Herein we will discuss the conduct of a banquet as recorded regarding our chosen time and place. I will acknowledge what we do and do not know, and speak about what customs we will observe in our interpretation which are adjusted for the realities and limitations of our space, our budget, and some questions of modern hygiene, especially in a COVID-19 world. The majority of this section will reference Scully’s The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages, so where only a page number appears, this is the work in question. For ease of navigation, I have divided these topics into three categories and indexed them below.
Matters of Seating
Matters of Eating
Matters of Hygiene
Matters of Seating
“Seating by what we call ‘Order of Precedence’ was a key factor at the banquets we are interpreting, with politics determining guest placement based on their favor (LM 51). However equity is my favorite anachronism and one it is important to embrace, therefore our guests will be free to choose their seats and dine with whom they please.
The High Table
At a 14th century banquet, the High Table would be occupied by the hosting Lord and perhaps his most esteemed guests based on rank. One’s seating in the hall would dictate which and how much food, drink, and salt one received. For our purposes, Their Excellencies of Highland Foorde are our hosts, and our most esteemed guests will be any Royal of Atlantia if they choose to join us, as well as our modern patrons who were willing to make an additional contribution to our inaugural event. At our feast, everyone, including Staff, will enjoy a nearly identical menu.
We give special thanks to Finn the Swede, Harris Ironhill of Smoking Rocks, Katherine Finnsdottir of Sentinels’ Keep, Leo, Saarah Sitt al-Banat, Sacha Michaelsdottir of the Debatable Lands, Theo Holtz, and Viljamaiear Larrensson.
The Sideboard
At our exemplar feasts, the service of food would have been much more elaborate and multi-stepped than we can comfortably orchestrate with our space and staffing limitations. Enormous platters of food would have been carried to the sideboard, heaped on the host’s most costly dishes of silver or gold, and then carried to tables in an elaborate ritual of presentation and assaying for poison before being served to the host. We must forgo the sideboard and the unicorn horns, and we will serve platters directly to our guests at their tables with some small pageantry as appropriate.
Dining Tables
At a large banquet such as ours, guests would have been seated at fairly narrow trestle tables arranged around the hall in a U shape so that every guest could face the High Table and service could be accomplished from the front of each table. In an effort to maximize the number of guests we could welcome at Highland Hearthglow we did our best to replicate this feeling, but the majority of the tables at our venue cannot be removed or replaced. Half of the hall will be set up with long tables with bench seating, and half of the hall will be seated at round tables which would have been reserved for more intimate gatherings in the 14th century.
Matters of Eating
Salt was a precious commodity during the Medieval period in Europe, and used ostentatiously as a sign of status at eating events. The primary salt boat was kept at the High Table and salt was portioned out to guests by their standing. The salt boat was typically one of the most elaborate table pieces one could own, and an absolute sign of status by its size and craftsmanship. Smaller salt cellars were distributed, and could be filled from the salt boat at the ranking noble’s discretion, based on their generosity and one’s status. At the table, individual salt cellars might also be used, either as tableware or fashioned from trencher bread (see below.)
For our event, we will have a salt boat on display and your table server will fill the table’s salt cellar from this. Each guest will have an individual salt cellar made of trencher bread as well. Typically meat was dragged through the salt directly, so we want everyone to have personal, sanitary share with which to do this. Since we live in a time when salt is abundant, it will be distributed abundantly.
Sauces & Seasoning
In 14th Century Europe, the Humoral Theory of Temperament had an incredibly strong influence on cooking methods and condiments used. Each dish had very specific requirements for how it could be cooked and, depending on that, what sauce must accompany it. Seasonings likewise, in addition to being costly, were subject to this philosophy as well. The result overall is a sweet, sour, and spiced characteristic to the cuisine in general (49-51). We are emulating this, to the best of our ability without intimate knowledge of the “physician’s” expertise, using the documented ingredients and quantities where possible, guided by some deference to the modern palate.
Trenchers
Trenchers are thick slices of coarse, stale bread used essentially as (technically) edible plates. LM tells us they are made from two-day old bread with the crust removed, used individually for each guest (51), that they are brown, and half a foot long and 4 fingers wide and high, possibly baked four days before (55). Scully, however, tells us they can be round or square (170). At this time they are transitioning to wood, and Chiquart mentions wooden trenchers specifically. Guests may or may not have also been provided with a plate. At our feast, each guest will be given a trencher to start the meal, but it will not be replaced, and guests should also bring plates and bowls of their choosing.
Food Temperatures
Historically, both the physical distance and length of time between the preparation and service of food was substantial. Very few dishes in our sources indicate that they should be served hot, and most were not. Humoral Theory also held great sway over these practices. I think this is important for our guests to consider as many of these dishes will not be served at the comparatively hot temperatures that modern diners may expect. I have, however, selected dishes at a variety of service temperatures and thought carefully about how the temperature choice for each fits both the historical indications and the modern palate.
Matters of Hygiene
Utensils
It was the tradition for every guest to carry with them their own knife, the primary eating utensil of the time. Forks are kitchen utensils, but do not appear at the dining table yet. In addition, guests would be issued a spoon made from costly metal, usually silver, for use during the banquet. At the end of the event, guests would not be permitted to leave the hall until the host’s spoons had been recovered and inventoried. For our feast, we encourage guests to bring the eating utensils they are most comfortable with but provide this information for reference. Dishes will be presented in the period style with the assumption that a guest has a knife and a spoon with which to serve themselves. For sake of sanitation, serving utensils will be provided, which is not authentic, but meets our modern need. We will not be providing any personal utensils nor holding our guests hostage until they are returned.
Drinking Vessels
The tradition at the time was for the host to provide a shared drinking vessel at each table that could be refilled by servants as needed. We do not encourage nor delight in the thought of sharing a drink quite that closely, so instead we will provide pitchers and other vessels from which guests may pour into their own drinking vessels that they have brought. If guests of their own accord wish to recreate the shared-cup experience, they are invited to do so using their own vessels.
Handwashing
Accounts from our exemplar feasts include ritual handwashing in large bowls of scented water carried around the hall, sometimes between each course. Modern germ theory tells us that this is not so much hand-washing as hand-wetting, but the shared sensory experience has value. To simulate this experience in a way that is befitting modern standards of sanitation, guests will be provided with warmed moist linens scented with a documented natural fragrance.
The Napkin Runner
At our exemplar feats, trestle tables were dressed with linens, and an additional “runner” linen was laid across the center of the table to be used as we would now use individual napkins, to tidy one’s hands. We love the aesthetic of this, and will be putting these linens across the tables. However, the hygiene and convenience of this is questionable, so guests will have access to modern handwashing facilities and the aforementioned scented towel, but may want to bring their own linen napkins as well.
Waste
Historically, uneaten food was collected in large basins at the end of each course of service, and distributed as alms or to kennels. This practice is fraught for a number of reasons by our modern standards, but I will speak only to food safety. At the end of each course, all of the course before (unless noted as an exception) will be cleared from the tables and deemed unsafe due to temperature abuse as defined by modern food safety standards. All food waste generated at ThorpeWood will instead be offered as alms to the earth in the form of being composted onsite for the venue’s future use.
Continue to Menu and Redactions…