Dedication: For their unfailing support and never-ending patience, this booklet is dedicated with respect to Their Excellencies, Mistress Rebekah MacTiernan and Sir Brannos O'longardail, the fiftieth King and Queen to sit on the Dragon Throne.

This booklet is also dedicated with love to Kamiizumi Jirou Munenori for believing that any dish created and set before him was designed solely for his pleasure, especially if it didn't move too fast.

The main goals for this feast were as follows:

• Recipes had to be chosen or constructed from a single, documentable cookbook or manuscript wherever possible.
• The food had to taste good, if not fantastic, and pass muster from local picky eaters.
• The feast had to be balanced such that no one particular dish or course would cause what the original author of the cookbook believed to be an imbalance in nutrition or a serious risk to health.
• Seasonal food availability had to be taken advantage of as often as possible.
• The royalty for whom the feast was created had to approve of the dishes.

With one exception, all of the recipes prepared and served for this feast were taken directly from or constructed using Mary Ella Milham's 1998 translation of Platina's De honesta voluptate (On Right Pleasure). This manuscript is currently dated by Milham at 1465, and details recipes from Italy of that time. Many of the recipes were taken directly from earlier manuscripts, among them the works of C. Matius, Apicius, and Martino de Rossi. Health information included in the recipes was often taken from Pliny the Elder's Historia Naturalis (Natural History) and from the Arabic tradition of medicine known as the regimen sanitatis which we are able to read in the works of Ibn Butlan and others.

The recipes for this feast were chosen and placed in their serving order based on the details provided by Platina for the best ways and times to serve particular foods during multi-course meals. Platina summarizes our reasoning behind our decisions when he writes (as translated by Milham):

Not all foods suit all people, but as there are various elements and various appetites of men according to their humors, as well as various tastes, so ought there too be various foods so that each may acquire what is agreeable, flavorful, and nutritious. To my mind, no one eats what fills him with distaste, or harms or pains, or kills... remember that saying of Socrates, that we should eat to live and not live to eat. (pg. 115, 117)

Seasonal food choices and choices of foods that would yield the most number of dishes were very important considerations when choosing recipes for the feast. Mistress Alizaunde's (Demoiselle de Bregeuf, C.O.L. SCA) article Rob Peter to Feed Paul: Halving Feast Costs served as an excellent starting point. Combined with a list of regional food crops from the local farmer's market, choosing dishes based on seasonal choices, and by the same token, eliminating dishes based on the same criteria, was made quite a bit easier because the possibilities were greatly narrowed due to extreme cost or unavailability of ingredients.

Overall, some compromises were made to Platina's recipes or their ingredients in order to accommodate a mundane balance of dishes that would allow vegans and vegetarians to participate in the feast. On the whole, however, those changes were balanced by the placement of other dishes said by Platina to combat the negative side effects of the other dishes in any particular course. We also attempted to make any changes to dishes match actual substitutions or alternatives suggested by Platina. For example, in a dish where Platina recommended the main meat be pork, we chose to substitute, per his suggestion, with fowl. Thus, in attempting to create a pleasing feast, we have attempted what Platina says any good cook should do:

One should have a trained cook with skill and long experience, patient with his work and wanting especially to be praised for it. He should... know in a suitable way the force and nature of meats, fish and vegetables so that he may understand what ought to be roasted, boiled, or fried. (pg. 119)

With the exception of long experience - unless you total the entire staff's cooking years - we have tried to do just what Platina described when he described a good cook.

The recipes detailed herein are written up in such a way that you are provided with the recipe translation from Milham's edition, our interpretation of what the original recipe says to do for preparation, ingredients for both a standard family meal and scaled amounts for feasts, and information on how we would or did actually prepare the dish. Because of the difficulty in accurately typing and checking the accuracy of the Latin, we do not include the normalized Latin text from Platina's manuscript.

In addition to the preparation instructions noted above, if special cooking hints such as alternative ways of cooking could be or were considered, we provide them after the main preparation notes. Finally, if there were particular things we learned from testing the dishes on unsuspecting friends and relatives, the notes from those lessons learned are detailed at the end of the recipe. We have tried to comment on each recipe with lessons learned from both the test feast and the actual coronation feast to help people understand the difficulties and differences inherent cooking for 8 as opposed to 160.

About ingredient names:

It is worth noting that each ingredient is worded carefully to avoid confusion. Specifically, the order of the descriptive words is placed so that you can tell how to measure and prepare the ingredients if it makes a difference as to which activity comes first. For example, if a recipe calls for "1/2 cup sifted flour" this means "Sift the flour, then measure out 1/2 cup." If, on the other hand, a recipe calls for "1/2 cup flour, sifted" then it means "Measure out 1/2 cup flour. Sift this 1/2 cup flour and use it in the recipe." Or, when referring to weight measurements, an ingredient might be listed as "one pound deboned chicken" which means "one pound of chicken as weighed after the bones have been removed." Compare this to the wording "one pound chicken, deboned" which would mean "one pound of chicken as weighed with the bones in, then take the bones out."

Weights and Measures:

Because translation and recipe interpretation is rarely an exact science, exact measurements in the recipes in this booklet should not be considered crucial. You should feel free to adjust any of the measurements in this booklet according to your taste or as instinct and experience dictates. This is especially true with the recipe amounts for the large number of servings.

We have assumed that the primary audience for this booklet will be residents of North America. As such, ingredient names, weights, and measurements given in the recipes should be viewed as American standards. None of the recipes in this booklet contain metric equivalents. British cooks should note that standard U.S. measuring utensils are smaller than the ones they are familiar with. In both the United States and Britain, however, 3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon (4 U.S. tablespoons=1/4 cup). Please remember to use liquid measures for liquids and dry measures for all other ingredients. The two measurements are not the same.

Panis (Bread) - the recipe is found HERE

Additional Notes; What We Learned from the Coronation Feast

As we approached the day of the feast, it became abundantly clear that we would be unable to bake the bread ourselves. Fortunately, we had access to a local bakery with a standard loaf that we were told very nearly matched the one we desired to make. We chose to purchase this loaf in lieu of making the bread and save ourselves some time for other dishes.

Our feasters commented quite loudly on the topic of bread, with most asking for more of the loaf we served, not knowing, of course, exactly how much food was still on the way to their tables. The loaves were of good size, perhaps half again the size of a standard shoebox, and the perfect companion for the moretum spread with which we served it.

Moretum (Garlic and Herb Cheese Paté) - the recipe is found HERE

This recipe information originally appeared in A Taste of Ancient Rome, by Ilaria Giacosa (p. 54). It is the only recipe in the feast taken from a book other than Platina's cooking manuscript.

Additional Notes; What We Learned from the Test Feast

This was a very popular dish at the test feast. The original recipe may have possibly called for far more garlic than what appears here. To account for possible translation errors, that amount was reduced in the original recipe to a single head of garlic. At preparation time, the amount of garlic was reduced by half again because the cook's eyes were smarting from the fumes. When the feaster's tasted the dish they all agreed that the garlic could be reduced even further to account for the palates of the faint at heart. That final reduction is the amount listed in the ingredients above.

What We Learned from the Coronation Feast

The moretum for the coronation feast was surprisingly well received considering a bad miscalculation of the amount of vinegar for this dish. Initially, nearly twice the amount of vinegar we had calculated as necessary for texture was accidently added to this dish. We considered several options to salvage the now incorrectly prepared moretum. We could have simply doubled the recipe ingredients sans vinegar and dealing with the leftover dish. Instead, we took a cue from cheese making techniques and used some cheese cloth we had available to bundle up the moretum and drain as much of the excess vinegar as possible. The end result was slightly tangy and much less garlicky than the version we served at the test feast. The texture was grainier than the original was, but not unpleasantly so, and the salt of the fresh cheese was nearly removed with the excess vinegar drained.

Post-feast research indicates on particularly enlightening discovery for us. Not being Latin scholars, the terms "moretum" and "mortaria" held little significance for us other than a curious relation to the mundane term "mortar." Flower and Rosenbaum's Apicius introduction, previously unread prior to the feast, provided us with an interesting commentary we that relates to our dish described here. The authors state:

Many recipes begin by taking pepper or various herbs, which are put in the mortar and pounded or ground. While stone mortars may have been employed in some cases, stout pottery bowls known to archaeologists as mortaria probably did duty in most cases, and these are made with a sprinkling of grit baked into the fabric to help with the grinding process. Stone or wooden pestles were used with them. (pg. 37)

This explains the title of the dish and affords us with more recipes in comparison to to Grant's copy. In the first book of Paicius, a chapter dedicated in part to sauces, Apicius gives us ingredients for Moretaria (pg. 61). In our minds, this justifies our decision to use vinegar as a thinning and smoothing agent in the sauce. To date, however, our only evidence for eating moretum with bread is tenuous. A footnote in Apicius mentions Pliny's work Historia naturalis and states that one type of bread, made by the people of Picenum, was only eaten in a moistened state (Flower & Rosenbaum, pg. 99). Though the original reference is to a dip of milk and honey, we instead chose moretum to balance the overall humoral qualities of the feast.

Ova farcta (Stuffed Eggs) - the recipe is found HERE

Additional Notes; What We Learned from the Test Feast

The eggs were popular with none left over. In general, the testers agreed that the filling was moist (one tester thought the filling should be a little drier) and tasty. The raisins in the recipe were the most common reason for texture being cited as less than perfect.The texture could be improved by using a food processor for all ingredients.

What We Learned from the Coronation Feast

In the large amounts required for the coronation feast, we found that the mixture was far too dry to hold together on its own without the addition of the optional egg whites. At the time of the main feast, we had no extra whites to spare because we had planned to omit them. To compensate for the over-dry filling and because we had not whites, we increased the vinegar substantially and added a small amount of olive oil to moisten the filling. Taking our own advice, we decided to forego the final reassembly step and serve the eggs open-faced.

Piororum et uvam nigram condimentum (Pears in Dark Grape Sauce) - the recipe is found HERE

Additional Notes; What We Learned from the Test Feast

All the feasters very much enjoyed this dish, citing the firmness of the pears (soft enough to cut through with a fork, but not mushy or overcooked) and the understated sweetness of the dish as their favorite points about it. We did not add the optional sugar. This dish received the most comments regarding its presentation. Pear halves were arranged in the round with their flat side down, drizzled with the boiled down grape juice in which they were cooked, and garnished with a simple sprig of fresh mint.

What We Learned from the Coronation Feast

During the canning process, a fairly serious non-injury accident left us with approximately 1/3 less of the original amount of pears we had intended to serve for the feast. Our compromise was not to buy more fresh pears and preserve them, as the special price we had received on the original feast amount was no longer in effect. Instead we chose to buy commercially preserved pears to augment what had already been canned at home. Our reasoning was three fold. First, more fresh pears would have cost significantly more money than we had intended to spend. By the time of the accident, the pears were expensive enough that commercially preserved pears were cheaper. Second, in period, fresh pears were often preserved in honey alone (cf. Apicius and Platina on fruit preservation). Although not an exact substitution, pears in canned in heavy syrup mimicked the sweet nature of the period-style home canned pears. The juice from the grape-juice canned pears was sufficient enough in quantity to allow us to sauce both home-canned and commercially preserved pears alike without making more syrup. Third, the color contrast of the purple pears and the white pears was quite attractive.

Torta Sambucea (Elder Flower White Pie) - the recipe is found HERE

Additional Notes; What We Learned from the Test Feast

A previously tested version of this pie convinced us not to use the optional rosewater as it was overpowering in even small amounts (the taste is often considered "soapy" by some people). Therefore we did not include it in this recipe. Of all the dishes served in the test feast, this one received the highest praise. No other dish was requested again more than this one. The most heard comment was "What is the flavor? That's so intriguing." When told that the main flavoring was elder flowers, few feasters believed us.

What We Learned from the Coronation Feast

As always, this pie did not fail to delight us. Having made the recipe numerous time since first redacting the recipe, we were once again genuinely pleased with the results of the baking. We did, however, discover an incredible excess of filling using the quantities stated herein for the 160 servings. We are unsure of why this is, but there are three possibilities. First, there simply could have been too much filling for 20 pies. While possible, it seems unlikely as the overage at the test feast and subsequent makings of this pie resulted in very little waste. Second, the pies purchased could have been much smaller in diameter than the ones used for the test feast (e.g. 8-inch diameter pies rather than 9-inch or 10-inch diameter pies). Third, the pies could have been shallower than the deep-dish crusts we normally use. Both the second and third explanations seem likely. We suggest you play with the recipe quantities based on the pie crusts you will use to account for an apparent overage in our calculations at the 160-serving level.

Boletis et Fungis (Mushrooms and Fungi) - the recipe is found HERE

Additional Notes; Oven timing with other feast dishes

The mushrooms and the onions from the second course can easily share oven space. Consider roasting the onions and at the half-way point in their cooking, place the pan of mushrooms in at the same temperature to maximize oven use.

What We Learned from the Test Feast

In the original feast plan, the mushrooms and pine nuts were to be served side by side with the lentils and barley. A mistake on the part of the head cook resulted in the roasted onions entering the oven far too late for the first course, thus the mushrooms and the onions switched positions in the feast. This mistake worked to our advantage as the mushrooms according to Platina should be served with pears (so we chose to serve them nearer the pears). The move of the roasted onions originally scheduled for this slot in the feast vastly improved the flavor of the lentil dish served in the second course.

What We Learned from the Coronation Feast

We did not purchase 40 pounds of mushrooms for this feast; in fact we despaired finding mushrooms of decent quality at all in time for the grand event. The mushrooms were finally purchased at 1 a.m. the morning of the feast at one of the last possible stores to which we had access. In the end, we bought all the Portobelo mushrooms the store had and supplemented this amount with as many of the Crimini bulk mushrooms as we could to make up the difference. Fortunately, the Portobelo's were some of the largest we've ever seen in our lives. Served cleaned, with their stems removes and served whole, these mushrooms were large enough to serve one per table with a handful of Crimini's to round out the dish. Of all the dishes, second servings of this one were requested most often.

Esicium ex Carne (Chicken Meat Balls) - the recipe is found HERE

Additional Notes; What We Learned from the Test Feast

This dish was surprisingly popular among test feasters. The most prevalent comment about the meatballs was that the flavor was exceptional. We believe this was due to the rich broth in which the meatballs were boiled. The main concerns upon serving this dish were the use of spices (many people find the use of traditionally "sweet" spices odd) and the texture of the meatballs. All feasters felt the mixture of spices was neither out of place nor heavy handed. The texture of the meatballs, however, was an issue of debate. To most of the test feasters, these meatballs lacked the "toothy" quality prevalent in sausage or beef meatballs. All feasters agreed the texture suffered in those meatballs that didn't have ingredients evenly distributed. Fine mincing of all ingredients was suggested by all test feasters, with encouragement to make use of a stand mixer for the actual feast (the test feast dish was prepared with hand-mixing alone).

What we Learned from the Coronation Feast

Through a mistake in mixing, we discovered that omitting the cheese in the meatballs actually improved the texture, in our opinion. We were also unable to get our veal stock to come to a boil on the large stove we were using for the purpose. Rather than using this stock to boil the meatballs as we had originally intended, we cooked the meatballs in a convection oven sitting in a bath of the veal stock. Part way through the cooking we turned the meatballs to ensure even browning.

It is interesting to note that the head cook disliked this dish from the beginning. While tasty, the texture was the one factor that could not be accounted for in time for the feast. Rather than replace the dish with another, we chose to serve it anyway, despite the head cook's reservations, to our benefit considering the fine reception and rave reviews the dish got from the populace.

Esicium Romanum (Roman Noodles) - the recipe is found HERE

Additional Notes; What We Learned from the Test Feast

Due to dietary restrictions and personal requests, we chose not to serve the pasta with sugar or sweet spices. We cooked far more pasta than was really needed at the test feast. The leftovers stored well in the refrigerator for several days allowing the head cook to have lunch at work far more often than she'd originally planned.

What we Learned from the Coronation Feast

To improve the appearance of the meatball dish, when it was served, we chose to cook an excess of pasta and place the meatballs on top. By filling the tray on which the meatballs were served, we covered up the rather non-period Thanksgiving turkeys that were impressed into the base of the trays (a surprise to everyone, as no one had noticed this prior to the feast). Much to our surprise, very little pasta was returned from the feast hall.

Lactucis conditis (Seasoned Lettuce) - the recipe is found HERE

Additional Notes; What We Learned from the Test Feast

Even though it was a simple collection of European greens, this dish too received comments. Two comments were most telling. First, feasters believed the dish had just enough dressing on it to taste, but not so much that the lettuce was soggy. This came as a surprise to the cooks who thought the dish looked too dry. Second, one feaster commented on the placement of the dish between courses as ideal. This was the result of poor oven timing turned to our advantage. The cooks were waiting on a second course dish to come out of the oven and thus served the lettuce between the first and second courses rather than in the second course as originally planned.

What We Learned from the Coronation Feast

Rather than determining how much salad to serve each feaster, we chose to purchase enough salad to comfortably fill 20, 12-inch diameter pasta dishes with a mound of salad. We had excess salad dressing left over upon plating the dish and thus believe the 160-serving amounts listed here are approximately 1/3 too great.

Blitum et torte (Spinach or Chard Pie) - the recipe is found HERE

Additional Notes; What We Learned from the Test Feast

Fresh herbs were essential to the success of this dish. The texture seemed ideal despite initial cooking indications to the contrary (the dish seemed slow to start cooking).

Despite Platina's insistence that sugar is an excellent food, we chose not to add it to this dish because of the sugar being used in the dessert course. Also, the original recipe called for egg whites exclusively, but when combining the eggs with the cheese-herb mixture, the cooks felt the filling appeared too dry and added a single, whole egg. The dryness of the mixture prior to cooking may have been the result of the choice of cheeses used rather than the lack of enough eggs in the mixture.

The dish reheats well and travels well. The cooks agreed that this dish would be a welcome change from bread, cheese, and meat chunks at non-camping weekend events. Feasters commented on this possibility as well.

What We Learned from the Coronation Feast

Cheese purchased for this pie seemed to be far saltier than the cheese we used for the test feast. We suspect this was the brand of cheese rather than the salt used in the recipe, but another possibility might be the spinach. The area around which the spinach was grown was known for its salt flats. A third possibility would be the pie crusts, though salt was not listed as an ingredient on the commercial labels. Consider omitting the salt from this recipe entirely as it may not be necessary given the combination of cheese, spinach, and pie crusts you use.

Lens et hordeo (Lentils and Barley) - the recipe is found HERE

Additional Notes; What We Learned from the Test Feast

The original amounts for this recipe as we served it were far too great. Of all the dishes, this one had the most leftovers, not necessarily because of flavor or texture, but because of sheer amount. In the original feast plan, the mushrooms and pine nuts were to be served side by side with the lentils and barley. A mistake on the part of the head cook resulted in the roasted onions entering the oven far too late for the first course, thus the mushrooms and the onions switched positions in the feast. This mistake turned out to be a fortuitous one. The lentil dish was rather unremarkable to the point of being bland to most feasters. One feaster discovered that the roasted onions placed on the lentils sparked up both dishes. The remaining feasters followed suit and as a result, the cooks decided to serve the lentils covered with the onions for the actual feast.

What We Learned from the Coronation Feast

When we mixed the lentils and the barley for this dish, we decided that the visual texture warranted reducing the amount of cooked barley by approximately one quarter. There still seemed to be enough of the dish to feed all the feasters sufficiently. We were particularly pleased with the flavor of the final dish. As no vegetarians had contacted us requesting notification of dish ingredients, we chose to use excess veal stock from the butchering process to cook the barley. We served this dish cold topped with the hot, roasted onions.

Cepa sub cinere (Baked and Roasted Onions) - the recipe is found HERE

Additional Notes; Oven timing with other feast dishes

The mushrooms in the first course and the onions can easily share oven space. Consider roasting the onions and at the half-way point in their cooking, place the pan of mushrooms in at the same temperature to maximize oven use.

What We Learned from the Test Feast

On the whole, the feasters were unused to seeing onions as a vegetable side dish. While universally accepted as tasty, their inclusion received only lukewarm reception until one of the feasters discovered that placing the onions on top of the lentils and barley dish greatly enhanced both dishes. For this reason, we chose to serve the onion dish atop the lentils and barley dish at the coronation feast to improve the flavor and acceptance of both dishes.

What We Learned from the Coronation Feast

In the larger quantities, the amount of vinegar and water listed for this dish seemed excessive and increased the cooking time of the onions significantly. In retrospect, we would reduce the amount of total liquid by at least 1/3 when cooking the larger quantity. Fresh ground, rather than per-ground black pepper seemed to vastly improve this dish. Having tried this dish multiple times since the original redaction, we have decided we prefer the smaller, sweet onions or red onions to the larger white and yellow onions commonly sold in supermarkets today.

Pulpam Romanam (Spitted and Roasted Veal with Spices) - the recipe is found HERE

Additional Notes; What We Learned from the Test Feast

Because veal is a dry meat, with the young cow not having lived long enough to obtain any mentionable fat in its flesh, we found it was quite easy to overcook this dish. We also discovered that different areas of standard kitchen ovens will produce differently cooked meat (our oven had hot and hotter spots). Grilling may have avoided some of the oven problems we experienced, but winter grilling didn't seem prudent at the time. In general, the dish was extremely well liked, but enjoyed even more when served with sauce.

What We Learned from the Coronation Feast

We believe little could have been done to improve this dish. In retrospect, and contrary to Platina's preferred placement for roasted meat, we would have liked to have served this dish in the first course, rather than the second course. Serve the veal later in the feast, however, did allow us to see how full our feasters were. Though little veal was returned form the feast hall, feasters with whom we spoke admitted to being thoroughly full when they had consumed the meat in this course.

Alliatum ex amygdala (Almond Garlic Sauce) - the recipe is found HERE

Additional Notes; What We Learned from the Test Feast

Most people in the U.S. Midwest are unfamiliar with the concept of spooning a sauce onto a dish. Instead, they are familiar with ladling sauces or dipping items into sauce. The feast testers unanimously ignored the sauce at the beginning of the course because it was thick enough to be unfamiliar to them. The highly colored version of this sauce was a uniform purplish brown, and rather unattractive to the test feasters. Once shown what to do with the sauce, the feasters agreed that it was tasty, but odd, though not unpleasantly so, with a predominately grape taste.

What We Learned from the Coronation Feast

True to the test feast, few people knew what to do with the garlic sauce until told by the servers. Surprisingly, very little was actually returned from the feast hall. Fresh bread crumbs rather than commercially prepared and dried vastly improve this dish.

Nucibus Pineis Saccharo Conditi (Pine Nuts in Sugar) - the recipe is found HERE

Additional Notes; What We Learned from the Coronation Feast

By the time the dessert course was served, feasters were very full. Roughly half the pine nuts were retrieved from platters returned from the hall. Consider reducing the overall amount served to save money. Even from wholesale sources, pine nuts are an expensive addition to any feast.

Persico (Dried Peaches)

The food value of the peach is considered useless on account of their dampness and coolness in the stomach, for they turn sour quickly and are converted into phlegmatic humours. Their use, which doctors say does not nourish the limbs, paves the way to fevers. Eaten ripe, however, and as a first course, they induce appetite, move the urine, lubricate the bowels, and remedy bad breath. Dried peaches eaten as a last course, although they have no nourishment, are considered sealers of the stomach because they are astringent.

- Platina's De honesta voluptate (On Right Pleasure), the M. E. Milham 1998 translation, p. 151

Why We're Eating Them at This Point

Platina firmly believe that despite the Persian belief that peaches were poisonous, Egyptian sun had rendered peaches palatable to all men safely. Because of the excessive humours that may have been produced in this feast from various other dishes, we placed the peaches at the end of the meal on Platina's suggestion. They serve to close off the stomach and rebalance any imbalances produced by overindulgence. They also serve as an excellent follow-up to roasted meat, which Platina claims should not be scorned because peaches will "cool the opening of the stomach and the upper orifices" (Milham, pg. 151) especially when served with very good wine. We serve dried peaches in this feast because of the time of year; fresh peaches would be unavailable in the spring.

What We Learned from the Coronation Feast

Many feasters commented on the fine taste of the dried, organic peaches we acquired for the feast. Most, however, expressed regret that they could not eat more by this point in the feast because they were too full.

Nutritional Information (Per Cup):

382 Calories; 1.2g Fat (1% calories from fat); 5.8g Protein; 98.1g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 11mg Sodium 

Caseo (Aged Cheese)

Aged cheese is difficult to digest, of little nutriment, not good for the stomach or belly, and produces bile, gout, pleurisy, sand grains, and stones. They say a small amount, whatever you want, taken after a meal, when is seals the opening of the stomach, both takes away the squeamishness of fatty dishes and benefits the digestion and head.

- Platina's De honesta voluptate (On Right Pleasure), the M. E. Milham 1998 translation, p. 159

Why We're Eating Cheese at This Point

Platina believe that the third course was incomplete without some method of protecting the upper body, especially the head, from the dangerous vapors that might rise from the stomach after indulgence in roasted meats or fatty foods. Despite its rather lackluster nutritional value, cheese comes highly recommended by Platina to staunch the ill humours and seal the stomach. Combined with the dried peaches he recommends for the third course, we believe this is the perfect way to end the feast.

What We Learned from the Coronation Feast

The cheeses for the final course were chosen at random from the hard cheeses available at a local gourmet cheese chop. Although some may not have actually been made in period, the choices were among the best the feasters had ever tasted (or so we were told). The extremely high quality of the cheeses served as an excellent finish to the feast.

Nutritional Information (Per Cup):

426 Calories; 31.1 grams Fat (14% calories from fat); 32.2g Protein; 3.8g Carbohydrate; 295mg Sodium

The nutritional information here is only as accurate as the cooking software we used to record and scale the recipes. Two ingredients, rue leaves and elder flowers, have no known nutritional values in the software program we used and, thus, are not included in the totals. Consider these numbers close approximations only. Unless otherwise stated, amounts are given on a per-serving basis.

Please keep in mind that we are not doctors or nutritionists and can only rely on the skill of others to guide us in these matters. You would be well advised to consult with your health care giver or with a nutritional expert before consuming the results of any of these recipes if you are concerned with their exact nutritional value.

Per Serving Nutritional Information For the Feast as a Whole:

4477 Calories; 286.0g Fat (2513 calories from fat); 144.7g Protein; 358.0g Carbohydrate; 26.8g Dietary Fiber; 520mg Cholesterol; 5040mg Sodium.

The per serving nutritional information for the recipes used in the feast may be found on those recipe's individual pages.

Shopping Sources in Detroit and Metro-Detroit:

Nature's Products

For a variety of hard to find spices, Nature's Products is an excellent store to visit. Often, spices found in medieval cookbooks can be obtained at this store for very reasonable prices. Their hours are rather erratic, however, and we recommend you call ahead to see when they will be open.

Address: 2020 Conant
Detroit, MI 48234
Telephone: 313-891-3900

The Good Food Company East

For organic and bulk food items, The Good Food Company East is a blessing. In addition to a wide array of organic foods, they regularly carry an utterly impressive collection of dried spices and herbs (their main supplier is Frontier Herbs) and a fine selection of bulk food items.

Address: 74 West Maple
Troy, MI 48084
Telephone: 248-362-0886

Sources Outside of Michigan:

The veal calf for our feast was obtained and butchered with help from Shews Orchards in Stockport, Ohio.

Owners: Pete & Marjorie Shew
Address: 4207 Big Oak Road
Stockport, OH
Telephone: 740-557-3032

In addition to obtaining veal, they raise and butcher lamb as well as run an orchard and keep bees. They regularly stock organic apple products and honey.

On-line & Mail Order Sources:

We regularly make use of on-line and mail order sources for our dried herbs and spices because the prices are better, the quality far superior, and range of choices more extensive than what can be found in the typical local grocery store. For period spices, by far our best source is The Pepperer's Guild of the SCA. For quantity and bulk ordering of most modern kitchen spices (and a few less common ones), the San Francisco Herb Company and its sister company Atlantic Spice, are our first choices for mail order.

The Pepperer's Guild

The premiere merchant for spices specifically chosen for their usefulness in SCA cooking, the Pepperer's Guild is the perfect place to turn for those hard-to-find ingredients that often appear in ancient and medieval cooking manuscripts. Their selection is not the extensive one you would find in grocery stores or available on-line from other companies, but this is the direct result of careful selection of the most used spices and hardest to find in SCA-researched recipes.

If you travel to Pennsic War, the Pepperer's Guild has a small booth typically located in front of the barn near the main bathhouse. If you can't wait to see them there, the Guild offers ordering via regular postal service. They recommend contacting them ahead of time (via e-mail or postal mail) to check on availability. They also offer special prices for people ordering one pound or more of any single spice.

Website: http://members.home.net/dchesty1/pepperers.html
E-mail: dchesty1@cox.net

Address: The Pepperer's Guild
c/o David Chesterson
31 Sharon Street
Providence, RI 02908

The San Francisco Herb Company

Located in San Francisco, California, this company provides some of the finest dried herbs and spices in the world. Their selection is outstanding for the modern cook and they also carry a full line of botanicals and potpourri ingredients, as well as nuts, seeds, and oils.

Cooks east of the Mississippi are better served by ordering from their sister company, The Atlantic Spice Company. San Francisco Herb's minimum order is $30.00 and they offer free shipping for orders of $200 or more (with an additional 5% off item prices on orders over $500 if shipped within the contiguous United States). Orders are usually shipped within 24 hours of receipt.

Website: http://www.sfherb.com
Toll-free calls: 1-800-227-4530
Local calls: 1-415-861-7174
FAX: 1-415-861-4440
Hours: Monday through Friday 9 a.m.to 5 p.m. PST

The Atlantic Spice Company

Located in Truro, Massachusetts, the Atlantic Spice Company was started by the founder of the San Francisco Herb Company who liked vacationing in Cape Cod. The selection of items from Atlantic Spice is nearly as good as San Francisco Herb's selection, though the smaller-quantity containers are typically not offered.

Prices and special discounts are the same for both companies, though orders from Atlantic Spice are usually shipped within 48 hours of receipt, not the standard 24 hours. People west of the Mississippi should consider ordering from San Francisco Herb instead of Atlantic Spice unless smaller quantity packages are needed. Atlantic Spice only ships their merchandise in 1-pound increments.

Website: http://www.atlanticspice.com
Toll-free calls: 1-800-316-7965
Local calls: 1-508-487-6100
FAX: 1-508-487-2550
Hours: Monday through Friday 9 a.m.to 5 p.m. EST
Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. EST

No feast, large or small, can be produced by a single person. The feast detailed in the previous pages could not have succeeded without the help of several key people. Please take some time to seek out and get to know the people who organized, tested, and prepared all of the recipes detailed herein.

Arrianna de Claybourne (Pamela Dodsworth):

The hall steward for this feast was Lady Arrianna de Claybourne (Midrealm: PF, Sapphire). Arrianna is a 13th-century English woman with a passion for food and a strong desire to attempt to feed the Knowne World. She was the Pennsic Head Cook during the reign of Their Excellencies Sir Ragnvaldr Jonsson and Arabella Silvermane, fifty-ninth King and Queen of the Middle Kingdom.

Pamela Dodsworth is the office manager and communications expert for a custom home entertainment and business communications installation firm. She serves as the Seneschal for the Canton of Brackendelve in the Barony of Roaring Wastes. Pamela enjoys sewing, reading, and shares a deep and abiding love for Disney movies with this feast's head cook. Pamela is the proud rescuer of two former racing greyhounds.

Ciara McRobbie (Anne Aikin):

The head cook's conscience for this feast was Baintighearn Ciara McRobbie (Midrealm: PW, CSO) a 12th-century Scottish orphan of a merchant marine. Because of the significant fortune her erstwhile father left her, Ciara is free to pursue her interests in woodworking, brewing and archery. Ciara is apprenticed to Master Nigellus le Haie and a protegee to Mistress Grazia Geralda Louisa de Navarra.

Anne Aikin is a chemist for a major pharmaceutical corporation.

Fernando Juan Carlos Remesal (Thomas Conrad):

The pasta god for this feast was Don Fernando Juan Carlos Remesal (Midrealm: CSO). Fernando was born in Madrid in 1560. He has traveled around the world in search of good food and strong drink. Though largely successful, his search continues in hopes of discovering more and better food and drink.

Thomas Conrad is a cook for the Olive Garden restaurant. He enjoys brewing, reading, and cooking for large crowds of people.

Hauviette d'Anjou (Channon Russette-Mondoux):

The dessert creator and pear preserver for this feast was Madame Hauviette d'Anjou (Midrealm: PF, CW). Hauviette is a 15th-century French noblewoman. As a young woman she was greatly influenced by the writings of Christine de Pisan and continues to challenge the world by following her heart. Her love for cooking led her to become an apprentice in the culinary and husbandry arts to Her Excellency, Baronaessa, Maestra Dulcinea Maria Magdalena Von Muhlberg y Aguilar.

Channon Mondoux, an active mother of three young boys, holds a Bachelors of Education degree, is a volunteer with many community programs, and until recently, served as an Officer with the Canadian Government. Her pursuits include pottery, gardening, and enjoying life with her husband and sons.

Iasmin de Cordoba (Gaylin Walli):

The head cook for this feast was Señora Iasmin Isabella Maria Magdelena de Cordoba (Midrealm: PF, King's Chalice, CSO). Iasmin is a late 16th-century Spanish woman with a passion for unladylike pursuits such as reading more than just her prayer book. Her current studies include the writings of such learned authors as Pliny the Elder and Dioscorides. She is also currently studying a number of ancient manuscripts relating to the history of medicine, cooking and nutrition, and medical botany. Iasmin is a student of Her Excellency, Mistress Rebekah MacTiernan.

Gaylin Walli is a technical writer and editor for a multinational software company. She spends the vast majority of her personal time researching things because her friends (and people throughout the Knowne World) torture her with comments like "Do you know anything aboutŠ". Gaylin can best be reached via e-mail at her iasmin@home.com address.

Luveday Tyreman (Jennifer Conrad):

The assistant head cook for this feast was Lady Luveday Tyreman. Luveday has cooked quite a few feasts and keeps coming back for more. She is also the list and web administrator for the Middle Kingdom Culinary Collegium.

Jennifer Conrad has been cooking for mumble-teen years and claims it's a genetic thing as she comes from a family littered with professional cooks. In her spare time, she is the beer and brewing host for Bella Online (http://www.bellaonline.com/food/beer.html). Jennifer can be reached by e-mail at her tjconrad@earthlink.net address.

Narissa (Susan Best):

The chief expeditor and donation goddess for this feast was Lady Narissa (Midrealm: PF, CW).

Susan Best is an accounts manager for a major steel producing firm tied to the auto industry. In her spare time she is also the owner of Greenbriar, a custom clothing and alterations company. She is an accomplished seamstress with an inability to say "no" when people ask for help. Susan's friends firmly believe she could easily beat Martha Stewart in a fist fight and make it look elegant.

Philippa Ferraria (Phillipa Alderton):

The butcher for this feast was Philippa "Phlip" Ferraria. Phlip was born in 453, near the Caucasus Mountains and what is now known as the Volga River, amongst a group of very tolerant Turkic people known as the Khazars. The Khazars were reknowned as traders, light mercenary cavalry, archers, and nomadic horse people. Lacking a son, Phlip's father taught her at an early age the trade of blacksmithing and the Roman invention of horseshoes. Since that time, Phlip has learned everything taught to her about archery, cooking, leather working, medicaments, reading, fighting (from her mother, of course), and such other skills as she found useful or interesting.

Philippa Alderton does leatherwork, is a farrier and blacksmith, a Chirurgeon, a retired insurance salesperson, and, at 40-something, a pre-med student at Ohio University. She also suffers from cats.

Alizaunde. Rob Peter to Feed Paul: Halving Feast Costs (How to Serve More Food for Less Money and Improve the Dream Too). Available via the World Wide Web at http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/recipes/rprf.sca.feasts.html, as it was originally posted to the rec.org.sca newsgroup on Tue, 03 May 94 17:26:54 EDT.

Culpepper, Nicholas. (1685/1826). Culpepper's Complete Herbal and English Physician. Manchester, England: J. Gleave and Son. No ISBN given. Peter Cole published original available via the World Wide Web at http://www.med.yale.edu/library/historical/culpeper/culpeper.htm

Gerard, John. (c. 1597/1633). Gerard's Herball. Thomas Johnson, editor. New York: Dover. ISBN: 048623147X.

Jordan, Peter and Wheeler, Steven. (1995/1999).The Ultimate Mushroom Book. London: Sebastian Kelley. ISBN: 1840813458.

Montagne, Prosper. (1938/1988). Larousse Gastronomique: The New American Edition of the World's Greatest Culinary Encyclopedia. Jennifer Harvey Lang, editor. New York: Crown. ISBN: 0517570327.

Platina. (c. 1465/1998). De honesta voluptate et valetudine (On Right Pleasure and Good Health). Mary Ella Milham, translator. Tempe, Arizona: Arizona Board of Regents for Arizona State University. ISBN: 0866982086.

Rombauer, Irma S. et. al. (1997). The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking. New York: Scriber. ISBN: 0684818701.

Permission is granted to reproduce this booklet, in whole or in part, in any publication by and for groups and organizations within the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) Inc. as long as credit is given to the author and credit is given to the reigning royalty for whom this feast was created. The author's name is Gaylin J. Walli, known in the SCA as Iasmin de Cordoba. The royal sovereigns for whom this feast was created will be known when They step down from Their throne as His Grace Sir Dag Thorgrimsson and Her Grace Elayna Lilley, both from the Kingdom of the Middle at the time of Their coronation.

NO PERSON OR ORGANIZATION MAY SECURE MONETARY GAIN FROM THIS PUBLICATION BEYOND WHAT IS REASONABLE FOR REPRODUCTION. THIS DOCUMENT MUST BE FREELY DISTRIBUTED.

Disclaimer: This is not an official publication of the SCA, nor does it delineate SCA policy in any way. The author, not the kind people who reviewed this document, is solely responsible for this booklet's contents.

Special thanks is owed to the numerous members of the SCA Cook's List, the Middle Kingdom Cook's List, and the SCA Herbalist's List. Each member in their own way provided suggestions, advice, and an amazing amount of knowledge that helped make this a better feast.

The test feast participants and the brave souls who tried versions of the dishes prior to the actual coronation feast deserve special recognition for courageously confronting food never seen before. They ate far more of it than expected. The head cook would like to specifically thank Kamiizumi Jirou Munenori, Lady Alexandria of Roaring Wastes, Sergeant Valharic Caligula Aurelius, Lord Dougal Ursul Dhu, Lady Arrianna de Claybourne and several unsuspecting members of House Darkyard for all their assistance.

Iasmin de Cordoba is a late 16th-century Spanish woman with a passion for unladylike pursuits such as reading more than just her prayer book. Her current studies include the writings of such learned authors as Pliny the Elder and Dioscorides. She is also currently studying a number of ancient manuscripts relating to the history of medicine, cooking and nutrition, and medical botany. Iasmin is a student of Her Excellency, Mistress Rebekah MacTiernan.

The Coronation Feast of Dag Thorgrimsson IV and Elayna Lilley II © 2000 Gaylin J. Walli