. Platters of food were distributed throughout the hall, as stories and songs rang out for all to hear. The Holly King arrived with gifts for all, including those in the kitchen preparing to serve the next remove. Venison and barley, carrots, beets, and mushrooms...servers with laden platters flowed out of the kitchen as in a well-rehearsed dance. At last, we all raise charged vessels for a round of toasts, and the feast draws to a close. Our Royal Guests were well pleased, and the cooks can bask in the glory of a job well done.
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