To help guests further explore the flavors of 15th century France, there will be an interactive spice box on display at the event. It features the eight most commonly used spices – Ginger, Cinnamon, Long Pepper, Grains of Paradise, Mace, Nutmeg, Galingale, and Cloves – as well as three blends used in the feast itself.
The top panel of the box displays the whole and ground forms of the spice, and the box below contains vials of the powdered spice that guests can remove and examine. Guests are invited to a self-guided visual and olfactory tour of these isolated ingredients in addition to enjoying them in the context of the feast.
In culinary theory at the time, the eight main spices are divided into two groups, Major and Minor, which function to denote both their frequency and quantity of use. Some recipes specify them by these categories, while others name them specifically, or simply call for “all spices” which I take to mean these. The Major Blend and Minor Blend were prepared using spice frequency data described elsewhere and the Fine Powder was blended using a specific recipe from Le Menagier de Paris.
To help convey the level of luxury of this feast, I have approximated the cost of spices using LM’s prices listed adjusted from Livres in 1400 to Dollars in 2024. The total cost of these spices alone for this event would be a staggering $3,127.50, not including other spices used. An additional $2,886 would have been spent on the Sugar, and nearly as much on Almonds.
