Inexpensive Feasts

Prepared by Mistress Nicolette Dufay and Master Gwynfor Lwyd
for Guild Ascension Day, 4 Feb 2006

• Inexpensive in what way?
  • Money
    • Plan menu around kitchen facilities
      • Know your kitchen, its advantages and disavantages
    • Require Pre-Bookings
      • so you know how may you are cooking for
      • or set a cap if able
    • Avoid dishes that require special equipment such as spits (note: some butcher will supply spit at minimum cost if you buy the meat from them)
    • Know where to shop, supermarkets too expensive
      • Fresh Produce - Markets
      • Cheeses - Markets or Egg Farms
      • Eggs and Poultry - Egg farms
      • Meat - Wholesale Suppliers
      • Spices - Ethnic grocery stores
      • Bread
        • Make Your Own, if there is time on the day
        • Shop around for bakeries, not chains
      • Small Goods - from markets or Manufacturers
      • Sausages
        • Make your own ahead of time, freeze
        • Pre-order from butcher, many will make to your spice recipe
    • Canned Goods - second hand food shops
    • Grow your own as in Herbs and Vegetables
    • Make your own pastry, dont use sheets
    • Vendors and how to get your best price from them
      • Know what you want and ring around
      • Haggle
      • Establish relationship
    • Let them know what you are doing
    • Seasonal
    • Know what is in season for your time of year
    • Preserve if you want out of season
    • Choose Theme that is not high in Meat content, ie Middle Eastern, Greek, Turkish, Asian, Indian, North African
    • Strong flavours in small quantities
      • Ham hocks instead of quality ham for soups
      • Panccetto instead of shredded ham
  • Time
    • Have meat/produce delivered to hall
    • To save time, you must have the dollars or cut down on the amount of food served
  • Labour on the day
    • Get pre-prepared foods, pastry good example
    • Pre-prep as much as you can
      • Vegetables - chop, measure, bag, label
      • Meats - cut up, marinade and/or freeze
      • Stews - cooked and frozen ahead or time
  Pre bake pie shells or pies
  • Minimise the number of pots/pans/serving dishes needed on the day
• How to eliminate waste and/or save money
  • Know your local food allergies
  • Dont over cater
    • 200-250 grams of meat per person (Australian Army says 150 grams)
    • 400 grams total capacity for average person
  • Use cheaper cuts of meat for stews and cook them longer to make tender, then special roasts are easier to afford
  • Save on filler so you can spend on specials
    • rice, pasta
    • Northern - oats, barley, polenta (cracked wheat)
    • Southern - lentils, chick peas, cous-cous
  • Ingredients that make dishes expensive
    • wine
  • use small quanities of ingredients that you can only buy in large quanities
  • cheese