Classes

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Contact Mistress Anna de Serra if you are interested in teaching, or have questions about classes.

Currrent List of Classes (updated 2/11/2014):

• Sugar Paste and Marzipan
• Sugar Plate Show and Tell/Q & A
• Saluminati Round Table
• Pastry: sweet and savory
• Norse Flatbread Over an Open Fire
• Eat Your Vegetables
• Preparing and Smoking Game
• Pig Breakdown
• Chicken Breakdown
• The Cheaters Banquette
• Feast Research and Planning for Beginners
• Cheese Roundtable
• Sourdough, History & Modern Practice
• Period Food Fermenting and Preservation
• How to Drink All Day and Not Get Drunk
• Good Bolognese Sausage
• Period Non-alcoholic and Low Alcoholic Beverages
• Linen Lid Workshop
• Food from words
• The Construction of the Basic Meat Pie
• Pottery for Your Persona
• Intermediate Cheesemaking
• The Garden of Delights: Arab Contributions to Spanish Cuisine
• Messisbugo I: The Marvelous Maestro
• Messisbugo II: Stuffed Stuffs
• Culinary Vocabulary CANCELLED
• Wild Yeast class CANCELLED
• A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen
• Nutrition Analysis of Medieval Dishes
• Period Aprons
• Discussion of period shortbread
• Introduction of Near and Middle Eastern Cuisine
• Hands on Near and Middle Eastern Cuisine
• Cheese 101
• Numbles
• Sauces for Slackers

Downloads: Class Descriptions  or  Class Schedule

Sugar Paste and Marzipan

Instructor: Diana de Winchester

Hands on format: marzipan and/or sugar paste ­to ­plate takes two to three hours, adults only, four students max. Small fee for marzipan.

Sugar Plate Show and Tell/Q&A

Instructor: Diana de Winchester 

Ongoing Show and tell/Demonstration/Q&A format: includes review and repair of a "collection" of PPF3 sugar items in unknown condition from storage(probably includes a three-tiered pavilion). Will discuss hazards of storage, uses of armatures and the "building" of larger sugar paste products by piecing together dry items. This collection likely requires repair which is an interesting adjunct to the morning hands-on class. One hour, no fee, no student limit.  Drop-in okay.

Saluminati Round Table

"Members of the Saluminati"

A round­table question and answer for all of your cured meat curiosities. Class Length: 1 hour

Pastry Sweet and Savory

Instructor: Gwendwyn the Silent

Are hand made pie crusts your downfall? In this hands on class in making perfect pastry, students will work with a partner to create a delicate short crust for tarts, with a sweet custard filling, and a hot water crust for standing coffyns with a savory filling. Material fee: $5 donation. Bring rolling pins, boards, and other pastry tools if you have them, a limited number will be available to share. Limit 8 students.

Norse Flatbread

Instructor: Edward Le Kervere

Learn how to make Norse flatbread over the fire.

Fire Cooking Play Area

Supervised by Edward Le Kervere

We will have a fire pit set up for fire cooking play. Some pots and recipes will be provided

Eat Your Vegetables! Exploring Vegetable Recipes from Platina’s De Honesta Volupatate

Instructor: Maestro Eduardo Francesco Maria Lucrezia, aka David S. Walddon

Although there are some vegetable dishes in the recipe corpus of the Renaissance the number included in the cookery manuscripts are few and far between. In EAT YOUR VEGETABLES we will explore the vegetable recipes from 15 th century Italy found in the first five books of De Honesta Volupatate et Valetudine.

In the first half of the class we will spend some time and take an in­depth look at the 62 vegetable recipes identified in De Honesta through the work of the instructor from his yet to be published paper Carrots, and Lettuce, and Beets, Oh my! – An exploration of the vegetable recipes in the first five books of De Honesta Voluptate. The second half of the class will focus on the redaction and cooking of several of the vegetable recipes from De Honesta. Through this class the hope is that these forgotten vegetable recipes will be made more accessible to the modern cook and historic recreational recreationist. Students should come prepared to cook! Depending on the class size and availability of product some of the recipes we will redact and eat might include:

1. A Simple Salad
2. Tessellated Cucumbers
3. Onions in Saba
4. Parsnips and Lettuce
5. Beets with Garlic
6. Deep Fried Carrots
7. Chickpeas with Fennel 

 Class size limit: 7  Cost: $10 includes food and handout consisting of the paper and some redactions

Preparing and Smoking Game

Instructor: Miach of the Shire

Practical Hog Butchery

Instructor: Master Francisco Hinojosa

Lecture and demonstration highlighting the differences between modern commercial butchery and medieval practical butchery. Special attention paid to charcuterie cuts.

Practical Chicken Butchery

Instructor: Master Francisco Hinojosa

Lecture and demonstration on various ways to break down whole chickens. Highlights include tunne­boning and whole bird deboning.

The Cheater's Banquette

Instructor: Mistress Crystal of Westermark

Creating a plausible Tudor dessert course with store­bought sweets and easily prepared dishes. No limit (handouts for first 12 students), no cost.

Feast Research and Planning for Beginners

Instructor: Mistress Clare Elena de Montfort, OP, OWGS (Principality of Oertha)

What elements should you consider when planning a feast? This class is for those considering their first foray into feast planning and will help answer that question. Topics covered will include venue selection, menu plan, recipe selection and testing, developing a cooking plan and schedule and the too often overlooked, de­brief (what worked, what didn’t, what would you do differently next time). Various resources will be shared and the plan for a recently cooked 14 th century feast will be shared.

Cheese Roundtable All welcome

Sourdough, History & Modern Practice

Instructor: Flidais Ni Etiigen 

Period Food Fermenting and Preservation

Instructor: Magistra Claudia Prima, OL Lyondemere, CAID

How to drink all day and not get drunk

Instructor: Heidi Woordhuis

Perfect for long days at War, sudden dinner guests or simply lounging with the neighbors at events. Come practice drinking wine all day without falling over! Bring your mug (There will be Drinking!!), an attitude of experimentation and $3 to cover expenses. We'll take a look at Hypocras throughout the ages, then make our own spice mixes and Hypocras to test. And test. Then test some more. It's important to be thorough.

Good Bolognese Sausage

Instructor: Master Wulfric of Cruigull

Period Non­Alcoholic and Low ­Alcoholic Beverages

Instructor: Mistress Crystal of Westermark

An overview of non­alcoholic and low­ alcoholic beverages from Europe and middle east. There will be some samples and a hand­out of sources with recipes. Bring a small cup for personal use. No limit (handouts for first 12 students), no cost.

Linen Lid Workshop

Instructor: Aleit Pietersdochter

Food From Words: Towards a universal framework for redaction of historic recipes

Instructor: Maestro Eduardo Francesco Maria Lucrezia, aka David S. Walddon 

At the core of recreating recipes from any time period is the redaction process. What goes into it? How do you do it? What is your approach and system? In this class we will discuss and work together to build a framework that includes all the details and procedures that must be included in a complete redaction of a period recipe. Students should come prepared to discuss specific manuscripts and recipes. An understanding of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies is helpful, but not entirely necessary. Class size limit: 10

The Construction of the Basic Meat Pie

Instructor: Mistress Clare Elena de Montfort, OP, OWGS (Principality of Oertha)

Meat pies of many varieties are a common entry in medieval cookbooks. But how do you tackle some of those more uncommon pie ingredients while considering our more modern palettes? Come review this cook’s recent experience with creating a meat pie from the Royal Tarts recipe from Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books. The recipe and redaction will be shared for your own experiments.

Pottery for your Persona

Instructor: Mercy

Intermediate Cheesemaking: Pressed and or Aged Cheeses

Instructor: Sciath Ingean Airt

A brief review of the history of cheese as a means of preserving milk. We will discuss good safety considerations and the microbiology of fermentation, review of the equipment needed to make cheese, from the simple to the elaborate and explore problem areas that can thwart your efforts. With decent fortune and the benevolence of the Gods, a pressed, aged Farmstead cheese will be presented and participants will be given samples in order to assess its character, and we can explore why it is what it is.

The Garden of Delights: Arab Contributions to Spanish Cuisine

Instructor: Baroness Teresa Maria Isabella Castro

Middle Eastern Cooking, with a special focus on the integration of Middle Eastern ingredients into Europe via Spain. Demonstration for making Laban (yogurt cheese) & samples of various foods (recipes will be included) for the class participants. Limit of 15, & class fee of $5.

Messisbugo I: The Marvelous Maestro

Instructor: Viscontessa Vittoria Aureli, OL

Discover one of our richest sources of information about feasting and hospitality in Renaissance Italy. Cristofaro da Messisbugo’s Libro Novo (“New Books of Banquets”) is a treasure trove of details about 16th-century court life: food, entertainment, food, running a noble household, and did I mention food? Delve into a delicious slice of history.
No class size limit, no fee. 9-10 am Saturday

Messisbugo II: Stuffed Stuffs

Instructor: Viscontessa Vittoria Aureli, OL

Hands-on cooking time! We’ll make two recipes from Messisbugo’s cookbook (to be served at lunch), stuffed pork rolls and stuffed cabbage. Good stuff.

Donations to cover cost of ingredients are very welcome but not required.  Bring: Apron, knives; your own cutting board and dishtowels if you’ve got ‘em.

Limit: 6 students 10am-12pm Saturday

A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen

Instructor: THL Johnnae llyn Lewis, CE Midrealm 

The 1608 A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen ​was first edited and annnotated in 2011 by our speaker. Often credited to Sir Hugh Plat, the work offers a marvelous collection of recipes for confections and Banquetting items. It certainly deserves wider mention. See it here at: http://www.medievalcookery.com/notes/1608closet.pdf

Nutrition Analysis of Medieval Dishes

Instructor: THL Guillane de Vaux, Kingdom of the Middle

I also discuss the findings on Richard III's remains. 

Period Aprons

Instructor: Mistress Etain du Pommier 

Intro to Near and Middle Eastern Cuisine 

Instructor: Urtatim al-Qurtubiyya bint 'abd al-Karim al-hakam al-Fassi

Medieval Near & Middle Eastern cuisines fed people living in a broad geographical area, from the Atlantic coast of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula to the rugged steppes of Central Asia, encompassed many different cultures not all Arab, and had a golden age while Europe’s people were struggling to rise out of their dark ages. The result was a blend of culinary styles and the development, at least for the wealt...hiest classes, of highly refined and complex cuisines.

Lecture: 1-1/2 hours
Number: unlimited auditors
Handout: $1 - 20 pages includes 8 page bibliography (unfortunately i won't have an unlimited number of handouts...) 

Hands on Near and Middle Eastern Cuisine: It’s NOT Hummus bi-Tahini 

Instructor: Urtatim al-Qurtubiyya bint 'abd al-Karim al-hakam al-Fassi

So far, there is no known period recipe for the popular modern dish hummus bi-tahini (literally “chickpeas with tahini”). They had all the ingredients, but that doesn’t mean they combined them like the modern Syro-Lebanese dish. We will make 3 recipes that are sort-of, but not really, like hummus bi-tahini for a taste comparison: a dish of spiced pureed chickpeas; a sauce/dip made of walnuts, tahini, and spices; and a dish that blends pureed chickpeas and tahini with crushed nuts, spices, and herbs, which is then rolled out very thin and allowed to dry overnight - definitely not a dip.

Time: 1 hour
Number: 12 or so max

Cost: $5 - 4 page handout and ingredients 

Cheese 101 

Instructor: Volker von dem Walde 

Discussion of period shortbread 

Instructor: Selena Colfox

Numbles 

Instructor: Cordelia Toser

Outdoor cooking class over a firepit. Will prepare 3 different recipes for numbles as they evolved through time.

Sauces for Slackers - How to make 3 medieval sauces from ingredients you buy on the way to an event 

Instructor: Mistress Gianetta del Bene

We'll make the short cut versions of 3 sauces - basil sauce, garlic sauce, mustard sauce. These uncooked sauces go great with a rotisserie chicken and a loaf of bread for an easy lunch.