Dayboards and Sideboards: Theory & Practice

an SCA class and discussion moderated by Jadwiga Zajaczkowa

What is a dayboard?

In the East Kingdom and surrounding areas, the term 'dayboard' is used to refer to a buffet-type light luncheon provided at an event. Most dayboards in the East are included in the site fee. Some dayboards require separate payment, either for the meal as a whole or per item purchased.

What is a sideboard?

A sideboard is a period term that is used to refer to a piece of dining room or hall furniture for holding side-dishes, wine, plate, etc., and often having cupboards and drawers. In period, it could also refer to foods served off tables set to the side.
In the SCA context 'sideboard' refers to the provision  of buffet-style food at other times than luncheon during an event. Again, a sideboard would be lighter than a regular meal and probably not involve an additional cost.

What is a 'tavern'?

In other kingdoms, it is routine for simple, dayboard-style foods to be made available to the populace at an event with an additional cost. These are often called 'taverns' and may be run by the group organizing the event, or other groups.

What is a 'collation'?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary: " A light meal or repast: one consisting of light viands or delicacies (e.g. fruit, sweets, and wine), or that has needed little preparation (often ‘a cold collation’). ‘A repast; a treat less than a feast’ (J.).  Originally applied to a repast between ordinary meals, and still retaining much of that character." First cited, 1525.
The term collation that is a period one that can be used for a sideboard, dayboard, or after-dancing supper.
Other terms that can be used include: Luncheon (1580), nooning (in the sense of a rest at noon,  1552), Nuncheon (1353), Repast (1390) and refection (1432-50).

Are dayboards period?

Since medieval and Renaissance people were encouraged to eat only two times a day (prandium: between 10 am and 2 pm, and coena, in the evening), they combined the breaking of their fast with a heavy 'dinner' meal in the middle of the day.

However, people who were traveling, working in the field, etc. might well snatch a bite to eat; and indulgent people were often criticized for engaging in snacking between meals and late at night.

The concept of the 'buffet' or 'sideboard' or 'dessert board' does seem to have been known in period, according to articles on food in the Low Countries in Regional Cuisines in Medieval  Europe.

Questions to ask:

  1. How many people am I expected to feed? How much is that likely to vary?
  2. How much budget do I have?
  3. Is there a separate cost for the dayboard? If so, am I responsible for charging and controlling access?
  4. What kind of an event is it? (Indoor/Outdoor, Fighting, Arts & Sciences, Schola, Theme, etc.)
  5.  Do I need to serve food at more than one location, or provide trays to specific event personnel?
  6. Will I be serving food inside or outside? If outside, what provisions will be available for shade and fly control, if necessary?
  7. How much space and how may tables will I have for serving?
  8. Will there be seating space near the food? If so, how much?
  9. If the event is a Royal Progress, will I be responsible for preparing trays for the Royals?
  10. What is the purpose of the dayboard or sideboard?
  11. How long does the autocrat expect the dayboard or sideboard to be available?
  12. Am I responsible for providing drinks?
  13. What service and preparation gear does the group have?
  14. Will I have full or partial access to a kitchen on site, and if so, when and how long?
  15. Will I have access to refrigeration space? How much? Will I be able to use any refrigerators or walk in coolers on site? Will there be food belonging to the site in those refrigerators? If I need to use coolers, will someone else be buying ice? How many coolers can I assemble?
  16. Does the autocrat have special requests/restrictions for the dayboard?

Money

In my area, dayboards are generally alloted $1 to $2 a head.
Some places go up to $4 per head.

Foods

In general, people prefer finger foods for dayboards. However, on a cold day, a hot soup or pottage will be welcomed.

Suggested foods for dayboards

Cut raw vegetables
Celery, carrots, turnips, cucumbers. You can serve these with cruets of oil and  vinegar and dishes of salt to approximate period foodstuffs. Raw turnips have a small but devoted following; a small quantity will suffice.

Fresh fruit
Fruit is generally popular, but check seasonal prices and availability before making a decision (grapes in Spring are pricy; apples in early summer are poor quality and expensive).
Apples, pears, plums and other stone fruit, grapes, melons, cherries.
Sweet oranges were only developed late in period, but they are very useful at hot and dusty events, served quartered.
Modern strawberries are much larger than period ones but they did have strawberries in period.
Modern blueberries are North American; but period people had whortleberries and other berries that were blue.
Bananas were not known in period in Europe, but were known in parts of the Middle East.

Dried fruit
Raisins, plums/prunes, currants, apples, apricots
Modern, American cranberries are not period, but period people did have a cranberry substitute: small-fruited, or northern cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccus).

Pickles
Sweet and especially dill pickles go over well on a hot day, and even on cool days. If you have more than one type of cucumber pickle, you should get them cut in different ways so people are not confused! When buying dill pickles, buy gallon jars of whole pickles and slice them yourself; this is the cheapest way.
Olives, particularly black and calamata, and pickled mushrooms have serious enthusiasts, and small quantities of other pickled vegetables (carrots, cauliflower, etc.) will add to your presentation.
There are some popular recipes for pickled eggs which may  or may not be period which go over well. (Red Beet eggs bother some people with their vivid color; tea eggs definitely aren't period...)

Bread
Bread, pretzels, etc. are very popular. Cheese bread or bread topped with cheese is very popular. Flat breads, such as pitas, with things to go on them, are also welcomed. Bread can often be ordered in quantity from a grocery store with a bakery and picked up the day of the event. Home-baked bread can be made ahead of time, and frozen. People will appreciate a selection of 'dark' breads such as rye, wheat or pumpernickel as well as white.
Sliced bread is more economical than asking people to slice or tear their own; slicing bread in batches during the dayboard assures that people get fresh-sliced bread, which they love.

Things to go on bread
Butter, soft cheese, honey, sauces, thick fruit preserves.
Aquapatys, boiled garlic cloves, are popular with garlic lovers.
Honey butter cannot be documented to period but herbed cheeses and possibly butters are considered documentable by many cooks.
Hummus cannot be documented to period but there is a hummus like sauce (white sais) described in this Florilegium file: http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-BY-REGION/fd-Mid-East-msg.html
Sauce for Pigeons is a salsa like dish (recipe below).

Eggs
Hard boiled eggs are a convenient, ready packaged snack food. Go for the Small size, as this is about the right size for a single serving, and they are often cheaper. Be sure your eggs are completely hard-boiled through.

Cheese
Soft cheeses, such as Muenster and Farmer, seem to go over better than hard cheeses. Some people do like the harder cheeses such as longhorn, jack, cheddar and swiss. Do provide a variety. Cheese is more filling than meat, though usually at least comparatively expensive.
Note that very few of the affordable cheeses are considered 'documentable forms of cheese' but the whole issue of documenting particular kinds of cheese is contentious.
Serve cheese cut up in chunks or small slices.

Meat
Beef is, of course, the most popular meat. Ham follows a close second, with chicken a third.  
Chicken thighs make a nice compact package if you are expecting 1 piece of chicken per person; roast beef and ham need to be cut into slices, strips or chunks. These should be roasted ahead of time, but unless you are going to reheat before serving, do not freeze. Deli meat can be expensive: expect to cook your own unless you can find it very cheaply.
Meatballs and hedgehogs (meatballs studded with almonds) go over very well  with all but the most picky eaters, but they do need to be reheated before serving.
If you have access to a slicer, meat and/or cheese can be sliced thickly (3/4 or 1/2 inch thick) with the slicer and cut into gobbets on site.

Stuffed things
There are many, many period recipes for pies, some with egg, some with cheese, some with meat and even some with fruit. Be careful to provide a variety and not rely too much on 'quiche' or 'cheese' type pies. If you can afford it, Tart de Brye is a universal favorite (it's essentially Brie in pastry!) Look for Pasty recipes.

Filled rolls, or bread dough rolled around something, can be somewhat documented from the Domostroi, a late-period Russian household manual:

"When the servants bake bread, order them to set some of the dough aside, to be stuffed for pies. When they bake wheat bread, have pies made for the family from the coarse flour left in the sieve. For meat days stuff them with whichever meat is to hand. For fast days use kasha, peas, broth, turnips, mushrooms, cabbage, or whatever God provides...."
Some people use pastry dough; I tend to use pizza dough because I find it stretches better (my recipe is from the Fanny Farmer cookbook); you can also use regular bread dough, homemade or frozen.

Fritters
 Fritters are merely dough (often leavened dough) either deep fried by itself, or with something dipped in it and deep fried. This can be time consuming and difficult, but it makes people very happy! There are lots of period fritter recipes.

Sweets
Candied things, such as Jordan (candy-coated) almonds, candied seeds, candied ginger, etc. are documentable. Asian and Middle Eastern groceries sell these, or you can make your own. Bulk by-the-pound stores sell Jordan almonds also.
Sweet biscuits, such as prince's biscuit, also go over well, as do pizelle wafers, which you can buy from the store or make your own.
Other cakes, such as Scots oatcakes or flatcakes, can also be served.

Drinks
Syrups for drinks are a period idea-- the English called them 'juleps'. Flavored Sekanjabin, Ginger drink, or Lemon drink syrups are easy to make, relatively cheap, and go over well. Thomas Longshanks suggests a kind of 'Fighter-aide' as an alternative to Gatorade or Sports drinks
Always provide plain water as well. Some people will also appreciate mint or lemon water. Alayne Alexandra Nyvern Nightwatcher has an article on different drink syrups at: http://eastkingdom.org/guilds/herb/articles/flavoredsyrups.html

Soups:
Look for pottages, bruets or sops recipes for these. The Funges recipe for mushrooms makes a good mushrooms soup if you add enough broth, and the vegetarian section of Cariadoc's Miscellany also has a number of vegetarian soups and stews.

Condiments:
Putting out salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar are good to put out. At least put out salt, preferably with a small spoon to serve with. (Hollowed-out rolls make nice looking disposeable salt dishes.)

General note:
The point is to serve people well and cheaply and not waste food. It's a bite, not a full course meal, though a sufficiently well-stocked dayboard can keep people fed all day.

Mistress Christianna's list of "easy period foods":

General thoughts:

Menus

Athena's Thimble, 2001

http://www.gallowglass.org/jadwiga/SCA/cooking/thimble1.html
(Jadwiga Zajaczkowa) Items marked NP are not documented period recipes; Items marked B are boughten commercial products.

Roast Meat & Cheeses:

Sauces: Bread: Veggies & Fruit Pickles/Preserves: Drinks: Cookies:

Crown Tourney in Eisental

Presented by Sarah bas Mordechai and Jadwiga Zajaczkowa
The crown tourney, being held on a day in April spent mostly outdoors, had a hot offering along with boiled eggs, bread and butters, vegetables and fruit. Hot coffee was served all day long will be appreciated, though it's not period.

Note: Chicken soup includes chicken, onions, parsley, broth, bread, wine, vinegar and spices; Lentil soup includes lentils, carrots, spices, and water. Toasted cheese includes butter, cream cheese, brie and white pepper.

Royal Goodies
Roasted Beef; Home baked Challah bread; Special Pickles & Pickled Mushrooms; Mustard & Horseradish; Garlic stuffed olives; Cornichon Pickles; Soda

Southern Region War Camp, 2002

(Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Jeff the Brewer)

The menu was: 80 loaves fresh bread (Food 4Less), 15 loaves cheese bread and 20 cheese boards (long, flattish loaves with cheese, garlic and  Italian spices; both cheese bread & boards were Redner's Market's), 4 lbs butter, 6 lbs. dilled cream cheese, green sauce, sauce for pigeons (garlic, onion, parsley & vinegar), aquapatys (boiled garlic), lombard mustard, 8 bags
commercial hard pretzels, 6 gallons of dill pickles, 4 48oz jars bread & butter pickle slices, about olives, 50 doz hard boiled eggs, 45 lbs assorted cheeses, 10 watermelons, 12 honeydews, 22 cantelopes, a case of plums, a case of nectarines, a half case of oranges (should have been 1.5 cases), half a case of bananas, 4 cases of grapes, half a case of cucumbers, 10 lbs carrots, half a case of celery, 2 gallons syrup of lemons, a gallon of syrup of ginger with lemon, and a gallon of sekanjabin; 2 large cans Gatorade. (Sugar free raspberry syrup was also provided but nobody used it.) I also did a separate section for the royals that included berries and kiwis. We put out dried chopped dates and garlic sesame sticks in addition to the rest as a sideboard for court, as well.

The budget came out to be about $700 total including 20 lbs of ham.
Due to weather conditions, we had fighting and thus dayboard ran long. (It  generally runs from 12 to 4 pm, then we go set up the court board.)
Fighting started late, dayboard was half an hour late. Trays for royals went out beautifully, if sans hard boiled eggs. Trays for archery never got done; people had to come get trays for MOL, troll and Pent and I made them assemble those trays themselves. We were short of coolers on the field and ice, and the Gatorade (and sekanjabin) never did go out but the ginger and lemon syrups were a big hit.

From Serena De Riva:

"The premise: To feed everyone who attends the one-day event starting at 9:30 am and going until 9:00 am.
Pre Reservations: 10 Anticipated turnout: Around 150 with possible variation of 25 to 30 people either way.
Budget: $750 that was bumped by $150 two days ago.
Menu:
9:30 - Oatmeal, Orange Marmalade, Fig Preserves, Fresh Bread, Fresh Cheese,OJ
10:30 - Pamperdy, Rissoles for a Meat Day
11:00 and continuing for the day - Boiled Eggs, Sallet, Bread
11:30 - Pickled Mushrooms, Cressee, A Molded and Fried Pastry
12:00 - Bruet Saake, Beef y-stewed, Chyches, Platina Carrots, Fruit Rissoles
1:00 - Salmon Casserole
1:30 - Preserved Cowcumbers, Olive Tapenade, Fruit Fritters
2:30 - Spinach Raviolis, Funges, Savory Toasted Cheese with Asparagus, Bacon, Onions and Anchovies, Perys in Compost
served with Crepes
4:15 - Savory Rice, Tender Chickpeas, Wilted Spinach, Faux Cormarye (done with beef), Sweet Sausage, Hot Sausage, Garlic
Sausage, Armoured Hen
5:30 - Court
7:00 Revel - Quince Empenadas, Almond Tart, Angel's Food, Sweet Wafers
Drinks: Water, Honey Drink, Sekanjabin, Lemon Drink"

Portioning Advice:

Marion (Marilyn from the Cooks List) gave the following advice based on 100 Minutes War, a late autumn fighting event:
"I used a "weighted law of averages" for food for the 100 Minutes dayboard last November, based on how many people out of 500 will take a serving of a particular food. It worked very well. We had 660 people, of whom about 500 really ate the dayboard (with fighters in a melee, some never actually eat anything but the water, bread, oranges, and bananas). Everyone had bread, about 2-3 slices per person, even the fighters. About 45 loaves were eaten. Cheddar and swiss cheese cubes went well, as well as sliced meats, about 3 ounces per person (3 slices luncheon roast beef or turkey plus 4 cheese cubes (2 cheddar, 2 swiss) each person), with everyone eating these items. Over half the people ate hard boiled eggs. Soup also went well, with about half the people had 6 ounces of soup each. Over half went for the pickles too, as well as cold roasted chicken drumsticks (they took 2 or 3 legs if they ate them). Raw veggies were lightly eaten by about half the populace, say 2-3 carrot/cucumber/celery sticks per person for 1/4 of the people, as were the oranges. Water and lemonade were replenished and we ran out of lemonade after 20 gallons were served.
The weather that day was 38 degrees, sunny, with a sustained wind of 20 mph (brrrr). If I think of anything else I'll let you know. Hope this helps."
Jaji says:
"I usually stick with the "understood" portions of foods like 4 oz meat, 2-3 oz veggies, etc.
Balfar's is kinda the opposite of a feast, since we hold back the heavy stuff (roast beef) till the end when the list fields clear and those who haven't eaten all day are hungry. . .
As far as liquids go, I really just follow the package directions for number of servings and add a little extra water, 10-12 servings or so for the large pots/drink coolers."
Aelfwynn commented:
"It depends on what you're serving. Four to six ounces of meat total (a generous lunch portion) would be 2 to 3 ounces each of two or three different meats, and it will generally average out. But the last time I did soup, I had both fish and bean, and I ended up needing about 2/3 of a full serving per person of each one."

Recipes

See Cariadoc's Miscellany for the recipes for Sekanjabin and A Dish of Lentils.

Lemon Syrup:

Andalusian p. 279 (translated by David Friedman, Cariadoc))
Take lemon, after peeling its outer skin, press it and take a ratl of juice, and add as much of sugar. Cook it until it takes the form of a syrup. Its advantages are for the heat of bile; it cuts the thirst and binds the bowels. [Translation from the Miscellany:http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/drinks.html] 

My Redaction: In 1 quart of lemon juice, put about 4.5 cups of sugar. Heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Simmer for about 15 minutes-half an hour. Refrigerate. To use, dilute about 8 to 1 with water.

Ginger Syrup:

Peel a big hunk of ginger and mince. (About 2/3 c. per batch) Mix 2.5 cups water with 4 cups sugar. Bring to a boil. Add 1 cup lemon juice and reduce heat. Add several spoonfuls of the ginger. Simmer until  reduced by 1/6. Add rest of ginger. Simmer until reduced by about 1/3 from start. Cool. Strain & bottle. To use, dilute about 8 to 1 with water (or  pour over vanilla ice cream. :))

Note: if you cut the ginger into chunks rather than mincing, you can use the strained out chunks, put them in sugar syrup at the soft ball stage, and roll them in sugar to candy them.

Fighter-Aide, contributed by Cynara:

Thomas created this beverage for fighters in Atlantia many years ago. It has kind of fallen into disuse now that we no longer attend fighting events, and this seems like a good opportunity to revive it. The purpose of Fighter-Ade is to replenish the electrolytes and water that are depleted during physical activity. Because it is * not * pre-metabolized, like Gatorade, it works a little differently, but it also prevents bonking, loss of appetite, and the ubiquitous Gatorade hangover.

Fighter-Ade -- recipe by Master Thomas Longshanks

For each quart of water, you need the juice of one orange and up to one tablespoon of honey. Just mix it all together. Serve before, during and after fighting.

If fresh oranges are not economical, you can use an equivalent amount of not-from-concentrate juice (like Tropicana Pure Premium) with pretty much the same results. Do **NOT** use from-concentrate juice. The cooking process destroys too many nutrients for it to be effective.

Start the fighters drinking Fighter-Ade well before the fighting -- while they are all standing around for armor inspection or whatever. Keep them on it during the day and serve it afterwards as well. They will stay hydrated. They will also be getting electrolytes and sugars that the body has to process. Instead of the body depleting reserves and then using instant, pre-metabolized lytes -- leaving the body depleted at the end of the day -- the body actually replenishes the reserves.

Spicy Green Sauce:

Original: "Here is how to make green sauce: take ginger, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, cloves, parsley, and sage. First grind the spices, then the herbs, and add a third of the sage and parsley, and, if you wish, three or two cloves of garlic. Moisten with vinegar or verjuice. Note that to every sauce and condiment salt is added, and crumb of bread to thicken it.
(Tractatus de modo preparandi et condiendi omnia cibaria 394, translated
in The Medieval Kitchen, Redon et al.)"

    * 3 slices dry bread
    * 3 cups parsley
    * 15 leaves fresh sage
    * 1- 1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
    * 1 tsp ground cloves
    * 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
    * 3/4 tsp ground ginger
    * 12 Tb wine vinegar
    * scant 1 1/2 c. water
    * pinch salt

Grind together the pepper and cinnamon. Add ginger and cloves, and grate in the nutmeg. Then grind up the parsley and sage in a food processor or blender (add optional garlic at this time). Add spices. Mix.Then add ground-up crumbs of dry bread, vinegar and water and mix to make a smooth paste.

Note: I omitted the nutmeg by mistake and it didn't need the salt.

Pear Mustard, contributed by Captain Elias/Brandu

"Pear mustard, Adapted from Sebina Welserin: 34 To make the mustard for dried cod: Take mustard powder, stir into it good wine and pear preservesand put sugar into it, as much as you feel is good, and make it as thick as you prefer to eat it, then it is a good mustard.
I can never find pear preserves, so I use the following method:
Peel, core, and puree the pears ( canned pears will also work )
Mix puree with other ingredients. Set aside in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Tips:
The longer you set it aside the less chemical it will taste. Two days seems to be ideal.
Rough Grinding our own dark mustard seeds (in a clean coffee grinder) and substituting them for a significant portion (at least half) of the yellow powder improves body and character noticeably.
The amount of stirring will determine the amount of heat, though this is a pretty hot mustard to begin with. I like chinese style hot mustard so I whip every thing in the food processor right after I puree the pears and whip ot for a minute...
If you really want to reduce the heat, you can use less mustard powder.
It is really good on chicken and lamb... brings out the sweet pear aromatics better than beef. Not sure why.

Aquapatys

Forme of Cury: "Pill garlec and cast it in a pot with water and oile and seeth it. Do therto safroun, salt, and powdour fort and dresse it forthe hoot. "

Peel and/or wash your garlic cloves (you can buy garlic already peeled cheaply in some Asian stores).
Put garlic cloves in a pan and cover with roughly twice the volume of water. Splash in a few spoonfuls of olive oil.
Simmer garlic until cooked through and squishy.
Drain, add a light sprinkling of saffron powder, salt, and powder fort (I suggest pepper and/or long pepper, ginger, cloves, mace/nutmeg). Mix and serve.

Sauce for Pigeons

Original:
Sauce for Peiouns.  Take percely, oynouns, garleke, and salt, and mynce smal the percely and the oynouns, and grynde the garleke, and temper it with vynegre y-now; and mynce the rostid peiouns and cast the sauce ther-on a-boute, and serve it forth.
(Ashmole M.S. 1479, quoted in Take a Thousand Eggs by Cindy Renfrow)

Snip parsley leaves from 3 large bunches off stems (I used a mixture of  curly and flat parsley). Grind about 3 cups of leaves in a food processor until seriously minced; remove from food processor.. Cut up about 4 medium  onions into chunks and mince in food processor. Add a handful of peeled garlic cloves. Remove and mix with minced parsley. Add red wine vinegar
(about a cup) and mix so that the result is moist with vinegar and salsa-like in texture.

Lombard mustard:

(Forme of Cury) Take Mustard seed and waishe it & drye it in an ovene, grynde it drye, farce it through a farce, clarifie honey wt wine & vinegr & stere it wel togedr, and make it thikke ynowe, & whan thou wilt spendethereof make it thynne wt wine.

Burgundy Wine
Honey
Ground Mustard Seed
Wine Vinegar

Mix in proportion, to make a paste. (I'll have a better mustard recipe later).
To freshen for use, add more wine and vinegar; if it is too dull, add pre-ground mustard flour.

Olive Tapenade (contributed by Serena da Riva)

"Original from: A Taste of Ancient Rome...a recipe by Cato #119
Epitrium album, nigrum, varium sic facto. Ex oleis albis, nigris variisque nucleos eicito. Sic condito. Concidito ipsas, addito oleum, acetum, coriandrum, cuminum, feniculum, rutum, mentam. In orculum condito, oleum supra siet. Ita utito.
Make Green, black or varicolored epityrum in this way. Pit the green, black or varicolored olives. Season them thus: Chop them, and add oil, vinegar, coriander, cumin, fennel, rue and mint. Put them in a small jar, with oil on top and they are ready to use.
Chop everything up, mix together let sit, a week is best. Rue is bad stuff and I won't use it."

Hen in Broth

Stewing Chicken, 6.9 lb, cut up.
Broth:  4 -48 oz cans college inn broth
Wine:   1 cup
Parsley: 1 bunch greens chopped
Minced Onions:  2 very large onions
Pepper:  10 peppercorns coarsely ground; 1/4 tsp ground pepper
Cloves:  20 cloves
Maces:  1 tsp ground
Saffron: 1.5 generous pinches
Salt:  to taste
Vinegar: 1/4 cup.
Powdered Ginger

Put chicken in pot, cut up. Add broth, wine, onion, parsley, spices. Cook until it is half done. Add vinegar (with or without bread crumbs). Cook until it is done. Add ginger and any more seasoning.

Brown Mustard from Rumpolt

Marx Rumpolt, Ein New Kochbuch, c. 1581:Brown Mustard Sauce

Brown mustard made up with clear vinegar/ is also good. (translation by GwenCat)

1-2 cups mustard seed
3-4 cups white wine vinegar
  1. Grind the mustard seed to get 2-3 cups ground brown mustard
  2. The day before the feast, mix with white wine vinegar to make a running sauce.

Lentil Puree

(Redacted from a recipe translated in Odile Redon, et. al, The Medieval Kitchen)
10 lbs Lentils
3 times as much water as lentils
2 bunches mint, 2 bunches basil, 1/2 bunch rosemary
About 2 cups olive oil
Shredded Parmesan cheese (3 lbs?)
Eggs
  1. Chop herbs small.
  2. Put lentils, water, oil, and herbs in large pot and bring to a simmer
  3. Simmer until lentils are cooked, adding water if necessary.
  4. Mash/puree lentils.
  5. Before serving, mix eggs with cheese and put on top of (or mix in with) the lentil puree.

Pickled Mushrooms (Similar to Digby)

Mix vinegars, water, and spices in a large, non-reactive pot. Add mushrooms until mushrooms reach above liquid line. Heat at medium-high until simmering. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove mushrooms from brine and pack into a jar or crock. Pour in brine mixture to cover. Note: Apicus mentions pickled mushrooms, the Slavs pickled everything, but these spices in pickled mushrooms come from a 1756 recipe in The Pantry Gourmet

Another Pickled Mushrooms recipe, contributed by Serena da Riva:

"To Pickle Mushrooms: Lady Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book, 16th century.

Original: "Take your Buttons, clean ym with a sponge & put ym in cold water as you clean ym, then put ym dry in a stewpan & shake a handful of salt over ym, yn stew ym in their own liquor till they are a little tender; then strain ym from ye liquor & put ym upon a cloath to dry till they are quite cold. Make your Pickle before you do your mushrooms, yt may be quite cold before you put ym in. The Pickle must be made with White-Wine, White-Pepper, quarter's Nutmeg, a Blade of Mace & a Race of ginger."
16 oz Mushrooms
1 T Kosher Salt
1 1/4 CWhite Wine
1 t White Pepper
1/4 Nutmeg
1 t Mace
2 thumbnail sized pieces of Fresh Ginger

Wash and dry mushrooms, place in large bowl and toss with salt. Place into large saucepan and add just enough water to avoid scorching. Cook covered until tender, stirring occasionally. When done strain out of juices and allow to cool completely. Combine remaining ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a low boil. Allow to simmer awhile, then remove from heat. Allow to cool completely. Place cool mushrooms into jar and pour cool pickle over them. Keep in refrigerator; it will take at least a week to meld the flavors. After a week, fish out the ginger or it will become overpowering.

I multiplied it up times four and did one batch with four pounds of mushrooms and it filled a 2 L canning jar. Lasted about 45 minutes on the sideboard putting them out a handful at a time."

Carrots in Vinagrette, contributed by Serena da Riva

"From De Honesta Voluptate et Valetudine by Platina:
On Preparing Carrots and Parsnips Platina p.227... The parsnip should be boiled twice, the first liquid thrown away and cooked the second time with lettuce. Then it is put on a plate and dressed with salt, vinegar, coriander, and pepper, and is very fit to serve. ... The carrot is prepared in the same way as the parsnip, but is considered more pleasant when cooked under warm ashes and coals...
Crush spices coarsely and then add to Vinegar, allow to steep up to several days. Wash, tip and tail carrots. Cut carrots into sticks of roughly the same size, about 2 inches long and 1/4 inch thick. Roast in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes, until cooked through and with a light crunch, not squishy. Place hot carrots into a large bowl and toss with 12 Tb of the vinegar mixture and then put into refrigerator. After carrots have cooled add the rest of the vinegar to the bowl and toss again. Put in sealed container (Ziplock bags are fine) and keep in 'fridge."

"Golden Eggs or Sweet Pickled Eggs -- A recipe from Lady Sarah from the Cook's List

Combine and bring to gentle boil all ingredients except eggs. Remove from  heat and pour over hard boiled eggs in glass jar. Cover with cheese cloth  and refrigerate for one day. Drain and add new liquid on second day,  usually ready to serve on third day. Will keep longer with no trouble but will continue to get darker and stronger. This is all variable according to  your tastes. I wanted the eggs sweeter and with more cinnamon and clove  flavor than regular pickled eggs.-- from Lady Sarah

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Many thanks to Shannon Gallowglass, Jaji, Serena da Riva, Johanna Holloway and other members of the Cooks list who provided help and comments.
All redactions and translations are copyright to their original authors. For more information, contact the author of this outline: Jadwiga Zajaczkowa (Jennifer Heise) at jahb@lehigh.edu
Contributions of more recipes, information or other material are welcome!