The theme for the AS 55 Scarlet Apron Cooking Competition, traditionally held at the Æthelmearc War Practice, is in! As the Sylvan Bard has already declared the rules for the next Sylvan Bard competition (keep tuned), I decided I should follow this example and give people plenty of notice for the next Scarlet Apron contest to be held at AE War Practice. The theme will be . . . *drum roll* . . . CHERRIES!
Master Dagonell serving venison at the Iron Chef competition wearing the coveted emblem of office: the one and only Scarlet Apron.
I made a lovely dish called Syrosye from Curye On Inglyschand discovered that because no amounts are given, it’s been redacted as everything from cherry soup to cherry bread. I’m curious what AE cooks would do with it. You are NOT required to use this recipe, other recipes will be welcome, however there are points for authenticity and documentation, so take that into consideration. Good luck!
Syrosye by THFool Dagonell
Original:
“To make a syrosye. Tak cheryes & do out þe stones & grynde hem wel & draw
hem þorw a streynoure & do it in a pot. & do þerto whit gres or swete botere
& myed wastel bred, & cast þerto good wyn & sugre, & salte it & stere it wel
togedere, & dresse it in disches; & set þeryn clowe gilofre, & strew sugre
aboue.”
My translation:
“To make Syrosye: Take cherries and do out the stones and grind them well and
draw them through a strainer and do it in a pot and do thereto white grease
(lard) or sweet butter and minced wastel (white) bread, and cast thereto good
wine and sugar and salt it and stir it well together, and dress it in dishes;
and set therein cloves and strew sugar about.”
My redaction:
Two packages frozen cherries, 10oz @, thawed
3 Tablespoons butter
4 slices bread, shredded,
1/2 cup red wine.
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
powdered cloves, powdered sugar
Run the cherries and their juice in a blender. Put the blended cherries,
butter, breadcrumbs, wine, sugar and salt in a pot and ‘stir it well together’.
Simmer on a low heat until it becomes warm mush. Serve into bowls and sprinkle
with powdered cloves and powdered sugar. Use a delicate hand with the cloves,
it’s a strong spice and a little goes a long way. If you don’t have a light
touch, omit the cloves entirely. Serve hot.
Notes:
One of the advantages of owning a chest freezer is that my wife and I can buy
frozen food in bulk. We bought a case of assorted packages of frozen fruit
and put them in the freezer. The original recipe called for cherries, so I
used two packages of cherries, but you could use any fruit, frozen or fresh.
The word ‘syrosye’ does not appear anywhere in any of my cooking glossaries,
so I looked it up on Google and got nothing but other redactors translating
the exact same recipe. Since amounts and specifics are never mentioned in the
original, translations vary wildly. Some use few breadcrumbs and call the
result a soup, others use lots of breadcrumbs and result can be eaten with a
fork. I went with the latter. They are also evenly divided on whether to use
white or red wine. It was dark red cherries, and I had red wine on hand, so
I used red wine. I used powdered cloves so there would be no surprises biting
down into something soft and finding something hard. This would make a very
nice dessert for a feast.
Reference:
Constance B. Hieatt & Sharon Butler (ed.), Curye On Inglysch, Book III, Utilis Coquinario, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1985.
Lady Elska, winner of the first Scarlet Apron competition, with its organizer, Edelvrouw Lijsbet de Keukere. Photo by Lady Àine ny Allane.
Good Gentles! War Practice is almost here!
…… Okay, maybe not *almost,* but it is close enough to start thinking about the Scarlet Apron Cooking Competition! The challenge for 2018 will require a bit more time to prepare, so we wanted to make our announcement early. We hope you will join us!
The next Scarlet Apron will be held on Saturday, May 19, 2018, at Æthelmearc War Practice.
Your challenge: Period Food Preservation! Those wishing to compete should plan on presenting a medieval food item that has been preserved using techniques outlined or described in SCA-appropriate food and cooking resources. We’re looking for food that has been pickled, brined, cured, dried, candied, en confit, or fermented — if it was made to last, we want to see it on the entry table! (Please keep in mind – documentation is required for this challenge!)
Contestants should plan to have a portion of their medieval preserves available to be sampled by the judges and populace, as well as some to remain untouched to be left on display for presentation purposes.
More information will be provided as arrangements are made. In the meantime, please send any questions to Edelvrouw Lijsbet de Keukere (Facebook Messenger is preferred – Keirin Lazauskas-Ralff).
THL Elska, last year’s winner, with THL Lijsbet. Photo by Master Alaxandair O Conchobhair.
Cooks of Æthelmearc! The time has come to season your skillets and muscle up your mixing arms – The Scarlet Apron demands a new champion be chosen, so that it may dress a new breast this year!
Join us at noon on Saturday, May 20, 2017 at Æthelmearc War Practice, and show your mettle as an entrant in The Scarlet Apron Food & Cooking Competition. Cooks of all experience levels are welcome and encouraged to enter – whether you are new to the SCA or medieval cooking, or you area veteran of the event kitchen, there is room at our table for you!
This year’s competition theme is “Family Meal Time,” for which entrants are encouraged (but not required) to work with someone in their family – however they choose to define it – to create a medieval version of a modern meal that frequents their dinner tables at home (i.e. lasagna, a roast with trimmings, chicken nuggets and fries, etc.).
These meals must be sourced from reliable cooking texts, which may be from anywhere and any time in SCA period. If using multiple sources from different cultures, it must be plausible that the combination of dishes being served would have been seen on the same table at the same time (for example, it is plausible that many recipes from English and French texts could have been found on the same menu, depending on what time period it was; Likewise, it is not as plausible that a recipe from ancient Rome found its way to the same table as an Elizabethan English dish, and so would be an unfavorable combination for this competition).
Entries should contain an entrée and at least two side dishes, and be accompanied by a brief documentation form for each dish (to be provided – coming soon!). Presentation counts – plan on dressing up your table and your service so it is pleasing to the eye!
Pre-registration is required to participate. There will be an announcement once the web site has been updated for this year’s competition, including a new registration form. In the meantime, start planning your entry, and send any questions to Edelvrouw Lijsbet de Keukere (Keirin Lazauskas-Ralffon Facebook Messenger, or email here).
We are so excited to see what you bring to the table this year!
Lady Elska, winner of the 2016 Scarlet Apron competition, with its organizer, THL Edelvrouw Lijsbet de Keukere. Photo by Lady Àine ny Allane.
Cooks of AEthelmearc! The time has come to season your skillets and muscle up your mixing arms – The Scarlet Apron demands a new champion be chosen, so that it may dress a new breast this year!
Join us at noon on Saturday, May 20, 2017 at Æthelmearc War Practice, and show your mettle as an entrant in The Scarlet Apron Food & Cooking Competition.
Cooks of all experience levels are welcome and encouraged to enter – whether you are new to the SCA or medieval cooking, or you are a veteran of the event kitchen, there is room at our table for you!
This year’s competition theme is “Family Mealtime,” for which entrants are encouraged (but not required) to work with someone in their family – however they choose to define it – to create a medieval version of a modern meal that frequents their dinner tables at home (i.e. lasagna, a roast with trimmings, chicken nuggets and fries, etc.).
These meals must be sourced from reliable cooking texts, which may be from anywhere and any time in SCA period. If using multiple sources from different cultures, it must be plausible that the combination of dishes being served would have been seen on the same table at the same time (for example, it is plausible that many recipes from English and French texts could have been found on the same menu, depending on what time period it was; Likewise, it is not as plausible that a recipe from ancient Rome found its way to the same table as an Elizabethan English dish, and so would be an unfavorable combination for this competition).
Entries should contain an entrée and at least two side dishes, and be accompanied by a brief documentation form for each dish (to be provided – coming soon!). Presentation counts, so plan on dressing up your table and your service so it is pleasing to the eye!
Pre-registration is required to participate.
There will be an announcement once the web site has been updated for this year’s competition, including a new registration form. In the meantime, start planning your entry, and send any questions to Edelvrouw Lijsbet de Keukere (Keirin Lazauskas-Ralff) on Facebook Messenger (preferred method) or via email.
We are so excited to see what you bring to the table this year!
Winning entry at a past cooking competition, the Cast Iron Chef in Delftwood. Photo by Baroness Katja
The Scarlet Apron, a new cooking competition, will held for the first time this weekend at Æthelmearc War Practice, May 21. Open to all levels of cooks, the theme is Illusion Food. See the competition guidelines here.
Anyone wishing to participate must create an example of such a food from anywhere in the SCA’s period of study. This could be an interpretation of a subtlety that has been described in a cooking text, or an original creation that can be considered “period-plausible” based on its design, construction, and the materials used to create it.
Competition coordinator Edelvrouw Lijsbet de Keukere shared the following frequently asked questions with The Æthelmearc Gazette, and also talked to Food Editor Baroness Katja (Chris Adler-France) about cooking competitions in Æthelmearc:
FAQs
1) To whom is the Scarlet Apron open? Anyone and everyone who has a passion for cooking, or even just for challenging themselves, may enter. This competition is open to gentles of all skill levels, whether you have not yet received a Sycamore, or you have long since been named a Laurel.
2) How will the competition be judged? There will be three categories, each judged differently:
The Scarlet Apron Championtitle will be awarded based on the assessment of our judges. This is determined by how your work is scored according to a rubric. The judging will take place between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Populace Choicewill be awarded to the individual (or small team) who collects the most votes from members of the populace. Each person who comes into the Great Hall to browse the entries will receive a bean, which they may use to vote for their favorite entry. The piece with the most beans at the end of the voting period will win the Populace Choice title. The competition will be open to populace voting from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.
Youth Championwill be awarded to the entrant entered in the youth category based on the rubric scores give to them by their judges. The youth category will be judged by members of the populace between a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
3) Do I have to choose which category I want to be judged within? No. All adult entrants are automatically eligible for both the Scarlet Apron Champion and the Populace Choice. Youth entries are automatically eligible for all three categories: the Scarlet Apron Champion, Populace Choice, and Youth Champion.
Duchess Sir Rowan tended the fire for her (winning) team at Cast Iron Chef. Photo by Baroness Katja
4) Can I enter as part of a team? Yes. You may enter the competition as an individual, or as a small team of two to three people. Please make sure that everyone’s names are included in the registration form, and that each person’s tasks and responsibilities are described in your write-up.
5) I’m not great at writing documentation. Will that affect my ability to
compete? It shouldn’t! We know that writing is not everyone’s strong suit, especially when it comes to academic writing. We will provide a brief questionnaire at the check-in table that will suffice as your documentation for your entry. If you would prefer to print it out and complete it ahead of time, you may email Edelvrouw Lijsbet at lijsbet.vandelfthout@gmail.com to receive a PDF of the questionnaire instead.
All entrants are encouraged to provide a short photo diary of their piece. Pictures should include any extant pieces that inspired the finished product and/or the production process, as well as any photos of the actual entry piece being made (progress photos). These will be especially helpful for entries that do not include a whole lot of written documentation. Don’t forget to describe what each photo is!
Your other option is to sit with your entry all day so the judges may have an opportunity to ask you questions about your work. You will need to be present from 11:00 a.m. through 3:00 p.m., or until all of the judges have reported in.
6) Do I need to be present in order to be judged or be declared a winner? Absolutely not. Your documentation (written piece/questionnaire and your progress photos) should be selected to anticipate many of the judges’ questions. Likewise, you do not need to be present in order to be declared a winner. If you cannot stay to collect your prize, you will be contacted to arrange a pick-up or delivery.
7) I’m nervous about the rubric. Can I see it ahead of time? Absolutely! It is only fair to know how you will be assessed ahead of time. To request a copy of the rubric that the Scarlet Apron judges will be using, please email Lijsbet.
Serving the judges at Cast Iron Chef. Photo by JJ Art and Photography
8) Who are the judges? This year’s judges have been hand selected from the very best of the Kingdom’s cooks and range from Sycamores to Laurels. All of them have a wealth of experience in the SCA kitchen and a wide breadth of knowledge of medieval cooking and presentation methods.
9) Does my illusion food/sotelty need to be sweet or a dessert? No! Many period sotelties were created out of meats, breads, and other savory dishes. Entrants are encouraged to work in whatever edible medium with which they are comfortable.
10) Will the entries be judged on taste as well as appearance? We understand that some illusion foods/sotelties in period were meant to be consumed by dinner guests, while others were merely meant to serve as an artistic discussion piece. If your entry would have been consumed in period (for example, a formed pie), then the judges will be assessing the taste. If it was only meant to be an artistic piece, then it will not. Non-edible entries (that is, illusion foods/sotelties that would not have been consumed in period practice) will not experience a penalty in points.
Entrants who provide an edible piece should provide their own napkins, paper plates, plastic cutlery, etc. for the judges to use.
11) When and where should I bring my entry to be judged? The registration table will be open in the Great Hall beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Beginning then, you may bring your entry piece and begin setting it up on your assigned table space. The Scarlet Apron Champion judging will take place between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. that day, while the Populace Choice judging may continue until 4:00 p.m.
12) When will I need to collect my entry at the end of the competition? You may collect your entry beginning at 4:00 p.m.. It must be removed from the Great Hall in time to set up for Court.
13) When will the winners be announced? All winners will be announced and prizes awarded in Court on Saturday evening.
14) I really want to enter! But I don’t know where to begin! Is there
somewhere online I can go to view examples of illusion food/sotelties? Yes! Edelvrouw Lijsbet has created a Pinterest board that is full of examples of both modern food art and recreations of medieval sotelties to get your creative juices flowing. The board can be found here: https://www.pinterest.com/taliesinsmuse/scarlet-apron-2016-illusion-food/
15) Will I need to prepare my entry on site? No. The competition is only for your finished product. If you need to prepare your entry close to the judging/presentation period, you may do so in your own encampment or at home. The competition will not be providing space in which you may cook or otherwise prepare your entry. There will be no additional benefit to preparing your entry on site versus bringing it from home.
16) What kind of illusion food/sotelty should I plan to make? You may make any kind of illusion food/sotelty you wish, as long as it remains within “period plausibility.” That means you do not need to create an exact interpretation of a sotelty described in an extant cooking text (though you are encouraged to do so!), but the image/scene it depicts must be one from within SCA period. You are also encouraged to use period-appropriate materials and construction techniques. Doing so will improve your rubric score.
17) Do I need to pre-register? No. Currently, there is no registration form available online with which to pre-register for this competition. However, if you are planning on entering, please email Lijsbet
to ensure we have enough table space!
18) How much room will I have to set up my entry? You will have no less than half of one six-foot-long picnic table. Depending on how many entrants we have on the day of the competition, this may be expanded to allow for a full table space per entrant. Be prepared for at least three feet of table space, and if you are able to expand to six feet, you may be able to do so. You will not be penalized if you have the opportunity to use the full six feet but only use a portion of it.
19) Will I need to dress my table space? It is not required, but strongly encouraged. Because this is, for all intents and purposes, a show piece, presentation is key to your display. You should plan on providing as much ambience as you can to set the scene for your entry piece. This may include table linens, dishes, floral, or other artistic arrangements, candles, or anything else that may add to the spectacle of your piece.
20) Will any table dressings be available on the day of the competition? We will have a limited supply of basic, plastic picnic tablecloths available on a first-come, first-served basis. If you need one, you may request one when you arrive to register in the morning on the day of the competition. No advance requests will be accepted.
21) I cannot make it to War Practice, but I would still like to submit an
entry. Can someone else bring and set up my piece on my behalf? Yes! Please just make sure all of the components for judging are included, and that the person bringing your entry puts YOUR name and contact information on the registration sheet.
22) Does my entry need to be period? Your score will certainly increase if you base your entry on a period sotelty and/or use period materials and construction techniques.
However, the only REQUIREMENT is that your entry be “period-plausible,” dealing with
SCA-period subject matter. In other words, it should depict a medieval scene or subject (like a scene out of a period manuscript, something out of a period story like Le Morte d’Arthur, or even a medieval depiction of an animal or article of clothing). If you cannot use all period materials/construction techniques to create this, explain why in your documentation questionnaire.
Interview with Lijsbet
Edelvrouw Lijsbet de Keukere. Photo by Susan Verberg.
Q: Last fall, you ran the Cast Iron Chef cooking competition at A Shoote in the Wildwood, where four teams cooked period-inspired dishes on site in a couple of hours, much like Chopped and other cooking competition television shows.
The Scarlet Apron, however, is closer to the Wooden Pin and other display competitions where cooks bring an already prepared dish to be judged. How do you choose which kind of competition will work for a given event?
A: A lot of factors were considered when coming up with the format of each of these very different cooking competitions. When I was asked to revive the cooking competition held at previous Æthelmearc War Practices (then called the Wooden Pin) I did consider something similar to Cast Iron Chef, where the contestants cook on site. Ultimately, I decided to make this one closer to the original Wooden Pin format for a few reasons.
First, I was the head cook for Crown Tournament, which was being held in my barony of Delftwood only two weeks before the competition. I knew I would, personally, not be able to maintain enough momentum to promote and run a cooking event that required the kind of time and preparation that Cast Iron Chef has.
Second, I know that Æthelmearc War Practice is an event many people attend for the purpose of attending Order meetings, getting together with their far-away Friends, and spending as much time on the battlefield or taking classes as possible. It’s a really busy time! I recognized that people who may be interested in entering the competition may have other obligations, or just other things they wanted to do, rather than take up a whole day to participate in one activity. At A Shoote in the Wildwood — Delftwood’s archery event that takes place over Labor Day Weekend — we were looking for a large-scale event to encourage people to stay on site for the whole weekend. Usually, most of the major archery competitions were finished on Saturday, and Sunday attendance was significantly lower. By creating an all-day cooking competition on Sunday, we boosted our attendance numbers, while providing something fun for those who are not archers to participate in!
So I guess the TL;DR version is, I try to assess what I think would be fun for people to participate in, what other things are happening at the event, and how much time I am personally able to commit to the planning and execution of the competition in order to decide its format.
Q: You’ve also coordinated some event and cooks guild food challenges in Delftwood, such as asking gentles to bring items made with honey to Mistress Othindisa’s Laurelling (who was inducted for her knowledge of period beekeeping). What advice would you give to local groups to hold their own cooking challenges at their events, social meetings, or cook guild sessions?
A: I’m always looking for ways to stretch my culinary muscle and challenge myself. Sometimes preparing a feast with a limited budget does not allow me to do this, and I’m the kind of person who needs a reason (meaning an event or prescribed activity) to motivate myself. I figured I’m not the only one in the SCA who feels like this, so I began thinking about what I would have fun doing at events that was not necessarily preparing a feast, but still allowed me to interact with other cooks, share knowledge, learn a bunch, and have fun while doing it. The idea of competitions or discussion sessions at which food was the main attraction seemed to be a great solution to the challenge of bringing all of these things together.
In terms of challenges taking place at events – promote, promote, promote! I tend to get a bit zealous when hosting any kind of event or program within an event, so I’m going to take this moment to apologize to anyone on my Facebook friends list who also subscribes to all of the other historical cooking groups and local SCA groups that I do, because I tend to post announcements to them all for the widest reach possible, which means they get about 15 notifications at once all saying the same thing!
When it comes to creating activities for local meetings, I recommend creating specific challenges. When the Delftwood cooks’ guild meets, it is to discuss or present the results of a specific request, usually decided upon at the previous month’s meeting. For example, some of the topics we have covered have included: Vegetarian entree options that are NOT pies; Cook Thine Enemy, for which you must determine which culture or people your persona was fighting against during your chosen period of study, and cook a dish that they would have eaten; Sauces and Condiments; Illusion Food; Seasonal and Regional – food your persona would have eaten at that particular time of year in their particular region; and Outdoor Picnic foods. At each meeting, I usually solicit suggestions for challenges from those who are present, and then we agree on which one we want to use for our next meeting, while the rest are recorded for use at a later date.
Lately, however, our schedules have gotten a bit busier than usual, and the format of issuing a challenge, then cooking the dish to discuss with the group has gotten a bit stale. In order to give our cooks a bit of a break, and to encourage and welcome the new people who have recently come to Delftwood with an interest to food and cooking, we have initiated a series of classes on Medieval Gastronomy. For these classes, one person volunteers to lead a small team (or some choose to work by themselves) to research the cuisine of a specific culture within the SCA range of study. They create a presentation that discusses the ingredients, flavor qualities, and cooking techniques that are indicative of that culture, and cook samples of dishes that best illustrate these points (because, let’s face it, you can’t really talk about the flavors and qualities of food without tasting it, right?). So we have had small groups of people present their findings on the food culture and flavors from 13th to 15th century England and France, ancient Rome, and medieval Japan.
Our next class is coming up on June 2, at which Meisterin Felicity will be teaching us all about Medieval German gastronomy! I have found these classes to be helpful for our new SCA participants to learn what they should expect from medieval food and SCA feasts. It is also a great way to encourage new people to get their hands dirty in the kitchen (and wash them after!). In fact, one of our newest members cooked her very first medieval recipe, AND presented her very first A&S class through one of these classes, and she has been challenging herself in the kitchen ever since!
Judges at Cast Iron Chef: Master Daniel del Cavallo, THL Svana in kyrra, Baron Benedict Fergus atte Mede, Baroness Katja Davidova Orlova Khazarina, with Edelvrouw Lijsbet de Keukere. Photo by JJ Art and Photography
So I guess, be open to variety – try to include topics for those who are timidly dipping a toe in the water, as well as for those who are comfortable on the high dive. The future of SCA cooking depends on those of us who have a passion for food encouraging the next generation, and helping them find their footing. These casual meetings are a great way to do it!
Q: What are the logistics/needs for each kind of competition? For example, for the Cast Iron challenge, your barony’s populace donated the food stuffs for the pantry from which the entrants cooked.
A: It really depends on the challenge issued. Like I mentioned earlier, I did originally want to do something similar to Cast Iron Chef at War Practice. That would have required me to begin soliciting food donations and promoting the competition MUCH earlier than I knew I realistically had time for, considering my timeline for Crown Tournament prep (paired with the fact that, mundanely, my husband and I were moving from our apartment of 10 years into our first house exactly one month before Crown). This year’s Scarlet Apron was intentionally planned because I knew that I could not live up to the high standards I have for how I would like to see this competition go off, so I planned accordingly.
In addition, Cast Iron Chef was something special last year, and we in Delftwood would like to see it grow. If both Cast Iron Chef and the Scarlet Apron are to last, they must be in different formats, as not to burn out or bore our cooks, many of whom may take part in both competitions! Variety is the spice of life, after all!
Q; Four teams entered the Cast Iron challenge, which was at a smaller local event and was an on-site cooking challenge. How many entrants do you hope to attract to the Scarlet Apron challenge at War Practice, which is a larger event and requires entrants to bring a finished piece?
A: Well, I am hoping to see both competitions grow! It warms my heart to see people get creative and passionate about food. I have noticed that the art of historical cooking has tended to fall into the lap of whoever is in charge of cooking dayboard or feast for events, but does not usually get a place outside of these job duties at most SCA events. This is my attempt to bring the Culinary Arts into the spotlight, and allow our cooks to really show off what they can do!
With that in mind, I hope to see lots of people entering the Scarlet Apron this year! I am prepared for 20 individual people, which includes those working independently and in small teams. Everyone who participates will receive a token so they can brag that they rose to the challenge issued! Of course, I would be ecstatic to see more than that participate, but I know that the first year of a new activity can be a little tricky to get off the ground sometimes (hence why I inundate social media and mailing lists to promote these types of things).
Still, the idea is to encourage the cooks of the kingdom to join in – each year that the Scarlet Apron is held, there will be a new medallion to collect, similar to how Pennsic medallion art changes every year, and have become collector’s items for some people. It is my hope that we will all be Ooooo-ing and Aaaaaah-ing at the participants’ achievements and shiny new flare items for years to come!
Q: What are your future cooking competition goals?
A: I just want to continue to promote historical, researched cooking as much as I can while having fun! I am hoping that both the Scarlet Apron and Cast Iron Chef become a “thing,” for their respective events, and I have some ideas on how to do that.
Cast Iron Chef, for example, will remain an on-site cooking tournament; however, the format may change from time to time. This year, in order to keep within our archery event theme, we will be asking the cooks to team up with an archer for a special shoot. The archer will have targets of images of food. While all the cooks will have access to a “peasant’s pantry,” of basic staple foods like grains, common spices, and basic garden vegetation, the archers will be trying to acquire the cooks access to more “premium” items like dairy and animal protein. Whatever the archer is able to shoot with his or her arrow is what the cook will be allowed to use for their recipe. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this plays out!
As for the Scarlet Apron, I would love to see this blossom into a well-regarded, kingdom-level activity. War Practice tends to be one of those events attended by a more diverse group of SCAdians. Most of the time, a local group’s event will only attract local, or mostly local people. War Practice gives cooks from all over AEthelmearc to connect, meet, and interact with each other. I am hoping that, over the next few years, cooks of all experience levels see the Scarlet Apron as an opportunity to network and make new friends, and allow this competition to grow in such a way that we all become better – and more fearless – cooks for it.
Q: Anything else you want to add?
A: One of the other things I would love to see happen in the Scarlet Apron is more Youth participation. I am a big fan of SCA children participating in relevant activities alongside the adults when it is appropriate to do so. I love it when I see kids helping in the kitchen – in fact, Meisterin Felicity’s children, Fela (who is nine) and Frytz (who is almost five), were a HUGE help in forming all 200 homemade pretzels that were served at Crown Tournament. I know that if I were a young child in the SCA, I would much prefer to do the stuff the adults were doing, because, to me, that is what the SCA is. (NB: Please understand that I am NOT criticizing the separate kids’ activities hosted at events at all. Many children prefer to do these kinds of crafts or games, and that, too, is awesome!)
I am hoping to see some Youth entries, to demonstrate their talent to the kingdom, to let them know that their contributions are worthy of recognition, and to encourage those kids interested in learning about food and cooking to take a leap of faith! Ideally, I would like to have young members of our populace also act as judges for the Youth entries, however I do not yet have many volunteers – I will be reaching out to the kingdom shortly to put feelers out for this. In the meantime, I am hopeful that we will see at least one entry by someone who falls into our Youth category!
Finally, I would like to encourage everyone attending War Practice to come by the Great Hall any time between 11 and 4 to look at the amazingly creative talent of our kingdom’s cooks. And while you are there, please pick up a token from the check-in table to vote for your favorite – whichever entrant receives the most tokens will win a prize for being the Populace’s Choice winner!
I am very excited about the Scarlet Apron’s inaugural year, and hope that everyone has fun creating and viewing the entries that will be on display!
If you are a baker, join us!
If you are a baker, a butcher, a saucier,
A fry-er, A boil-er, a sugar paste sculptor…
If you love to cook, come add fuel to our fire,
For your passion and skills we want you to show us.
Join us!
Join us!
Join us!
Introducing The Scarlet Apron – a new cooking competition to be held at
Æthelmearc War Practice (May 19-22, 2016)!
This competition is open to any and all comers who have a penchant for the
medieval culinary arts. No matter if you are new to period cooking, or if
it is old hat to you, you are welcome at our table!
The theme for our inaugural year is sure to be a feast for the eyes as well
as the belly – Illusion Food! Anyone wishing to participate must create an
example of such a food from anywhere in SCA-period. This could be an
interpretation of a subtlety that has been described in a cooking text, or
an original creation that can be considered “period-plausible” based on its
design, construction and the materials used to create it.
All contestants should follow these guidelines:
1. The entry should be made and assembled prior to judging – this is not a
competition at which contestants must cook their final product on site.
2. The finished product should be constructed from at least 50% edible
material.
3. The use of period construction techniques, including internal shaping
structures and edible ingredients is preferred and encouraged.
4. The final product should be registered, signed in, and ready for judging
by 11:00 AM on Saturday, May 21. The judging will take place in the Great
Hall alongside the A&S competition. Registration/sign-in will open Saturday
at 10:00 AM. The final judging will occur between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM,
with the winner announced during court that evening.
5. Contestants should provide a brief written overview (one page, maximum)
of their entry, including their inspiration (if it was based on a specific
subtlety, the original text of its description; if it was based on
something else, then those details), a complete list of the materials used,
and a description of how they created the structure.
6. Contestants can choose to sit with their entry during the judging period
in order to answer questions from the judges and the populace, however it
is not required.
7. Plating and presentation are integral to this competition. Each
contestant will get no less than half of a six- or eight-foot table, which
should be adorned as befits the entry.
Entries have three potential categories to win: Youth (for contestants age
5-12), Populace Choice, and Overall Winner. Cooks of all skill levels are
encouraged to enter!
Any questions should be directed to the competition coordinator, Edelvrouw
Lijsbet de Keukere (lijsbet.vandelfthout@gmail.com, Keirin Lazauskas-Ralff
on Facebook). We are so excited about this competition, and are looking
forward to seeing the beautiful and delicious pieces of art you create!