May Day Feast

So yesterday edith_hedingham and I along with some great help, Caroline Yeldman, Paul Blackwell, Anne Deller, Jenni Griffin and Genni Grim, (hope I didn't miss anyone).

Its a great site and the site staff are very friendly. I think we did all right really, turning out Lunch;

• Lentil Potage.
• A boiled ham.
• Apples.
• Cheese.

In the afternoon some Norwegian pasties from Caroline.

Then the evening feast;
The theme was Mathew Parker's A proper new book of cookery. He was master of Corpus Christi College Cambridge and Elizabeth I'st Archbishop of Canterbury. The recipes where found amoungst his papers when he died. They are thought to have been written during the Marian period when he was out of a job. So this was perfect for the site.

• Course I
  
  • Bean potage (using our new English dried broad beans from http://hodmedods.co.uk/)
    
  • Roo Broth, a venison pottage. (Pleyn Delite.)
    
  • Roasted Salmon with green sauce.
    
  • Prune Tarts (A proper new book of cookery.)
    
  • A Custard. (Loosely based on the new book of cookery custard tart.)
    
  • Asparagus. Parboiled and dressed in butter/oil.
    
  
  
• Course II
  
  • Roasted venison with the sauce from A proper new book of cookery. The sauce is a very strange concoction of cinnamon, butter, red wine and sugar cooked over a chaffing dish. It goes a very strange texture but tastes amazing.
    
  • Fummenty.
    
  • Braised cabbage.
    
  • Bean Tarts
    
  • A grand salad.
    
  • Stewed pears with cream.
    
  • Ginger bread.
    
  • A Jelly.
    
  
  
  A bit of a drain to drive from Chippenham leaving at 6 to get to the site for 8am. Then cook all day. Fortunately we where able to pack the kitchen equipment into a room on site and collapse into the pub for a drink before bed.