Jump to content

Food for an old English banquet?


Dave H

Recommended Posts

I've done a few banquets in my time and my one suggestion is:

Don't go authentic!

It's more stress than its worth!

Instead go with whatever feels right...a Hollywood take if you will!

For my 40th we simply had three platters of roast meat: pork, beef and chicken on each platter. Seasonal veg roasted and piled up. Several rustic granary loaves, and gravy made from the various meat juices etc.

For a laugh, instead of wooden bowls, we just cooked up huge Yorkshire puds one for everybody.

Pile up some fruit and cheese to finish, maybe a game pie or a true mince pie and jobs done!

These things are tough to do authentically...for modern tastes the food of the day was well out of most peoples fancy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not **** stirring, just an observation. If you have taken it as that then i do offer my apologies.

I think Andrew you need to look at the way you expressed your observation and in what manner you did it....Move on!


There is not one thing different between ideology and religeon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've done a few banquets in my time and my one suggestion is:

Don't go authentic!

It's more stress than its worth!

Instead go with whatever feels right...a Hollywood take if you will!

For my 40th we simply had three platters of roast meat: pork, beef and chicken on each platter. Seasonal veg roasted and piled up. Several rustic granary loaves, and gravy made from the various meat juices etc.

For a laugh, instead of wooden bowls, we just cooked up huge Yorkshire puds one for everybody.

Pile up some fruit and cheese to finish, maybe a game pie or a true mince pie and jobs done!

These things are tough to do authentically...for modern tastes the food of the day was well out of most peoples fancy!

Yes you have a good point and we have been looking at it all weekend and we came up with the same thing that we will try to keep it in the period but more widely spread and not such a king’s banquet...Cheers

 

Thanks for the thoughts peoples ;)


There is not one thing different between ideology and religeon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

for reference this is roughly what we did:

hired costumes for everyone in the "medieval" theme....(which was basically buxom wench, princess, robin hood types, and a Henry costume etc)

bought plastic silver "goblets"~ they were about £9 for 10 from amazon I think.

I produced invitation "scrolls" for people and sealed them with wax and ribbon.

food:

roast beef

roast chicken

roast pork

all above served on slabs of wood (chopping boards) I had 3 such slabs along the table (so 3 joints of each meat)

rustic granary loaves

roast potatoes and carrots and parsnips

corn on the cob

one large steak and ale pie

one HUGE Yorkshire pudding per person to serve as a "wooden bowl" replacement

servings of gravy made with all the meat juices together

free first drink of either wine or cider

large portions of a good mature cheddar

same of a blue cheese

apples and grapes

 

that was about it! and it was a superb evening!!

 

don't get bogged down in whats right or wrong...for inspiration just watch some hammy old Hollywood film..any of the Robin Hoods or even Carry on Henry have good banquet scene that will give you ideas!

keep it simple! I let people help themselves to it all...carving their own meat, etc

as it happened I booked a room at a local pub that specialises in a carvery...so they produced their normal carvery fare and I added a few requests and just served it in a "medieval" way!!

costs me about £250 for 12 people!! and we took a huge proportion of the meat and veg and cheese home!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

nah :(

if it was down to me doing the cooking etc it would have been goose, pheasant, pork and venison.

the pub we used wouldn't allow us to supply our own meat for them to cook; understandable I guess but a shame none the less.

considering my brothers a game dealer we could have supplied the majority of the meat ourselves!! LOL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wot, no swan ? :(

 

Never mind swan, where's the carp? You have to have a fish course, and that's what carp were introduced for.

 

John.

  • Like 1

Angling is more than just catching fish, if it wasn't it would just be called 'catching'......... John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

now wouldn't that make a tree huggers protesting day out!!

come to a fishermans medieval banquet and enjoy a taste of swan and carp!!

the carp boys would be out in force on one side, the bird boys on the other....sounds like a Goodies sketch!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We and our partners use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences, repeat visits and to show you personalised advertisements. By clicking “I Agree”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit Cookie Settings to provide a controlled consent.