Feasts 2002
5 April 2002 - Mists Spring Coronet - Iron Chef Cook-Off
Because the Iron Chef dinner at the Principality of the Mists Fall Investiture ended in a tie, there was a tie-breaker at The Principality of the Mists Spring Coronet. The dishes Euriol and I made were served only to the High
Table. This time I selected a Near Eastern dish from The 13th Century Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook.
I won...
August 2002 - Purgatorio Coronation - Casbah! Middle Eastern Feast
West Kingdom Purgatorio is the event at which the second of our three annual sets of kings and queens is crowned. Because of the extreme fire hazard, only propane stoves were allowed, and only on one particular parking lot. Duke Fabian had an idea - create a feast and encourage people to stay on site and keep the atmosphere festive. I created the menu and provided the recipes. Duke Fabian and his lovely lady Eliska took me shopping for the ingredients.
Duke Fabian made 600 meatballs from my recipe. I cooked most of the food because i don't test my recipes and if there's something odd i can fix it. So the week of the event, I cooked the tagine, the face of the couscous, and the tharidah, and prepared the mustard sauce, the cucumbers, and the koshaf for 150 people in my home kitchen. Ivan Ivanovich ot Strelsov baked the K'ak and the Irnin from my recipes, and there were a number of helpful people at the event who helped make the couscous, the tabbouleh, and the cinnamon oranges, as well as heating up the frozen tagine and tharidah, and serving the food to the hungry populace.
- Purgatorio Casbah!, a description of the event and recipes:
- The Main Dishes:
- Couscous
- Seven Vegetable Tagine
- The Face of the Couscous, spiced onion and raisin sauce
- 9th century White Tharidah of al-Rashid
- Additional Dishes:
- 13th century Andalusian Meatballs
- 13th century Andalusian Almond-Mustard-Honey Sauce
- Abbasid Cucumbers
- modern Tabouleh
- The Desserts: 14th century K'ak ring-shaped cookies
- 14th century Irnin date bars
- Moroccan Cinnamon Oranges
- Egyptian Koshaf Fruit Compote
September 2002 - Principality of the Mists Bardic Competition - Mediterranean Tour Feast
Conchobhar, the outgoing bard and autocrat had the idea of different food in each course. To have the food tied together i picked Mediterranean cultures - Spain, Italy, and the Near East - and dishes that featured ingredients brought to Europe by the Arabs. Also at the Bard's request, i made modern baklava... I used a Syrian recipe that was absolutely fabulous.
- Mists Bardic Menu, a description of how the menu came about, how i organized the kitchen, and recipes:
- The Hors d'oeuvre Course:
- Bread - mix of sourdough bread and dinner rolls
- Butter - unsalted
- Mostly Period Cheese Plate: emmenthaler, fontina, munster, provolone
- Carrot Paste - Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook
- Meatballs - Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook
- Sinab - Almond-Honey-Mustard Sauce - Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook
- Almond-stuffed Prosciutto-wrapped Dates - Catalan
- Steamed Asparagus - asparagus tossed with olive oil, vinegar, salt - Italian (Apicius, Anthimus, Platina)
- The Catalan Course:
- Salmon Casserole - salmon, orange juice, almonds, pine nuts, raisins, galingal, pepper, ginger, saffron, fresh parsley, fresh mint, fresh marjoram - 16th c. Catalan
- Cazuela Moji -Chard Frittata - eggs, toasted bread crumbs, aged grated cheese, chard, oil, ground coriander seed, caraway, salt, pepper, cloves, ginger, saffron, honey - 16th c. Catalan
- Escudilla of Millet - 16th c. Catalan
- The Italian Course:
- Sommachia - chicken, olive oil, sumac, vinegar, prunes, almonds, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, pepper, cloves, salt, saffron - 14th c. Italian
- Melon Soup - ripe melon, eggs, vegetable broth, saffron - 14th c. Italian
- Pulentium - Barley Polenta - barley grits, vegetable broth, whole coriander seed, flax seed - Pliny (Roman)
- The Near Eastern Course: at the Bard's request, several dishes i served as Iron Chef Persian
- Bustaniyya - chicken, lamb, almonds, peaches, pears, spices - 10th c. Persian
- Buraniyya - eggplant, yogurt, sesame oil, cinnamon, etc.
- saffron rice - rice, water, milk, saffron - not-quite-historically accurate Medieval Near Eastern
- The Dessert Course:
- Bizcochos - Biscotti - 16th c. Catalan
- Hypocras - Spiced Wine - 14th c. French - into which to dip the Bizcochos
- Persicate - Peaches, vegetable broth, almonds, sugar and ginger - 16th c. Catalan
- Toronjas de Xativa que son Almojavanas - Deep fried ricotta cheese balls with honey - 16th c. Catalan (we ended up not making these, but the recipe is here)
- Syrian Baqlawa - flaky pastry with sesame seeds, almonds, walnuts, and raisins, topped with pistachios and sugar syrup flavored with rose water, orange flower water, and fresh lemon juice - modern Eastern Mediterranean
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