Lilies XVIII – Seige Cooking Competition

Sponsored by HL Kateryn de Develyn

We had four teams compete this year.  And wow! I don’t think the teams could have done a better job of overwhelming the judges with their creativity and their expertise.  I know I was really happy and proud of what they produced for the judges.  We have some great cooks in our Kingdom of Calontir and those who entered and demonstrated their talents in this competition certainly deserve to be listed among the best! 

I sat with the judges and tasted everything, although I didn’t contribute to the judging other than to make happy noises as I tasted everything.  There was nothing served that I wouldn’t be happy to have at a feast.  These folks came up with some really good tasting stuff! And no duplicate recipes or flavors among all the dishes of the teams.  And that was amazing also.

Crystal Mynes –  Team 1   

Salad with Deviled Eggs

Bryndens with Strawberries and Ricotta Cheese

Fried Chicken Stuffed with Herbs

Fava Beans

Candied Carrots

Green Peas with Onions

Wilted Spinach Salad with Bacon Grease Vinaigrette

Leek and Chicken Soup

Fried Chicken Innards

This team went first – and the judges were amazed at the quantity and quality of the presentation.  There was color, textures, flavors and aroma!  They candied the carrots with the raw sugar – and it was good! And I’m not that fond of candied carrots. So a –good- coming from me is high praise indeed. The leek and chicken soup was outstanding.  Their salad tasted excellent.  The fava beans –tasted excellent (I really want their list of ingredients and prep recipe for my personal collection).  I would serve those at feast anytime.  The Fried Chicken innards were crispy and looked good (as well as tasting good – I think I had to try them oh three or four times before I could adequately judge them ;-) sitting on their bed of spinach.

Ameleth Moor – 15th/16th Century English Sources

Pot Roasted Chicken

Chicken Breast with Braised Leeks

Soup

Salad

Peas with Ginger

Glazed Carrots

Strawberries with Cream Sauce

Chicken Breast with Fava Beans and Hard-boiled Eggs

This team presented their entry by carrying in their own table top loaded with the dishes and heralding their entry.  It was tres cool!  They also explained that they presented hard-boiled eggs to show that they had eggs to spare... and to fool the enemy into thinking their larder was much more well-stocked than it was.  The braised leeks were excellent!.  The peas with ginger were flavorful.  The pot roasted chicken was to die for.  I thought the fava beans tasted very good!  And glazed carrrots made with raw sugar were a treat!  I'm going to use raw sugar from now for glazing carrots.

Iron Chef Goes Medieval –Platina

First Service - Salad with Herb Vinaigrette and Poppy Seeds

Flat bread with Herbs and Ricotta

Second Service - Fillet Chicken rolled around an herb and ricotta mix

Sweet Fritters flavored with apple slices

Fava Beans with Currents

Third Service - Soup – Leeks, Herbs, onions, peas, apples

Savory Fritters

Final Service- Strawberries with Sliced Apples and sweetmeats (sugared nuts)

Persian Tea

Sekanjabin

This team surprised us by offering Persian Tea (tea made from spices and herbs) that was extremely refreshing.  And their sekanjabin was excellent too!  They also were the first to present their dishes by service.  The herb and ricotta mix which the filled chicken was wrapped around was so good – I was ready to run off with it screaming mine, all mine. They also presented three breads in the form of fritters and flat breads.  the Sweet fritters were really good.  The Savory ones were good also.  And the flat bread – I could have taken more of it home with me.

Fried Brains - Apicus

Gustum

            chicken liver Pate

            Carrot Chips (fried carrot shavings)

            Cold Minted Chicken

            Carrot Salad

Primus

            Chicken Apicus (on a stick)

            Sweetened Apples

Secondus

            Stuffed Chicken

            Peas with Bacon

            Leeks and Apples

            Firebrand Chicken/Bean Soup

Finale

            Compote of early First Fruits (strawberries)

            Crostatta di Ricotta (cheesecake)

This team had a recipe from Apicus for every dish they made.  They also presented it in services.  The Gustum was excellent.  They somehow managed to sliver the carrots for the carrot salad.  The dressing on it was good.  The chicken liver pate – I would serve at a cocktail party.  And they found time in their two hours to not only cook the chicken but also to chill it in their ice chests to serve it cold. The chicken on the stick was well-seasoned.  The peas with bacon were tasty.  And their Crostatta although still warm was excellent.  I could easily have eaten half or more of it in a sitting by myself.

The winning team was Fried Brains.  I didn’t envy the judges in having to make their decisions.  I’m just happy I got to taste all the dishes.

My judges were: HE Mistress Diana, HL Bronwyn, and L Padraig.  They were a knowledgeable crew of  judges and did not hesitate to taste any of the dishes.  They truly had a hard job.  The teams were fairly evenly matched just by looking at the quantity and quality of dishes each produced.

The competition was  scored on:

Max Points Possible     Description

20                                        Medieval recipe used as source for each dish

10                                        Medieval Presentation

50                                        Flavor/Texture/Appearance/Aroma

10                                        Using Fresh Herbs that can be seen growing onsite (herbs must be store-bought or homegrown (ie: not harvested/picked onsite) – state/park laws)

10                                        Judges discretion

10                                        Bonus points for limiting it to a single time period/country

The teams were allowed to go pick up their siege supplies in half-hour intervals.  They had two hours to prepare and then present back to the judges their entry.  This allowed the judges a half-hour each to judge a team’s entry.  This also worked well in having all the teams get the same amount of cooking time.

Next year

I am thinking of bringing in a couple of co-sponsors and expanding the competition.  We had a total of seven teams express interest this year.  So, next year we are expanding the competition to eight teams. 

They will be divided into two groups of four and will cook either in the first heat, or the second heat, with the two heat winners advancing to the final competition. 

The heats will be held on different days. With the first heat probably being held the first Sunday, then the second heat held on Tuesday, and the final competition held on Thursday. 

All will be held in the early morning hours – so as to complete the cooking and judging before the deep heat of the day sets in. 

All eight teams will have identical ingredients in their siege supplies.  All will be supplied with the ingredient lists in advance (although not actual quantities). There will again be some additions allowed – which will be spelled out in the rules in advance.

The final competition will also be siege competition, but the ingredient list will remain unknown/secret until the start of the competition.

The rules to follow will be the ones sent to the teams on confirmation of their entry.

Entry fee will be $25 per team next year. This entry fee helps to offset some of the cost of the supplies. 

I will be announcing the signup early in January next year so that out-of-kingdom teams can have time to make their vacation plans and attend Lilies to compete in the competition.