14th March 2008 - Training Course in
Tudor Cooking
This entry was written by
Katie Gilbert, a work
experience school pupil who joined in with our
training course in Tudor cooking.
'On the 14th March 2008 the
Interpretation Department ventured upon traditional Tudor cooking alongside
a small group of volunteers. The day was treated as both an exercise to
train those on the course and as a demonstration to the public. Commencing
with tea and biscuits, the individuals on the course were given sheets
displaying various Tudor recipes and were told to select the dish that today
they would prepare. After which they were left to their own devices,
accomplishing smaller preparatory tasks such as deciding on an appropriate
location in which to light the fire and washing the tables with warm water
and salt (antibacterial spray used prior: of course non-Tudor!) as was the
traditional Tudor method.
Next was the much more difficult task of the cooking
itself, which could have proved even more so had the instructions not been
translated from their original old English phrasing. However, amounts were
not specified and amidst the confusion all four dishes were prepared using
rough estimations and despite doubts proved to be successful. Throughout the
process of waiting for pots of various ingredients to boil by the fire
visitors entered the kitchens, genuinely interested in the staffs vast
knowledge of not only their own dish, but also the building itself and Tudor
Catering.
Just before lunch all the dishes were prepared, some were
even offered to the public as they passed through. Then, briefly we
discussed finding better methods of allowing visitors to taste samples and
next left for lunch.
Upon returning there was little left to do, other than
clean up after ourselves. We scrubbed down the tables once again in the
traditional Tudor manner, with warm water and salt and we’re taught how to
clean cauldrons more effectively by smearing ash around the interior and
washing it out with water. The remains of our food which now looked far less
appealing) where disposed of and the cauldrons and pottery were returned to
their rightful places.'