Feast Prep 101

by Lady Murienne l’aloiere (dragonfly78@gmail.com)

So you have signed up/volunteered/been “volun-told” to be the head cook for a feast. Congratulations! Welcome to the group of crazy people that do for free what people in the real world called Executive Chefs get paid good money to do.

This class will be an overview of the basics and will give you a good starting point on your journey. I will also include some tips and personal observations from over a decade of being a head cook in the SCA.

As head cook you will be in charge of some if not all aspects of the feast. In my experience has been that in general head cooks are expected to:

Research & Plan the Menu

Budget & Shop for Supplies

Gather and Lead a Kitchen Crew

Set Service Style and Recruit Serving Staff

Organize a Cleanup Crew

So let’s start at the beginning…. an Event Steward contacts you or you contact them about doing a feast. There are some things you MUST know in order to start your planning….

1. Budget & # of people - These generally go hand in hand. Most times the event steward will have a number of

people they would like the feast to serve and already know what they want to charge. So if

they say they want to serve 100 people* and charge $8 per person the feast budget is $800.
*This may or may not include high table. Be sure to find out if you will receive funds

for high table or if it will come out of the $8 per person.

2. Kitchen Situation - You will need to know what you will be working with. If you can go to the site and see the

kitchen yourself*, all the better. Some questions you will need answered include:

Does the kitchen have pots and pans or do you need to bring your own?

What about serving platters and utensils?

Gas stove or electric?

Convection or dead air ovens?

Are their warming cabinets/steam tables?

Fridge/freezer space?

An ice maker?

Is there enough counter/prep space or will you need extra tables?

Where is trash taken?

*Even if you have used the site in the past it is good to check anyway as equipment may

have changed. There is a checklist at the end of this handout to help you with an inventory

of your kitchen.

3. Theme/Culture/Special Requests - It is good to know the theme of the event before you start planning your

menu. Most people would be jarred to have even the tastiest Persian feast when it is served

at a Viking event. Also your event steward may have special requests or dietary issues they

would like addressed. If you know it will be a royal progress* check for their whims.

* I check the whims of any Royals that MIGHT attend especially the local Coronets and try to

keep that in mind when creating a menu.

4. Timing - You will need to talk to your Event Steward about the timing of the feast. This includes when feast starts

and how long it will run. If they want feast to begin at 6pm and site closes at 9pm then you

will want to keep your feast to about 1 hour long. This will give you an idea of the maximum

number of courses* you can serve without going over that limit.

*for a one hour feast I would serve 4-5 courses. This will give you 10-15 minutes in between

courses for plating and will give time for toasts, court, entertainment, etc.

Now that you know your basic parameters you can start on the fun part. Menu research and creation! You will need to work out a balanced menu that won’t break the budget and can be made using the available equipment and time.

I use a 3 part strategy for menu planning. (Information on portioning is at the end of the hand out.)

1. # of courses - After looking at my timing and my budget I decide on the number of courses I can afford to do. This

is not the number of dishes you will serve but the courses which can consist of a number of

small dishes or one large dish. I usually decide my courses my taking the price per person

and dividing it by $1.50 or $2.00. So if the price per person is $8 and I divide by $1.50

I get 5 courses. and if I divide by $2.00 I get 4 courses. Doing this gives me $1.50 - $2.00 per

course to spend.

2. 2 to 1 ratio - For every meat based dish I do two non-meat based dishes. Note I did not use the word vegetarian.

At this stage I am not thinking about dietary restrictions that comes later. First I want to work out my basic menu then I can fill it in with the dishes. So if I know I want to serve a

chicken dish, a pork dish and a fish/seafood dish, then I need a minimum of 6 other dishes*

that don’t have meat in the starring role.

* I usually try and have a non-meat starch and vegetable with every meat dish. Atleast one

of the two dishes will usually be vegetarian.

3. Start Lite, End Lite - When deciding what dishes will go where it is best to start lite and end lite. What this means

is I aren’t gonna need a huge among of salad or dessert (which tend to be costly) because

you will fill them up in between.*

* For example… 5 course menu…. 1. Salad, Bread 2. Pork, 1 Veggie, 1 Starch 3. Chicken

w/Starch 2 Veggies.4. Beef, 1 Veggie, 1 Starch 5. Desert.

Once you have a basic outline you can fill in with the dishes you choose. I won’t be going over research and period vs. modern recipes as that is a completely separate topic and would need another hour minimum.

So you know your kitchen and have a menu. What’s next? Testing, shopping and prep cooking.

Testing - If you are cooking a dish you haven’t cooked before…. make a test batch. It doesn’t have to be a big

batch. While you are cooking write everything down. EVERYTHING. Taste it, have someone

else taste it. Adjust seasoning, times, temps, etc as needed to get the dish you want*. Write

down EVERY change you make.

*Don’t be afraid to drop a dish and replace it with another if it isn’t turning out as tasty as

you want. A change in the menu is better than a bad dish.

Shopping - I have a few important tips for feast shopping*…..

1. Always carry the SCA Tax ID #, we are a non profit… use it!

2. Ethnic food stores are your friend. Mexico, Asian, middle eastern stores will all have a

better selection of spices at better prices.

3. Check sales papers, talk to meat cutters, and managers and see what deals you can get.

4. If you don’t have extra freezer space ask around. Odds are a SCAdian in your area does.

5. Don’t be afraid to go to more than one store or to make more than one trip.

6. KEEP YOUR RECEIPTS

*If possible, leave 5% of your budget available the day of the feast and have it in cash with

you. You don’t want to run out of X and not be able to send someone to the store. Or worse

yet. have a dish hit the floor and be left with no way to replace it.

Prep cooking - Simply put, if you can make it ahead and reheating it won’t affect the flavor/texture*… DO IT!

This is another time that finding friends with freezer space is a good thing. If you are making

pies or tarts, make up your crust and freeze it. Meatballs, sausages, meat filling for tarts…

can all be mixed/formed and frozen.

* If you make pasta, dumplings, or other things that are assembled and frozen then cooked

on site, freeze them laying flat and not touching and then they can be stored together. Then

either cook from frozen or lay out not touching to thaw.

So you are ready for your feast! Well not quite…. No cook is an island. You need help. You need people to help cook, you need people to clean and you need plating/serving help. Ask early, ask often, don’t be afraid to beg.

Kitchen Crew* - People to chop, stir, check temps, and help make the food happen. If you can get people to commit

to an hour or two each, make a schedule. That way nobody is stuck in the kitchen all day.

*Feed the troops! Snacks and cold drinks will go a long way to keep your crew from getting

grumpy. Also, assign one of your crew the task of making sure that YOU eat and drink.

Cleaners* - Throughout the day, dishes will need to be washed. LOTS of dishes will need to be washed. You can snag

one or two of your crew or ask for people to volunteer for that job. If you have volunteers

have them check every 2 hours to keep up with the flow of dishes.

* If you can have the floors swept at least twice during the day it will make post feast clean

up much easier.

Plating/Serving - Find a person to be in charge of plating, an expeditor….. NOT YOU. You will likely still be busy with

finishing the next course and not able to stop and show them how you want it plated. Go

over the menu dish by dish with your expeditor*.

*If you are very picky about how the plating is done tell them exactly how you want it. You

can even draw a picture. But it is easier on you and on them to give some flexibility to how

the plating is done and let them get creative.

NOW it is show time. You have your crew, you have your supplies, ready? Go!

Schedule & Recipes - Go through your menu and write out how long each dish will take and then you can decide in

what order things need to be done. Make a plan for the day and print a couple of copies.

Also make a couple of copies of your recipes. You will want to keep a master copy of

everything for yourself and have extras to give to your crew*.

*Clear sheet protectors for your recipes will help keep them clean and dry. Also good to post

a copy of each recipe, the day’s schedule and the full menu on a wall in the kitchen.

Kitchen Tips - Everyone has their own way of doing things but here are a few of the things I have found useful.

*Bring your own knives. And extra cutting boards.

*Aluminium Foil is your friend. Line roasting pans for easier clean up. Cover pots without

lids. Crumple and use to scrub pots. Cover pie crust edges to keep from burning. Many uses!

* Place a cup filled with spoons near your main cooking area. Taste everything.

\*Coolers will keep things hot. Seriously this was a lightbulb moment for me. Sanitize it and

fill it full of meat, pasta, etc.

*I carry a small tote of just in case items: matches/long lighter, can opener, veg peelers, jar

grippers, scissors, pens, sharpies, toothpicks, and duct tape. Yes seriously, duct tape.

*Gallon sized plastic bags… for leftovers, for piping, for crushing nuts, for marinating.

*Aprons… have at least one for yourself and if you can bring a few extra.

*Towel…. you will go through them much faster than you anticipate. Costco and Sams both

carry shop towels in bulk…. you can never have too many.

*Schedule yourself a break in the afternoon. 15-20 minutes to step away, out of the kitchen.

Sit down. Have a cold drink. Collect yourself. Now look over your schedule and see where

you stand. Then go back in ready to tackle what comes next.

*Know where the first aid kit and fire extinguisher are kept. If in doubt, bring your own.

*Bring extra salt. Grease fires happen.

*Wear comfy shoes. If that means sneakers…. do it. Anyone complains…. send them to me.

Portioning

Vegetable Dishes
(not including Salad )

Starch Dishes
(not including Bread)

Meat Dishes

Other Dishes

Kitchen Checklist

This is a list of things to check for when you visit a kitchen before cooking a feast.

General Equipment

Cooking Supplies

_______ Pots/Pans ______ Drink Containers _______ Knives

______ Cooking Utensils _______ Can Opener(s) _______ Strainer(s)

_______ Measuring Cups _______ Measuring Spoons ______ Mixing Bowls

_______ Baking Pans _______ Cooling Racks ______ Mixer (hand or electric)

_______ Food Processor _______ Cutting Boards ______ Rolling Pin(s)

______ Pot Holders/Hot Pads _______ Thermometer

Serving Supplies

_______ Platters _______ Serving Bowls ______ Small Bowls

_______ Tongs _______ Serving Spoons ______ Serving Forks

_______ Ladles _______ Drink Pitchers

Cleaning Supplies

______ Broom _______ Dustpan _______ Mop

______ Mop Bucket _______ Soap _______ Wash Cloths/Sponges

______ Dish Towels _______ Trash Bags