Medieval Iron Chef

[Carolyn Tillie]

Many, many years ago, I briefly belonged to the SCA. While I never got that involved, I did remain on an e-mail list of Medieval foodies who easily are some of the most well-educated, self-taught food historians. The following is what appeared on the chat-list this morning and I thought I would share. All I can tell you is that the Kingdom of Ansteorra is somewhere in Texas...

Good Gentles of the Stellar Kingdom of Ansteorra and cooks

everywhere,

Come one come all and claim the title of Elfsea Defender Siege Chef

Extraordinaire at Elfsea Defender XXVI. Though this is not an official

Elfsea Defender, the unofficial title is still one of prestige and there is

a prize.

We do send our warmest wishes for a wonderful Defender this year. We would

like to help in this endeavor by hosting a Iron/Siege Cook-Off at 0900-1200

on Saturday morning of the event (Date 22 SEP 07, times 0900-1200 hours)

It is open to all of the populace. Teams must be three and only three

persons. You may have non-team helpers, but they will not get a prize if

your team wins. The team members may be from branches or households or just

3 friends who like to cook. Whether you have done a feast or not. If you

just want to have fun or be challenged with cooking.

The outcome of the cooking will become the Royal/Noble & Hand Fasting

Luncheon (for Arkell vom Cophus and Servita Zola, who are to be hand fasted

later that evening) for Elfsea Defender.

In addition to the honor of being the Defender Iron Chef, each member of the

winning team will receive a cooking related prize. Last time we did this it

was an All Clad professional 2 quart sauté pan. The actual prize will be

announced prior to the deadline for registration (we are still shopping).

Contest/List Master: Master Caelin on Andrede

Please note. This appears to be pretty complicated, but it is not too bad.

We did almost exactly this competition at my wedding 3 years ago and all the

teams did very, very well.

Judges are as follows:

The Baron and Baroness of Elfsea (after elevation)

Lady Ker Megan of Taransay (Pyro)

Lady Aislyn Glynwyrd Fen

and possibly others yet to be determined

The Scenario:

You have been besieged for two months in your manor/castle. And your

supplies are getting very low. Your fearless leader has decided to invite

the opposition leader and a few of his companions to parley. You must

stretch your cooking skills to the limit to give the impression you have

lots of food left and can hold out for as long as necessary.

Team size will be 3 people, with one listed as team captain/head chef.

Pre-registration is required! Registration fee is $10 (to be collected

morning of event) with name of team and contact information for the

designated team captain/head chef.

Please email Team Name, members' names & Team Captain/Head Chef's contact

info to

caelin@elfsea.net & arkellvomcophus@yahoo.com

If you have questions that are not answered in this document, feel free

to contact either Caelin or Arkell at the above addresses.

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Each team gets a box containing the same basic ingredients-total weight

approx. 7-8 lbs. There will be 3 different boxes. Each box will contain

3 lbs. of meat

1 lb. of fruit

1 lb. of vegetables

1 lb. of rice or couscous or legumes of some type,

1/2-1 lb. flour

3 eggs minimum (Eggs up to a dozen may or may not be in one or more

types of boxes)

Period sweetener

Salt, pepper, garlic & minced onion

A surprise item like maybe chocolate or nuts or such.

Then, each group may add, but this is optional-your team does not have to

add any of it, or may just add one of the following items or a few or all,

to their box:

A maximum of 3 fresh herbs/spices (unlimited quantities of each)

Maximum of 3 dried herbs/spices (limited to 1/2 ounce each)

Spice blends (custom or commercial) count per spice/herb in the blend

(except for salt & pepper which we are going to provide). Blend has 4

spices/herbs and one is salt then it will count as 3 items.

One fresh fruit OR above-ground vegetable - limit 1 lb.

One root vegetable - limit 2 lbs.

You can substitute one dozen eggs for either the fruit/vegetable or root

vegetable that the team is allowed.

Liquids will be unlimited for water, milk, cream, etc

Vinegar & Soy sauce (and for those that do know, yes soy sauce is period for

some cultures) counts as a spice/herb so you are limited to one bottle of

any kind and it counts against the 3 your team is allowed to bring.

Alcohol can be brought and counted as a spice/herb if used in the cooking,

or not if used to go with the meal. This meal is not being paid for by SCA

funds nor is it any official function of the SCA so alcohol is available for

drinking as well as cooking.

Unlimited yeast can be brought and it will not count against you.

Cooks may bring their cookbooks, documentation, or other printed material.

-----

The morning of the event you will draw lots to see which type of box you

get.

Registered teams will receive the list of ingredients for all 3 types of

boxes not less than the Tuesday evening before the event. Teams should

pre-register by one week before the event with fee to be collected the

morning of the cook off. Please pay Master Caelin as he will have paid for

the food in the boxes.

We will bring charcoal/wood for the grills and some limited amount of

propane in 2 different sizes of tanks. As we cannot guarantee there will be

enough for everyone, you should bring propane if you need it.

Teams will bring camp stoves or grills to the event for their use. We will

have some available, but we cannot guarantee there will be enough for your

needs. The total allowed is not to exceed 3 cooking platforms, e.g. 1 grill

and 2 burners, 3 burners, 2 grills & 1 burner, or 3 grills, or even an oven.

It is up to the team what they want to bring.

The teams must provide their own cookware/equipment. All equipment /cookware

must be non-electric. All cooking will be done outside/under tents.

------

We will have a limited amount of loaner stuff and it will be in a pile the

morning of the event and will be available on a 1st come 1st serve basis

the morning of the event for a negotiable "fee or service".

------

We will have a brief meeting of the team leaders at 0800 to draw boxes and

allow for set-up.

You may start setting up your kitchen earlier at 0800.

Cooking may begin at 0900.

Feast gear to be provided by us (sorry will not be anything fancy, just

paper). If you like, your teams can provide feast gear as part of your

presentation, but it is not necessary.

We will provide lemon water for the judges to clear their taste buds.

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No minimums or limits on number of dishes except that is must be made from

the food provided plus any allowed optional items.

Criteria judged by:

Up to 100 points Total (possible 110 with bonus points)

Up to 10 points if they can show to the medieval recipe used as the

source for each dish

Up to 10 points for running a clean, safe kitchen area

Up to 20 points for presentation

Up to 10 points for judges discretion

Up to 50 points for flavor/texture/appearance/aroma/ (up to 12.5

points for each sense)

Up to 10 bonus points (2 point per spice/herb up to 5 max for 10

points) for using fresh herbs/spices that are native to our

Kingdom (your herbs must be store-bought or homegrown i.e. not

harvested/picked onsite).

Possible native herbs include the following from Herb Society of America.

You may use others if you can show documentation of their growing natively

in our Kingdom.

comino (cumin), Chile peppers, Paprika, BASIL Ocimum basilicum, BAY

Laurus nobilis , CHERVIL Anthriscus cerefolium, CHIVES, ONION Allium

schoenoprasum,

CHIVES, GARLIC Allium tuberosum CORIANDER/CILANTRO Coriandrum

sativum,

DILL Anethum graveolens , FENNEL Foeniculum vulgare, GINGER Zingiber

officinalis,

LEMON BALM Melissa officinalis LEMON VERBENA Aloysia triphylla,

LEMONGRASS Cymbopogon citrates, MINT MARIGOLD Tagetes lucida,

OREGANO Poliomintha longiflora, OREGANO Origanum vulgare

PARSLEY Petroselinium crispu, ROSEMARY Rosmarinus officinalis,

SAGE Salvia officinalis SALAD BURNET Poterium sanguisorba,

SORREL Rumex acetosa, SWEET MARJORAM Origanum majorana,

THYME Thymus vulgaris,

Spearmint Mentha spicata, Peppermint M. x piperita,

Orange or Bergamot mint M. x piperita var. citrate, Pineapple mint M.

suaveolens 'Variegata', Red Stemmed Apple mint M. x gracilis,

Pennyroyal M. pulegium

In service,

Caelin on Andrede

[srhcb]

An interesting concept, and I can see where it could be expanded upon.

I do wonder where Medieval Chefs would have obtained Propane though?

SB (Methane, yes )

Edited July 26, 2007 by srhcb (log)