Their Majesties have asked us, this reign, to remember what made us fall in love with the Dream in the first place. For me that answer has always lived in the feast hall. You can read about a culture, you can wear the clothes, but sitting down together and sharing food as they would have… that is where the magic lives for me.
This menu is a love letter to the late Middle Ages (the 14th and 15th centuries). Four courses drawn from the great cookbooks of England, France, and Venice at a time of strife and transition… from war, to plague, to the first stirrings of the Renaissance. And through it all, people kept gathering at tables. They kept baking, kept spicing, kept gilding their food with saffron, because beautiful food nourished their hearts as much as their bodies and that mattered even when times were hard. Maybe it mattered even more because times were hard.
The codes below describe each dish as it comes to your table. Everything comes out of one busy medieval kitchen, so if your allergy is the serious kind, email me at dragonfly78@gmail.com before you register for feast if possible, and no later than a week before the event. We will do our best to accommodate.
NF nut free
DF dairy free
V vegetarian
VG vegan
GF gluten free
The entire menu is soy free and onion free.
* made with honey — flagged for those who count honey out of vegan
At Seating
Fruit and Cheese of the Season [NF · V · GF]
Fall fruits and hard cheese.
Spiced Candied Almonds [DF · V · VG · GF]
Almonds candied with sugar and warm spices.
First Course
Porée Blanche Le Ménagier de Paris, 1393 [NF · V · GF]
The white of leeks, slow-cooked in milk and butter.
Tart de Bry Forme of Cury, c. 1390 [NF · V]
A rich cheese tart with eggs, saffron, and ginger in a short crust.
Salat Forme of Cury, c. 1390 [NF · DF · V · VG · GF]
Fresh greens and herbs dressed with oil, vinegar, and garlic.
Second Course
Chykens in Hocchee Forme of Cury, c. 1390 [NF · DF · GF]
Chicken cooked with garlic and grapes, served in a saffron broth with verjuice.
Good Breads and Sweet Butter in the payndemayn style [NF · V]
Soft white loaves served with sweet butter.
Chyches Forme of Cury, c. 1390 [NF · DF · V · VG · GF]
Chickpeas simmered with garlic, olive oil, and saffron.
Third Course
Alows de Beef Harleian MS 279, c. 1430 [NF · DF]
Beef rolls stuffed with herbs, roasted, and served in their own gravy.
Rafioli Libro per cuoco, Venice, 14th c. [NF · V]
Hand-filled cheese and herb ravioli, finished in butter.
Buttered Wortes Harleian manuscripts, 15th c. [NF · V · GF]
Seasonal greens and cabbage finished in butter.
Funges Forme of Cury, c. 1390 [NF · DF · V · VG · GF]
Mushrooms and leeks cooked with period spices.
Fourth Course
Tartys in Applis English, c. 1381 [NF · V]
Small spiced apple and fig tarts.
Snowe a period whipped cream [NF · V · GF]
Sweetened whipped cream, served with the apple tarts.
Quince and Cheese Skewers cotignac per Le Ménagier de Paris, 1393 [NF · V · GF]
Quince paste and firm cheese, served on skewers.
Quince and Honeyed Toast Skewers with a nod to Pokerounce, Harleian MS 279 [NF · DF · V · VG*]
Quince paste and honey-glazed toast, served on skewers.