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Early Morning Ramblings from a Feast Cook
Nov. 18th, 2008 04:23 am( Cut because it is just a bunch of thoughts about feast cooking and whether or not I really ought to try it again. )
About those amount guidelines. Here's what I had saved and read (and actually used this time, going for the lowest amount suggested)
Here is an excerpt from "Feast Planner's Handbook" by Mistress Christianna.
Very often, the Autocrat will come up with a figure for food that fits in with the overall event cost, and then assign it to the Feastcrat. . . The average person's stomach holds roughly 32oz. of food. Plan on serving amounts that do not exceed a total of 32 oz. per diner spread out over all of the courses planned for the meal.
A general way to look at the distribution of the types of foods to serve is to look at the typical expenditures on meals, 40% on meat, poultry and fish; 35% on produce, beverages, and misc. groceries; 17.5% on eggs, butter, cheese, dairy; 7.5% on breads and desserts.
From a poster on the SCA Food & Feast List:
-I plan on 8-12 ounces of protein per person for an evening feast. This includes meats, cheeses, and eggs. It seems like a lot, but remember, this is supposed to be a feast, and not an ordinary dinner. You can fill them up on veggies and starches, but when it comes right down to it, if you skimp on the meat portions, they'll notice.
-When budgeting things like rice, pasta, etc. -- i.e., cheap filler -- your average person is generally going to end up eating a very small amount -- like 1/4 cup. However, two cups of rice spread out on a large serving platter looks silly. Budget in enough per platter so as not to look like you're skimping. It's cheap, and you can always bag up the leftovers and send them home with people.
- I usually try to budget somewhere between the two, say 1/4 to 1/8 of a loaf per person.
From Urtatim:
Usually when i plan, a course has at least:
-- a meat dish - and one or more sauces if the meat is not cooked in sauce;
-- a grain/pulse/carb dish;
-- a vegetable dish;
-- at least one other dish which may be a sweet or savory tart or a fruit dish or another vegetable or...
From another poster on the SCA Cook's List:
In my experience 20-25 oz. of food is about what people will eat on average.
Fighters can eat more, kids eat less... it averages out. (I will use 22.5 as an average value below)
----
I served two courses, with a total of 24 oz per diner and probably half of the second course was returned untouched.
About those amount guidelines. Here's what I had saved and read (and actually used this time, going for the lowest amount suggested)
Here is an excerpt from "Feast Planner's Handbook" by Mistress Christianna.
Very often, the Autocrat will come up with a figure for food that fits in with the overall event cost, and then assign it to the Feastcrat. . . The average person's stomach holds roughly 32oz. of food. Plan on serving amounts that do not exceed a total of 32 oz. per diner spread out over all of the courses planned for the meal.
A general way to look at the distribution of the types of foods to serve is to look at the typical expenditures on meals, 40% on meat, poultry and fish; 35% on produce, beverages, and misc. groceries; 17.5% on eggs, butter, cheese, dairy; 7.5% on breads and desserts.
From a poster on the SCA Food & Feast List:
-I plan on 8-12 ounces of protein per person for an evening feast. This includes meats, cheeses, and eggs. It seems like a lot, but remember, this is supposed to be a feast, and not an ordinary dinner. You can fill them up on veggies and starches, but when it comes right down to it, if you skimp on the meat portions, they'll notice.
-When budgeting things like rice, pasta, etc. -- i.e., cheap filler -- your average person is generally going to end up eating a very small amount -- like 1/4 cup. However, two cups of rice spread out on a large serving platter looks silly. Budget in enough per platter so as not to look like you're skimping. It's cheap, and you can always bag up the leftovers and send them home with people.
- I usually try to budget somewhere between the two, say 1/4 to 1/8 of a loaf per person.
From Urtatim:
Usually when i plan, a course has at least:
-- a meat dish - and one or more sauces if the meat is not cooked in sauce;
-- a grain/pulse/carb dish;
-- a vegetable dish;
-- at least one other dish which may be a sweet or savory tart or a fruit dish or another vegetable or...
From another poster on the SCA Cook's List:
In my experience 20-25 oz. of food is about what people will eat on average.
Fighters can eat more, kids eat less... it averages out. (I will use 22.5 as an average value below)
----
I served two courses, with a total of 24 oz per diner and probably half of the second course was returned untouched.
