Food A&S and Hospitality
My first love in life is food and the role it plays in our lives. It has been both a professional and personal passion as long as I can remember. Below is some of the work I’ve done over the years in food research and work. Many of these images are also links.
This image is my Duke's Powder experiment in action. This project involved three spice blends from Ruperto de Nola's Libro de guisados, manjares, y potages.
In 2020, I challenged myself to enter the Royal Baker competition at KASF with a pear tart and precedella, or period pretzels. I had a lot of fun experimenting with the flavors.
For a 12th Night baking competition, I made a stollen! This was a fun blend of Christmas traditions and Jewish flavors for an etrog, sour cherry, and ginger stollen.
This chicken, wrapped in beef belly, was the centerpiece of a birthday dinner featuring recipes from Ruperto de Nola's Libro de guisados, manjares, y potages. The first course was an eggplant casserole, then this chicken served with a pine nut sauce, and finally sweet cheese and mint fritters.
This is a modern recipe that fits in well with SCA pursuits- a rack of lamb deboned, stuffed with herbs, tied, and slow roasted until crispy like porchetta.
Savory Toasted Cheese is an SCA classic from Sir Kenelem Digby's book. This was made as part of a class I taught on the recipe, and is toasted over bread, asparagus, and mushrooms.
Another modern recipe with SCA applications. These are apple filled drop donuts, topped with cinnamon and sugar. While modern, there are many period similar applications of such fritters.
This is a custard from The Good Huswifes Jewell, made for the re-inaugural Saint Anne's Guild of Clothier's meeting in 2022.
Another modern passion of mine is plating and display design, from years of working as a butcher and cheesemonger. This plate was presented for Lord Hakon brimill's hospitality at Fall Crown Tourney 2021.
I love baking bread. I'm not a master at it, but I find bread incredibly satisfying to make. This is the before shot of the next picture, and is a 100% wheat loaf at 80% hydration with fresh yeast. It was made for a test run of another recipe from Nola.
This is the after shot of the previous picture, and is a 100% wheat loaf at 80% hydration with fresh yeast. I tried two slashing techniques depicted in 'El universal convite" for my test loaves.
The first attempt at my Almodrote recipe for Persona Pentathlon 2023. It was an absolute smash hit with my taste testers. The extra browning to help melt the cheese was ideal.
For KASF 2023, I made two dozen each of my savory and sweet empanadillas. I had a huge 3 day production scheme that worked out great, and in the process realized I had, several years ago, totally misinterpreted something. Really makes you realize how much you grow as an artisan over time!
The finished shot of the empanadillas. The savory were spinach and chard and the sweet were ricotta and rosewater. Both were finished in cinnamon sugar after frying.
Bottling whole spices for the display of my Trade Routes to Table Project.
My Persona Pentathlon presentation of the correct plating of the Almodrote que es capriotada. This dish is easily my favorite go-to SCA comfort food.