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The Crown Province of Østgarðr has a long and honorable tradition of cooking. This page is to serve as a showcase for cooking, feast preparation, recipe reconstruction, etc. carried out by Østgarðrians. See the links at left for sub-topics.

Copyright statement

Worked-out versions of medieval recipes are the intellectual property of their creators. If you wish to reprint any of these recipes, please include the creator’s name and send a courtesy copy of your publication to the creator. If you reprint the medieval originals, please include all the relevant bibliographic information; the recipes are in the public domain, but many of the translations and editions are not.

Cooking Workshops

There are cooking workshops roughly once a month; see the Østgarðr Calendar of Events for dates.

• Cooking Workshops, usually on first Sundays, after archery practice ends at Cedar Creek:
  Countess Brekke Franksdottir welcomes not only those who want to learn medieval recipes, but those who want to peruse cookbooks and talk about learning how to cook medieval recipes for the modern audience. RSVP to Countess Brekke for more information.

Discussion

• There’s an Østgarðr Cooks’ email list; visit Østgarðr Cooks or email ostgardr-cooks-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
• Likewise, there’s an East Kingdom Cooks’ Guild e-mail list.
• There’s also an email list for SCA cooks around the world; visit SCA-COOKS to sign up. (The URL notwithstanding, the list is not specific to Ansteorra.)
• A similar group is the SCA Food and Feasts discussion group.
• Most recently, a Yahoo group named SCA-AuthenticCooks has been formed, with the goal of discussing not only historically authentic recipes but historically authentic practicesand mindsets. In other words, not to be a modern cook who cooks authentic medieval dishes, but to be an authentic medieval cook.

Østgarðr Feasts 

I’d like to include menus and selected recipes from as many of Østgarðr’s medieval feasts as possible. If you’ve cooked a period feast in Østgarðr in the past and have this information handy, please contribute it. If you’re putting on such a feast in the future, please consider making the information available here.

• Twelfth Night, Jan. 1995, by Gideanus Adamantius Tacitus.
• East Kingdom Baronial Dinner at Pennsic, August 1996, by Andrea MacIntire.
• An Evening in Alsace, Jan. 17-18, 1997, by Andrea MacIntire.
• Valentine’s Day, Feb. 15, 1997, by Rufina Cambrensis and John Elys.
• Agincourt, November [but I’m not sure what year; 1997 or earlier — webmaster], by Andrea MacIntire
• Re-Opening Digbie’s Closet, Mar. 27, 1998, by Alexandre Lerot d’Avigne.
• Crown Tourney, May 2, 1998, by Gideanus Adamantius Tacitus.
• Midsummer Frolic, June 20-21, 1998, by John Elys and Rufina Cambrensis.
• The Cheese Farmers’ Harvest Festival, Celtic Silliness, March 18, 2000, by Andrea MacIntyre.
• A Platina Dinner at Østgarðr Commons, June 16, 2000, by Andrea MacIntyre.
  This page was selected as the Gode Cookery Site of the Month for August, 2000.
• Medieval Supper Club (in Lent), Mar. 23, 2003, by Brekke Franksdottir.
• Lunch at the Northpass Arms Tavern, 2003, by Andrea MacIntyre.
• Whyt Whey’s Yule Event, Dec. 6, 2003, by Alexandre Lerot d’Avigne.
  • Planning for Yule
  • Focusing on Yule Menus
  • The Yule Menu
• Goodies prepared for guests at John Elys’s Laurel vigil, 2003, by Andrea MacIntyre.
• Coronation of Kelson II and Geneviere II, by Dietrich von Schwelgengrüber, 2 April 2005
• Coney Hop, by Ibrahim al-Rashid, 17 Feb 2008

Articles and Other Documents by Østgarðrians

• The Old East Kingdom Cooks’ Guild: documents about the (now-defunct) Kingdom-wide Cooks’ Guild founded in 1974, by Brekke Franksdottir.
• Some Recipes of al-Andalus: an article on vegetarian Arabo-Andalusian dishes, by Stephen Bloch (John Elys, formerly Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib), from the Fall, 1990Tournaments Illuminated.
• Camp Cooking Without a Cooler: an article by Deborah Peters (Rufina Cambrensis) from the July, 1996 Seahorse
• The Pilgrim’s Picnic Basket: an article by Phil Troy (Gideanus Adamantius Tacitus) from the Spring, 1996 Tournaments Illuminated.
• More Cooler-Free Camp Cooking: an article by Deborah Peters (Rufina Cambrensis) from the July, 1997 Seahorse.
• On the Road with Cooler-Free Camp Cooking: an article by Deborah Peters (Rufina Cambrensis) from the July, 2002 Seahorse.
• A statement of philosophy from Phil Troy (Master Gideanus Adamantius Tacitus).
• On Preserving Food with Honey, by John Elys and Rufina Cambrensis.
• Mushroom Pasties after the Menagier de Paris, by Alexandre Lerot d’Avigne.
• Bored? Cooking for the Next Generation!
  Class notes for one of Lady Andrea MacIntyre’s cooking classes for kids
• The Vassal with the Vessel, an article by Lady Andrea MacIntyre on the Great Cooking-Pot Experiment.

Just for Fun…

• An exercise in culinary reconstruction, by Rufina Cambrensis and John Elys.
• A recipe that needs help, by Richard the Poor of Ely.

Other Cooking Pages We Like (not necessarily by Østgarðrians)

• Prof. Thomas Gloning’s enormous collection of pre-1800 cookbooks, full text on the Web.
• The Middle Kingdom Cooks’ Collegium, which includes a bunch of interesting articles and recipes.
• Terry Nutter’s Culinary History Page
• Robin Carroll-Mann’s Brighid’s Kitchen, a collection of translated and/or redacted recipes, largely from 16th-century Iberian sources
• Someone’s Bibliography of Historical Cooking (I can’t find the person’s name, although Phil thinks it’s by Judy Gerjuoy, aka Mistress Jaelle of Armida)
• Greg Lindahl’s SCA Food Page, which includes among other things many sections of Cariadoc-and-Elizabeth’s Miscellany
• Serve It Forth!, a quarterly hardcopy newsletter on pre-17th-century cooking.
• A Food Timeline developed by Morris County Library, New Jersey, USA
• Regia Anglorum’s Beehive Oven Page
• Personal page of Jules Hojnowski (ska Catalina Alvarez).
• Alia Atlas’s Workroom
• The SCA-COOKS mailing list (To subscribe, send mail to majordomo@ansteorra.org with body “subscribe sca-cooks”. Despite the email address, it is not an Ansteorra-only list!)
• World Spices, a mail-order spice merchant recommended on the SCA-COOKS mailing list (no, we haven’t ordered from him yet ourselves).
• Food Heritage Press’s Books on Medieval Cookery (When last I checked the list, it included no “clinkers” and a number of “must-haves”, which, fortunately, I already have.)
• Stefan li Rous’s Florilegium, a collection of lots of articles from the Rialto (the Usenet newsgroup rec.org.sca) and various SCA-related email lists, sorted by subject. Many, but not all, are relevant to food. The quality of scholarship varies, and you will frequently find three messages in the same file flatly contradicting one another, so you have to assess the information yourself… sorta like Real Life….
• The Olde Cooking Page. An extensive and well-organized collection of recipes and bibliographic information on historic cooking. It covers a broad time period, from classical Rome to the 19th century, including ample information on the SCA’s period. Since the page maintainer is Swedish, there’s more Scandinavian stuff than you might find elsewhere.
• J.L. Matterer’s Boke of Gode Cokery, a collection of medieval recipes, modern interpretations of same, photographs of same, historical commentary on same, etc.
• Another article on camp cooking without a cooler, this one by D. Arthur Glenn.
• Have you ever wondered about the instruction in medieval recipes to “draw it through a strainer”? Cindy Renfrow (author of Take a Thousand Eggs or More) has collected some 16th-century pictures of strainers (now hosted at ostgardr.org).
• Jeff Berry’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to Ancient Cookery, formerly known as the Caer Galen Cook’s Corner.
• Cheap Cooking, a site discussing ways to save money on ingredients, appliances, etc. Could be useful if you’re trying to cook Coronation on $5/person.

 

We can’t endorse all the pages on the Medieval and Renaissance Cooking Webring, since pages are added to it all the time, but the maintainer of the Web ring has set a list of standards that look reasonable to us.

 

So you’ve heard that there’s an event or other gathering of interest in a week or two, and you’d like to go and see what this group is like. There are several different ways SCA-folk get together:

Kinds of gatherings

Events

Usually considered the central focus of the SCA. Usually held at a rented site (church, fraternal-order hall, community center, YMCA camp, etc.) or a public park. Most events are on Saturdays, from late morning to late evening, but some are on Sundays, some are just an afternoon or evening, many are a whole weekend, and a few last a week or longer.

An event often includes such activities as an armored combat tournament (swords, spears, battle-axes, etc.), a fencing tournament, an archery tournament, musical or theatrical entertainment, dancing, classes, etc.

Local events

An event organized by a local group (Canton, Province, etc.) and intended for mostly local people, although if the event is announced in the Kingdom newsletter and appears on the Kingdom event calendar, anybody can attend. Usually under a hundred people.

Kingdom events

Typically larger events of several hundred people, who may have travelled hundreds of miles to get there. Some are tied to a time of year, e.g. Twelfth Night; some are focused around a particular tournament or ceremony, e.g. Coronation, Crown Tourney, Archery Champions, Fencing Champions, Bardic Champions, etc; and some are simply large events that traditionally draw people from all over the Kingdom.

Inter-kingdom events

The largest events, generally scheduled on a long holiday weekend or even a week or more, with thousands of people. The best-known and largest is the Pennsic War, held every August in western Pennsylvania.

Schola or University events

These may be organized at a local, Kingdom, or inter-Kingdom level. They’re distinct from other kinds of events in that the central focus is not a tournament or a ceremony, but rather a series of classes on various SCA-related subjects.

In-persona events

At most SCA events, people’s conversation is a mix of medieval and modern topics; you may hear a conversation switch in rapid succession from e-mail spam-blockers and car repair to who got what SCA award to how to build a 15th-century hat. Some events, for part of the day or part of the site, are in-persona: people are expected to confine their conversation to topics that a person in the Middle Ages or Renaissance could reasonably have discussed. This is not as difficult as you might think: what you’re having for dinner, the quality of the entertainment, and the remarkable beauty and/or wit of your dining companions are all things a medieval person could reasonably discuss.

Demos

Although the majority of SCA events are “for ourselves”, allowing us to educate and entertain other SCA-folk, Østgarðr also provides demonstrations for schools, museums, churches, etc. Demos differ from events in that there’s a clear performer/audience distinction; we are putting on a show for somebody else. Some demos are primarily educational: we’re there to show what various aspects of life were like in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Other demos are primarily about recruiting: we’re there to show off what the SCA does, with the hope that some of the audience will decide to try it themselves. A demo usually has a coordinator, who maintains communication with the site and organizes what’s supposed to happen when. Demos are not necessarily “open to all comers”; if you want to demonstrate something, talk to the coordinator well in advance.

For example, we demonstrate annually at the Fort Tyron Park Medieval Festival, in Manhattan.

We’ve also provided numerous demos for school groups, covering such topics as clothing, food and cooking, spinning and weaving, leatherwork, herbs and medicine, calligraphy and illumination, archery, armor and weapons, and (always popular with children) combat using swords, axes, spears, etc.

Practices

In between formally-organized events and demos, there are lots of less-formal gatherings, typically at a member’s home, in a public park, or (in some cases) at a rented site, for which people are expected to chip in. The most common practices around here are fighter practice, fencing practice, archery practice, dance practice, music practice, brewing workshop, cooking workshop, calligraphy workshop, heraldry workshop, etc. See our Calendar page for details on these recurring activities. For most of these gatherings, pre-1600 clothing is allowed but not required (especially if the gathering is on a weeknight after people get off work or school). Although each practice has a focus activity, there’s usually a good deal of socializing as well.

Business Meetings

The Crown Province has a business meeting once a month, and each Canton has its own business meeting, ranging from every three months to twice a month. At these meetings, people will discuss the organization of upcoming events, report on what happened at recent events, make announcements, and socialize with their friends. Medieval clothing is not required, and most people attend in street clothes after work or school.

What to bring

Age Restrictions

In general, the SCA welcomes participants of all ages, but if you’re under 18 years old, don’t try to attend events or (most) practices or meetings without a parent or legal guardian; you’ll be turned away at the door. Parents or legal guardians will be required to sign waivers for their charges. (And if you look like you might be under 18, bring proof of age.) An exception is practices held in public places, like dance practice in Central Park or fighter practice in Central Park, McCarren Park, etc.

There are youth divisions for fencing and armored combat that allow people ages 6 to 17 to fight with rapier and padded rattan weapons, with a parent’s permission and under the supervision of a trained youth marshal. (Youth aged 16 or 17 with prior experience in rattan fighting may receive special authorization to advance to adult armored combat before turning 18.)

Money (Event Expenses)

Almost all SCA events charge a site fee before you can get in the door. This pays for rental of the site, day-board (see Food, below), and incidental expenses related to running the event. If there’s a profit, it goes into a Canton, Provincial, or Kingdom bank account, generally to be used towards future events. You can make life much easier for the people running the event (and save yourself a few dollars) by reserving and paying in advance. Membership in the SCA, Inc. (see How to Join, below) is not required in order to attend events, but most events have a member discount of five dollars, so if you’re attending at least one event per month, it’ll probably save you money. Some events take donations instead of a set site fee; they may have a suggested donation, but people can donate less or more depending on their own income. Many events also have merchants who will be happy to sell you books, clothing, feast gear (see below), weapons and armor, and at larger events even furniture and tents; some can accept credit cards, most can accept checks, and all can accept cash.

How to dress?

Unless stated otherwise, period clothing is required at events — but the standards are “some attempt at pre-1600 clothing,” so if you don’t happen to have a highly authentic historical costume in your closet, you can either improvise or borrow something. If you want to borrow clothing, contact the Chatelaine a few days before the event. In any case, most events provide changing rooms where people can change from modern clothes (“mundanes”) to historical costume on arrival and change back before they leave.

Food and Feast Gear

Most indoor events include in the site fee a “day-board”, i.e. a buffet-style lunch. Dishes and silverware may be provided for this, but not always; see “feast gear” below. Many indoor events (and a few camping events) also have a more elaborate dinnertime feast, which is usually an optional add-on to the site fee. Bring your own feast gear, or dishes and silverware, for this: ideally a wooden, ceramic, or metal plate and soup-bowl, a wooden, horn, or metal spoon, a knife for cutting things up (the size of a modern steak-knife), some kind of cloth napkin, and possibly a fork (forks weren’t common in most of Europe until late in SCA period, but nobody will snark at you for using one). Some people with Oriental personas use chopsticks. Many people bring candles and candle-holders to light their tables, but some sites don’t allow exposed flames so you’ll need something enclosed. After dinner, as people segue back into their 21st-century selves, there’s frequently a do-it-yourself dishwashing station, or you can just bring a plastic bag, throw your dirty dishes into it, and wash them when you get home. Some smaller events and less-formal gatherings — practices and business meetings — are on a pot-luck basis: bring one dish, in roughly the amount of food that you would eat, and share it with others. These dishes don’t have to be from medieval recipes, nor home-made, but if you’d like to try cooking some medieval recipes, there are plenty of skilled cooks in the Province who can advise you, and there are hundreds of medieval recipes available on the Web.

How to Join

You can attend SCA events as long as you wish without ever formally joining an organization; however, if you’re attending a lot of them, you may find it useful to become a paid member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.. This will get you a membership card, a monthly Kingdom newsletter, and a discount getting into most events. While you’re reading about SCA membership, consider subscribing to the Society-wide quarterly magazine, Tournaments Illuminated; it’s a few dollars more, but it has a lot of interesting and useful articles.

You may also choose to subscribe to the Østgarðr monthly electronic newsletter, the Seahorse by emailing our chronicler at Seahorse@ostgardr.eastkingdom.org

Other info links

Start by visiting the SCA Newcomer’s page, where there are a number of useful guides. In reading these, remember that some customs differ from Kingdom to Kingdom: for example, some Kingdoms (including the East) hold most of their events indoors, in rented buildings, and wouldn’t dream of holding a significant event without a feast, while other Kingdoms hold most of their events in public parks, and at dinnertime people take down their tents and go out to a restaurant.