T-minus 9 days until our first living history event of the season: Menu planning

Pierre's new uniform continues apace, buttons arrived yesterday, and the pieces I've been making are all in their final stages. I should be finished by Friday at the latest, which gives me a week to plan food and start my pre-cook.

The thing that the SCA taught me well, is that I love being busy at events. There is nothing worse than sitting around, twiddling one's thumbs in an era where every part of daily life meant work. Being able to have a proper job to do at an event makes me insanely happy. Making food for people is like the highest form of fun, yup, even more enjoyable than sewing.

For the past week, I have been toying with menu items I can cook for the officers next weekend. Lent begins a week from today, so this is likely to be the only meat free event I cook all summer. We are also portraying the French Canadien peoples, so Lent and Catholic dietary restrictions should be a thing. Why not have fun with it!

Saturday morning's breakfast will consist of coffee, chocolate, bread, butter, fruit preserves, and a vegetarian oatmeal (white) pudding.
Lunch: Cod Saint-Menehould, a fish casserole that forms the basis for our modern Quebec fish pie; Talmouse, cheese tarts in the shape of little cocked hats, served with a fruit cheese; Roasted whole garlic, pickled vegetables; and for dessert, a Savoie cake with dessert cream.
Supper will be Feves au lard (baked beans), pea soup, bread and any leftovers from lunch.

Apart from the tarts and cake, I'm planning to make everything on-site. This requires planning out all the ingredients, and preparing the proper historical packaging for them, but also making sure that you have brought all the cooking implements and serving gear you might need. In a perfect world, you could walk into a properly stocked kitchen with your grocery items and just cook, but those perfect kitchens don't exist outside our own homes. I will spend most of next week planning out each dish, what groceries I will need, what cooking implements, and which service pieces I want to use. Yes, it will likely take most of the week to pack. We will pack the car Thursday evening, and leave from the base on Friday after work, hopefully saving about an hour of travel time.

Then, once we get to the fort, unpack the car and set up our kitchen for Saturday, socialize, prep the coffee for the morning, stock firewood next to the hearth if need be...and hope I don't forget anything. From the second we land, until we get back into the car on Saturday evening, we will both be working our arses off and having the time of our lives.

I just hope it's warmer than -28C next weekend, please?!

Bibliography

Dunton, Hope. From the Hearth: Recipes from the World of 18th-Century Louisbourg. University College of Cape Breton Press, 1986.

Vechambre, Chantal, and Anne Marie Lane Jonah. French Taste in Atlantic Canada, 1604-1758: A Gastronomic History. Cape Breton University Press, 2012.