O banquete medieval

For each night of the medieval days there shall be a banquet in the hall of the castle held by the guild for the worthies of the region,the richer merchants,the higher clergy,abbots and priors and the more notable landowners and clerics.The Lady Filomena graced the high table in a gown with bodice semi-detached joined to the skirt with a lustrous and highly decorative grosgrain banding.There was the usual music of pipes and tabors echoing beneath the ceilinge, as the guests greeted their neighbours and an intimate parly filled the hall.The village feiticeira and mulher fascinante Mistress Margarida enchanted the guests as she drifted from one table to the next very often stopping to publicly humiliate those not of her favour.She do not that to talk but to cackle.Exaggerated in appearance and a face somewhat akin to the slap of the court jester or clown,she is with embarrassment.

 The sound of a bell heralded be the marshal led the procession of servants bringing in the food.In order came the pantry man the esquires and the valetti,bearing dishes according to their rank.They placed them reverently on the tables,while on the meat board were piled baked pheasant,goose,duck,wild fowl, pullets and pork.
On the tables dishes of peacocks and pepper sauce lay alongside partridge roasted with ginger; pigs´ears baked in wine were scooped up with fish served in a green sauce made from various herbs; a bowl of lobster with vinegar was put next to some quail covered with feathers so they still seemed alive.All the food of the world seemed to be lying there.At the end of the meat course a subtlety was brought forth; it was carved from sugar paste and was in the shape of a man,wrapped in weeds,holding a sickle in his hand.It was not to be eaten but was known as a "warmer" to signal the arrival of the next course of almond cream,baked pears,sage fritters and dates in comfit.By the time the salads were placed on the table the conversation had returned to the subject of these hard times,"stony times" the knight said.he picked among the parsley,fennel and sage,as if choosing the herbs closest to his natural humour. The squire meanwhile had gathered up a handful of garlic and spring onion.Tarts of apple and of saffron were placed upon the table,together with nuts and spices coated in sugar.
The mawmenee was passed around in great jugs,a sweet wine for a sweet end.

MawmeneeMawmenee. Take a portell of wyne greke and ii pounde of sugur; take and claryfye the sugur with a quantite of wyne & drawe it thugh a strynour in to a pot of wrthe. Take flour of rys and medle with sum of the wyne & cast gogydre. Take pynes with dates and frye hem a litell in grece oþer in oyle and cast hem togydre. Take clowes & flour of canel hool and cast þerto. Take powdour gynger, canel, clowes, colour it with saundres a lytel yf hit be nede. Cast salt þerto, and lat it seeþ warly with a slowe fyre and not to thyk. Take brawn of capouns ysteysed oþer of fasauntes teysed small and cast þerto.

It is a sweet wine stew with fowl meat and nuts. It is very much a medieval dish with all the spices and colouring and artificiality that was so priced. It is also a really tasty dish, but also very sweet dish.  It works really well as a side dish for game – like we in modern time use a jam or cranberry sauce with game. The dish can be made with any kind of fowl – the meat should be a game-meat as that adds to the flavour.the recipe for mawmenee  corresponds to the Arabic mamuniyya.
The meal was then quickly completed,with cheese and white bread cut and put on trenchers.The citizens rose in unison,bowed to the dignitaries and left in procession.The other worthies then departed according to their estate.The pieces of bread,cheese and discarded meat were put into voiders,to be distributed to the beggars who were sitting cross-legged on the floor of the stone chamber beside the hall.