Friday, November 9, 2007

Medieval Feast





My favorite part of my Medieval History class is the family Medieval Feast. We have an entire lesson on food during class and that evening the students and their families come to our church for a 3-course feast. The families are our guests and the students are the serfs. They sit off at the "servants' table" and bring out new dishes and clear out the empty ones. I serve as the head cook (even though I'm a woman) and Chris is the scullion (medieval dishwasher), and there are lots of dishes to wash.
The serfs' table

Thankfully I don't have to do all the cooking because the families bring some of the dishes on the menu. There was tons of great food tonight and no one went home hungry.




Our guests

MENU
bread
butter
apple butter
grape juice
FIRST COURSE
venison
white rice
dates, figs and nuts
custard with fresh raspberries
SECOND COURSE
turkey
hard boiled eggs
assorted cheeses
gingered bread
THIRD COURSE
fruit-stuffed trout
fresh apples and pears
pickled herring
salad
sweet rolls with peach preserves

I explained the list of similarities and differences between eating then vs. now. Basically, besides the fact that we both eat food there are many similarities. For instance, we all had our own plate and cup, we didn't heavily spice the food to disguise the fact that the meat had gone bad about 2 days ago, I didn't stuff my turkey full of smaller birds or leave the feathers on, we didn't guild any of the food with gold, we ate meat even though it was a Friday, we didn't dump all the leftovers into a big pot to make pottage, and we didn't release a small flock of live birds from a large pie as a grand finale.

But despite the fact that we weren't exactly authentic, everybody had lots of fun. The kids' favorite part was eating at the "leftovers buffet" from all the serving plates that came off the tables. (Don't worry the food was still good)

Even clearing tables is fun!

1 comment:

call*me*kate said...

How fun for the kids in your class! A lot of work went into your evening and it sounds like everyone enjoyed themselves and learned a lot about that time period. Nicely done, teacher! I'll have to remember that spice thing for spoiled meat (just kidding!)

The fort is looking good. My kids were inspired to build a fort under a tree in the front yard. We hauled big tree limbs that the last storm knocked down in a forested area near our house and they fashioned a rustic shelter under the tree. As I was walking down our hill, carrying a big limb over each shoulder, I thought of two things: #1 - This is what a homeschool mom does; and #2 - I'm so glad my dh doesn't know I'm doing this (he doesn't quite understand the ways of a homeschool mom sometimes!) The kids had a great time, even Carmen. Looking forward to seeing more of your fort work-in-progress.

That's wonderful that you had a good turnout for your harvest party. My computer didn't let me see your costume - bummer! Cute idea, a clean laundry/dirty laundry pair! You guys are so creative!

Enjoy your weekend!
Kate