Introduction
Deciding on a Theme
Selecting Recipes
Costing
Costing Worksheet
Scheduling
The Precook Outline
The Day Of Timeline
Nice Touches
Bibliography
Calontir Cookery Guild

Kateryn de Develyn's Homepage

Introduction

This lecture on planning a feast is intended for the person who is planning their first large feast for 50 or more people. It will hopefully guide you through the process and give you confidence that you are doing all you can do to make this a true medieval feast experience for your feasters. And hopefully you will enjoy the process enough to not swear off ever being a head cook for a large feast again

Many people hesitate to volunteer to lead the effort to cook a large feast because it is something they have never done before. Don't be afraid. Use the guidelines I have laid out for you and it should go well barring major disasters such as tornado's traveling through the site, your kitchen blowing up, or all of the ovens are stripped from the kitchen, the water is shut off… You know the majors one cannot predict - they can't be planned for and can only be worked around with the help of the event steward and many others. Other disasters such as getting stung by a bee and having to go to the hospital, or slipping on the wet floor and breaking an ankle can be anticipated and planned around through the use of timelines and posting recipes.

Remember: Timelines are our friends. If an accident should befall you as head cook, such as coming down with measles, hand the timeline and the recipes to a trusted person to run the kitchen for you in your stead. You will be able to rest easier knowing that all your hard preparation for this feast will not go to waste.

Having timelines and printed recipes also helps prevent organizational chaos in the kitchen. If a person takes off, and no one knows the recipe to do next because it's all in their head, what are you going to do? You have to wait until they come back to tell you how to make the recipe. Having a timeline also help keep tempers even. You won't be having arguments with people about what should be done next, and you won't be in a panic at the last minute because something's not done.

I've broken down this lecture into several sections. I’ve written them to be read in the order shown. However, each section can stand on it’s own.