In recent years, you may have walked by a group of people around a firepit or raised cooking surface at Æthelmearc Royal and just assumed they were cooking dinner, as you see occasionally in other encampments.
What you saw was actually the Medieval Food Lab, an ongoing research project spread over multiple days at the Pennsic War (and other events) with multiple teachers and several different classes and food experiments. It’s not a single class — it’s much, much more.
Baroness Katja Davidova Orlova Khazarina (Chris Adler-France) interviewed the lab’s founder, Baron Janos Meszaros:
Baron Janos baking a pie at the portable Medieval Food Lab. The Medieval Food Lab is an attempt to learn and teach more about pre-Renaissance food preparation technologies and techniques. More and more research is coming out of the archaeological and anthropological communities on what was available and likely used day to day.
What is the Food Lab?
The Medieval Food Lab is an attempt to learn and teach more about pre-Renaissance food preparation technologies and techniques. More and more research is coming out of the archaeological and anthropological communities on what was available and likely used day to day.
The Food Lab was devised to apply that research in an experimental environment and to provide a gateway for re-creationists and cooks to experience something new.
What inspired you to create this ongoing project?
The initial concept for the lab came from a discussion with Duchess Rowan de la Garnison at a Cooking Collegium up in Coppertree. We were discussing what hurdles cooks and researchers in our Society encountered and the discussion of what was actually cooked on and in came up.
From that discussion I began looking less into new recipes and reading more and more works on food pathways and broad cultural themes. Often, I would encounter discussions on how changes in technology directly affected what nutrition cultures had access to and each new chapter took me further down the rabbit hole. Being more of an applied researcher than a straight academic, I started looking into ways to apply what I was learning.
Students and participants at the Food Lab should come ready to try new things and to expand on the skills and knowledge they may have developed during the winter months. All of the book knowledge and modern cooking they have accomplished comes to bear when they encounter cooking over coals or open flame and with non-modern materials and techniques.
The overall goal of the Food Lab is to provide an open and collaborative environment for cooks and re-creationists of all skill levels to come and experiment with cooking techniques and tools that they would not normally have access to in a modern kitchen.
When and where did you hold the first Food Lab?
The first one was set up at Pennsic in 2013 by the grace of their Majesties of Æthelmearc. We were able to take a small corner of the Royal Encampment and set up some shade and a number of cooking pits. Since then, we have expanded our equipment and facility to be fully mobile, allowing it to show up at Æthelmearc War Practice and even Known World Cooks and Bards in the kingdom of Northshield last year.
What have you taught personally during Food Labs?
While my role in the Lab tends towards that of a facilitator and administrator, I have had the chance to teach courses on identifying temperatures without using a thermometer and basic fire building & maintenance, as well as an introduction to cooking in crockery over coals. Most of the classes that I teach are meant to build the fundamentals needed for a new cook, or one inexperienced with working with wood and charcoal fires to build the skills needed for more complex applications and recipes.
Who are some of the other teachers at past Food Labs and what have they taught there?
We have had the luck to be the host for a number of wonderful teachers in the Lab over the years. Our current favorite and recurring teacher is Mistress Lydia Allen with her cheese making class. Master Galefridus Peregrinus of the Kingdom of the East has taught us about a specific application of Islamic cooking over a brazier. We have also had team classes taught by Baroness Oddkatla Jonsdottir and Mistress Katla úlfheþinn of Æthelmearc on the raising and preparation of rabbits for cooking.
Mobile set-up of the Food Lab at an event.
This year at Pennsic, we will have classes on cheese making and how to craft pirogi. On Tuesday of War Week, we are focusing on bread baking with classes on sourdough and Islamic unleavened bread. These are made possible by the hands-on class we are having at the end of Peace Week on how to construct your own clay oven.
The most fun, though, happens during the Open Lab. Here, cooks from all over have access to the facilities, materials, and larder of the Food Lab to play and experiment at their own pace. We provide everything including refreshments during this time.
The free and open experience has been very well received in the past as participants can fit as little or as much lab time as they desire during the day. And all the participants get to enjoy the fruits of their labors and collaborate with colleagues from all over the Known World.
Cooking over coals in period-style ceramic pots
When are the next Food Labs planned?
Scheduling this summer has been “interesting” for many reasons, but the Food Lab will be back at Pennsic this year with improved infrastructure, a full list of classes, and the return of old faces. The class schedule can be found in the Pennsic University listing. (See the Pennsic University schedule and search for “Æthelmearc Royal – Food Lab (N04)”)
How can a teacher get involved?
The Food Lab is always looking for people wanting to participate and set up their own laboratories. We maintain a presence on Facebook especially to allow people from all over to keep in contact and to share information and resources, all in the hope to keep pushing the boundaries of awareness and information. (Go here or search for “Medieval Food Lab” in Facebook.)
If someone is particularly interested in using the Food Lab for a class at Pennsic or another event, I encourage them to join the group on Facebook or contact me directly (caseyodonovan at yahoo dot com) and we will see how to best support their idea with the materials and resources we have collected over the years.
How can class coordinators of future scholas decide whether they have the facilities to host a Food Lab?
As we gain new members to the Lab, the classes and skills that can be taught increase as well. Right now, the most important factor for using the portable Food Lab is to have a well-ventilated place. For the most part, we use a charcoal-based fire for cooking on, so any event site that will allow us to ignite and cook over charcoal is best. The portable Lab is raised specifically to allow its use in areas where we cannot cut a fire pit.
What should students attending the lab expect to learn? Should they wear or not wear certain garb or make any other preparations?
Students and participants at the Food Lab should come ready to try new things and to expand on the skills and knowledge they may have developed during the winter months. All of the book knowledge and modern cooking they have accomplished comes to bear when they encounter cooking over coals or open flame and with non-modern materials and techniques.
Since these are hands-on classes, individuals attending should come comfortably dressed for the weather, but also in clothing that is suitable to be cooking and preparing food in. It is strongly encouraged that sleeves be close fitting or able to be rolled up as participants will be working over and near fire.
Anything else you want to add?
From the beginning, the Food Lab has been a labor of love and not intended for one person alone.
We are constantly looking for individuals who would like to develop their own laboratories and the materials used in them. Experiencing the use of pre-modern tools and techniques is cross-disciplinary, bringing together cooks and bakers as well as potters, metalsmiths, clothiers, and weavers, to see how all of these technologies were applied in the kitchens of our forebearers.
I greatly encourage anyone interested in applied archaeology and desiring the chance to “play with their food” to come out, get involved, and enjoy themselves at the Lab.
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