This is just a taste of what you'll find in the book. This chapter is about foods you can bring to potlucks or camping with you. Some require no cooking!
What to Serve
Now that we have a wide choice of foods, how should we prepare them?
No Cook Choices
The panicky newcomer or non-cook can safely choose from the following list to contribute to any table, be it an encampment at an event or a potluck. For the most part, you can purchase these foods, arrange them nicely on a serving plate, and collect kudos. Even the slimmest pocketbook should be able to find something in the list below that fits the budget.
♦ Bread (round or football-shaped loaves are more appropriately shaped, and “fine white bread” is closer to what was served to nobles. Breads labeled “European Crusty Bread” or “Peasant Boule” are right on target.)
♦ Cheese (Edam, Gouda, Parmesan, Brie, goat or sheep’s milk cheese, mozzarella, Swiss, etc. No Cheez-Whiz® or Velveeta®). Baked Brie is a very nice choice.
♦ Cooked sausage (salami, summer sausage, liverwurst, etc.)
♦ Cold sliced meat (roast beef, pastrami, chicken, etc.). Mustard, horseradish sauce, mint jellies all go with them well.
♦ Ham (Salt rather than maple cured preferred)
♦ Smoked fish
♦ Boiled shrimp
♦ Roasted or baked chicken from a deli or grocery store (no KFC™, please!)
♦ Precooked pasties or meat pies from local deli or grocery store (Some may have potatoes, but it’s a good try.)
♦ Precooked quiches
♦ Dolmades (Stuffed grape leaves)
♦ Tabouli (Middle Eastern)
♦ Pickled or herbed mushrooms
♦ Pickles, olives, “pickled garden salad” or “giardiniera” (remove the peppers)
♦ Pâté (except vegetarian pâté)
♦ Fruit (apples, pears, cherries, plums, peaches or grapes are solid options)
♦ Nuts (almonds, pistachios and walnuts are good options)
♦ Applesauce with cinnamon, ginger or mace stirred in
♦ Poppy seed cake
♦ Fruit tart (no top crust) (It may have kiwis on it, but the general idea is good and fruits are close)
♦ Dole™ Fruit Ice (and other non-dairy ices and sherbets)
♦ Anything in the Beverage chart that you can buy
Easy to Cook Foods
Most of us can cook something. If you can handle a few basic cooking skills, this list of recipes (we’ve redacted them in this book) is for you. Many of these dishes can be made in advance and warmed up on site: some require minimal cooking on site, or transport (say to a potluck) in a warming dish, crock pot, etc.
One of the easiest ways to create a period dish with minimal effort is to bring cooked roast beef, pork, or chicken, and then serve it with a sauce such as camaline, galantyne, sage sauce, garlic sauce, jance, or pevorade. Recipes for these sauces are included in the section on Sauces. We list the medieval name for the dish first, and the modern name second.
⬧ Soppes Dorre (Onions on Toast)
⬧ Roo Broth (Venison Soup)
⬧ Caboges in Potage (Cabbage and Leek Stew)
⬧ Funges (Mushrooms in Broth)
⬧ Ryes of Flessh (Rice in Meat Broth)
⬧ Yrchouns (Sausage Hedgehogs)
⬧ Charlet (Hash with Eggs)
⬧ Herbolet (Herb Custard, or an Omelet)
⬧ Benes yFride (Fried Beans)
⬧ Salat (Green Salad)
⬧ Lozenges (Layered Noodles with Cheese)
⬧ Salmon Roste in Sawce (Grilled Salmon in Sauce)
⬧ Chicke Endored (Gilded Chicken)
⬧ Rost Bef with Sawge Aliper (Roast Beef with Garlic-Pepper Sauce)
⬧ Steykys of Venison or Bef (Beef or Venison Steaks)
⬧ Bourbelier (Roast Pork in Boar Sauce)
⬧ Hotchpodge (Poultry Stew)
⬧ Drye Stewe (Pot Roast)
⬧ Braun en Peraude (Roast Pork with Pepper Sauce)
⬧ Pygge in a Coffin (Ham in Pastry)
⬧ Beef y-Stewed (Braised Beef)
⬧ Wardonys in Syrypp (Pears in Syrup)
⬧ Frytours of Appels (Apple Fritters)
⬧ Appel Moyle (Applesauce)
⬧ Daryoles (Custard Tart)
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