French feast with Hungarian touches

[bunnyjadwiga]

From
Roy Strong. Feast: A History of Grand Eating (NY: Harcourt, 2002), p. 73-75.:

What is probably the best and most complete account we have of a late medieval banquet describes the dinner given by Gaston IV, comte de Foix, at Tours in 1457. It was staged in honour of an embassy from the king of Hungary, a mission which included not only Hungarians but Germans, Bohemians and Luxemburgers. To that cosmopolitan guest list of a hundred and fifty must be added the whole of the French court. The guests were seated in strict order of precedence at twelve large tables with the host, together with the leaders of the embassy and the most important French notables, served separately, as was customary, at a high table.

The feast was exceptional, not only for the number of courses involved -- no fewer than seven -- but also for the fact that the account actually describes the food served. Up until now, such details were normally passed over in silence or, if mentioned at all, simply remarked in terms of splendour and abundance. The meal opened modestly with pieces of toast that the diner dipped into the spiced wine called hippocras, but then swiftly moved on to 'grands pates de chapons [capons],' 'jambons de sanglier [hams of wild boar],' and seven different kinds of potage, all served on silver. Each table bore a hundred and fourty silver plates, a feat of ostentation that was to be repeated in the courses that followed. Ragouts of game came next: pheasants, partridges, rabbits, peacocks, bustards, wild geese, swans, and various river birds, not to mention venison. These ragouts were accompanied by several other kinds of dishes and pottage. Then came a pause.

Although there is no reference in our account to the placement of the tables, they must have been arranged in a horseshoe forming an arena at the centre. Into that space came what was called an entremet, the first of a series. Twelve men wheeled in a castle on a rock. Whether the men were concealed inside the rock or not we do not learn, but the castle itself had four corner towers and a large keep at the centre with four windows, at each of which could be seen a richly attired lady. The central keep was adorned with heraldic banners bearing the arms of the king of Hungary and those of the other great lords who made up the embassy. At the top of each of the four towers a child sang like an angel (though what they sang we do not learn.)

After this display the feast resumed with a dish called 'oiseaux armes', which has defied definition by culinary historians, served with yet more pottages. But the real distinction of this course was that 'tout ce service fut dore' '-- all the food was apparently gilded, or at least given the appearance of being golden. Then came the second entremet: six men, dressed in the regional constume of Bearn, carried in a man disguised as a tiger wearing a collar from which was suspended the arms of the king of Hungary. The tiger spat fire and the Bearnais danced, to great applause from the onlookers.

Following a fifth course which included tarts, darioles (small moulded dishes, sweet in this case) and fried oranges, another entremet came forth. In terms of sheer spectacle this must have eclipsed everything that went before. Twenty-four men were needed to bring it into the hall, an indication as to both its size and weight. It was a mountain containing two fountains, one of which spouted rosewater, the other 'eau de muscade'. Suddenly out of this rocky promontory rabbits scampered while live birds emerged to fly around the hall. Four boys and a girl, all dressed as savages, descended to dance a morisco. Then the
count distributed largesse to the various attendant heralds of arms, the one from Hungary recieving, in addition to the two hundred e'cus bestowed on the others, a fine length of velvet.

The sixth course consisted of dessert, red hippocras served with certain kinds of wafer called 'oublies' and 'roles', after which came a final entremet. A man attired in embroidered crimson satin appeared astride a similarly caparisoned horse. In his hands he carried a model garden made of wax which was filled with roses and a variety of other flowers, and set it before the ladies (an indication that they must have been seated separately from the men). This, we are told, was the most admired of all the entremets, although what followed in the way of food as a finale must have been equally extraordinary. It involved a heraldic menagerie sculpted in sugar: lions, stags, monkeys and various other birds and beasts, each holding in beak or paw the arms of the Hungarian king.

Unbelieveably, the banquet was not yet over. In came a live peacock with the arms of the queen of France encompassing its neck and the arms of the ladies of the French court draped over its body. In response, all the lords present advanced and pledged to support the cause of the Hungarian king (it was customary to make vows of chivalry on birds). Our account closes with one other important detail. In the middle of the room there was apparently a platform, an estrade, from which singers and an organ provided music during the dinner.

Since the original of this description was in Catalan, I would suggest that the fried oranges are really the cheese balls described in De Nola. Having the ladies sit separately, if indeed they did, would have followed the Eastern European meal tradition.

Comments

[kellan_the_tabby]

Y'know, I'd say something about how I wished the SCA would follow the very medieval tradition of 'largesse for the heralds'...

...except I've heard the story of How Francois Asked For His Pelican, And Got It...

[bunnyjadwiga.livejournal.com]

I just want to shout "Largesse! Largesse!" at inappropriate moments in court. *GRIN*

[kellan_the_tabby]

*giggles*

Cool, thankyou!

[iasmin.livejournal.com]

This is awesome stuff, kiddo. Thankyou so much for posting it. I've not been reading some of my other lists lately. Did the source of the translation fall from one of them or did you translate it yourself?

Re: Cool, thankyou!

[bunnyjadwiga.livejournal.com]

I believe Roy Strong (author of Feast did the translation-- I just transcribed it from the book so I won't lose it. He says
"The text is printed both in the original Catalan and in translation in Plaisirs et manières de table aux XIVe et XVe siècles, exhibition catalogue, Musée des Augustins. 1992, p. 308-9"
more info on the catalog:
Toulouse : Le Musée, ; ISBN: 2901820034
and according to Worldcat it's in French, so there's no mention of English translation.