I’m looking for my next dish, so I thought I’d take a look at feast menus, and I think others might be interested as well.
This feast menu is recommended in the Boke of Kervynge by Wynken de Worde, 1508 for Autumn (end of September to end of December).
First Course:
- Pork Pies
- Either:
- Pottage: beef, mutton, bacon, or pork
- Roast Fowl: Goose, capon, mallard, swan, phesant
Second Course:
- Thick Pottage with fish, rabbit, or broth
- Roast Meat 1: pork, veal, chicken, pigeon, duck, or other game bird (based on later discussion this is for presenting whole and carving before the lord & lady)
- Roast Meat 2: venison, large game birds, small game birds (based on the specific animals listed and their traditional cooking methods I’d assume this meat is to be baked in a coffin)
- Fritters
- Small beef pies with clove sauce
- Spicy sauce (pepper or mustard sauce?) to be served
I don’t generally cook feasts (my lady Kayleigh is awesome at it though), but if I were to translate this into an SCA menu, here’s what I’d present to each table:
Pre-service:
- bread and butter
- pickles
First Course
- A tray with one small pork pie/tart per diner
- A small pot of bacon pottage
- Seasonal vegetable or strained peas (because otherwise there’s no vegetables)
Second Course:
- A small pot of onion broth pottage
- Half a roast chicken or equivalent amount of pork loin
- A turkey pie (turkey is much cheaper than game birds and falls under the “large bird” category, the period option would just be a whole de-boned turkey in the pie, but I’d recommend a pie more like this one)
- a tray of fritters (fried dough, usually with fruit in it) – this is dessert
- A tray with one small beef pie/tart per diner
- Clove sauce
- Mustard
Note: that’s not a cheap menu, so price it out before you set the price for the feast.
Boke of Kervynge by Wynken de Worde (8v-9r)
(8v-9r)
From the feest of saynt Myghell unto
the feest of Crystmasse.In the fyrst course potage befe motton bacon or
pestelles of porke or with goose capon mallarde
swanne or fesande as it is before sayd with tartes or
bake metes or chynes of porke. In the seconde course
pottage mortrus or conyes or sewe / then roost flesshe
motton porke vele pullettes chekyns pygyons teeles
wegyons mallardes partryche woodcocke plover byt
ture curlewe heronsewe / venyson roost grete byrdes
snytes feldfayres thrusshes fruyters chewettes befe
with sauce gelopere roost with sauce pegyll & other ba-
ke metes as it is aforesayd. And yf ye kerve afore your
lorde or your lady ony soden fleshe kerve awaye the
skynne above / than kerve resonably of your flessge to your
lorde or lady & specyally for laydes for they wyll soone
be angry for theyr thoughtes ben soon chaunged / and
some lordes wyll soone be pleased & some wyll not . as
they be of complexion. The goose & swanne may be cut
as ye do other fowles that have hole fete or elles as your
lorde or your lady wyll aske it. Also a swanne with chaw
dron capon or fesande ought for to be arayed as it is a-
foresayd / but the skynne must be had awaye / & whan
they ben kerved before your lorde or your lady / for ge-
nerally the skynne of all maner cloven foted fowles is
unholsome / & the skynne of all maner hole foted fow-
les ben holsome for to be eten. Also wyte ye well that al
maner hole foted fowles that have theyr lyvyng upon
the water theyr skynnes ben holsom & clene for by the
clenes of the water / & fysshe is theyr lyvynge. And yf
that they ete ony stynkynge thynge it is made so clene
with the water that all the corrupcyon is clene gone a-
way from it. And the skynnes ben not holsome / for it is nor
theyr kynde to entre in to the ryver to make theyr mete
voyde of the fylth. Mallarde goose or swanne they ete
upon the londe foule mete / but anone after theyr kynde
they go in to the ryver & there they clense them of theyr
foule stynke. A fesande as it is aforesayd / but the skynne
is not holsome / than take the heedes of all felde byrdes
and wood byrdes as fesande pecocke partryche wood
cocke and curlewe for they ete in theyr degrees foule
thynges as wormes todes and other suche.
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