Event idea brainstorming

[lumineaux]

I've said several times that I'd love it if we had some kind of "Medieval Food Festival" type of event with opportunities for people to taste different kinds of period foods in small samples.  One of the things I love about vigils and foodie A&S events is that I get to try something in a small batch, where I can decide if I like it or not without the added pressures of being tired and hungry after a long day of working at an event.

If I were to step up and actually run such an event, what would the cooks need to make this sort of idea work?  What kinds of space and resources?   Other than brewing/beverage work, are there other activities that fit naturally with a "food festival" that might bring in more people?

Would we be better off doing this as a public demo than an SCA event?

Countess Meggie suggested that we might run this as a "street fair" or "market fair," so practical ideas for making that happen would be appreciated.

Tagging bytchearse  and loosecanon

Comments

[loosecanon.livejournal.com]

I am writing up a thing elsewhere, but this format is structured better.
I think a public demo would be pretty risky though.
We would be subject to all of the food fair laws, public health would be required to get involved. It would open us up to a lot of factors we are not prepared for.

I'd love it if we had period style signage pointing out what's what; a pig for pork dishes, a green flag for what we modernly would call vegetarian, and so on.
It would also be cool as heck if we could group people by what books they are presenting based out of, but that's unlikely to work. I might cook out of three books, or really want to be next to my friend, or whatever.

It might be neat if we had a form for people to fill out, with (thrown together list)
50 word bio
Book, year
Recipe name, page
Ingredients used
Have you made this before
Why you chose this dish.

which could go into a booklet commemorating the event as well as codified ingredients list.

I know other people will have better ideas and refinements of these.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

While there might be exceptions for an educational non-profit, loosecannon is right. More than that: I would be uncomfortable eating foods made in quantity by amateurs and served over a period of hours. In terms of food safety.

I'm Massachusetts ServSafe certified and I know too much now.

Keep it "in house"

[bytchearse.livejournal.com]

In CT at least we can't offer food made at demos to the public. And what goldsquare said about food safety makes sense, although that much can be somewhat controlled in an SCA setting. So much for the negative.

On a positive note, I like the idea overall and can even see an "Eating through time" element to it. While it is far too early in the AM for more cogent thoughts, now that the idea is in my head I'll puzzle over it.

One suggestion I would make is to speak with Joel Lord form Concordia; he was essential in making the second Victuality event happen last September. Yes, I am shilling herein for an idea I began, but there's no reason to not continue in that vein and the events themselves would draw those with a gustatory bent to begin with.

[alphawench.livejournal.com]

food, drink, containers for the serving of both and tools for the making of both?

[loosecanon.livejournal.com]

Elseweb, the conversation has rolled around the idea, with the seed being some form of harvest faire/BBQ circuit/expo/family day where the cooks each, in a capsule,  offer the thing they do to fellow SCA people demo style. Not a competition, pick your best dish and let X people try a bite, like at commercial food shows.

  (I'm excited because I want to show a specific dish in it's best light, not the heavily edited version I have to serve at feasts, for time, budget, and equipment needs. I can do it right!)
 
   Part of the early stages' challenges will be crafting language to explain the idea to potential demonstrators.