Meeting the Dietary Challenges of the Modern Medievalist

At Feast or in Camp

Meeting the dietary challenges of those who must avoid certain foods not out of personal preference, but for reasons of health and safety with consequences ranging from swift and severe anaphylactic reactions to subsequent days of discomfort and gastric distress.

Complete Ingredients List
 Always, always, always have a complete ingredients list posted at troll and in the kitchen, with copies for the servers to take to a table.

Over the years, the SCA cook will encounter one person or another who has a reaction varying from a mild food sensitivity to an anaphylactic shock reaction to any food on an ingredients list.

Avoiding/Listing the eight most common allergens

1.      Wheat

2.      Eggs

3.      Milk/Dairy

4.      Fish

5.      Shellfish

6.      Tree nuts

7.      Peanuts

8.      Soy

Avoidance strategies :

a)      Two are not commonly used in medieval cooking: soy and peanuts

b)      Strict Lenten monastic dishes – no dairy, no fish, no eggs

c)      Limiting use of dairy – using olive oil or lard instead of butter where possible

d)     Limiting use of nuts vs using almond milk instead of cow’s milk

e)      Limiting use of wheat is difficult in many feasts – bread, pasta, bread crumbs are ubiquitous in many recipes. “Gluten-free” also requires elimination of barley and rye, and sometimes oatmeal due to cross contamination milling issues. Rice is usually safe.

f)       Basic food safety to avoid in kitchen cross contamination

g)      Serve sauces separately, on the side, rather than all over the dish, especially meats

Dealing with less common allergens - examples

Capsicums (green and red peppers)*                          Mushrooms*

Black pepper*                                                             Onions, garlic, leeks – alliums

Ginger                                                                         Cinnamon

Apricots                                                                      Strawberries

Pork*                                                                           Beef

Lamb                                                                           Poultry

Shrimp & crustaceans *                                              Corn                                                               

Nightshade Family – Eggplant, potato, tomato          Melons

Banana                                                                                    Mango

Citrus fruits                                                                 Fava beans

*more likely to be anaphylactic shock reactions

It is not always possible to meet therapeutic dietary needs : restricted sodium, low fat, restricted carbohydrates, low purine, low protein, etc.  The SCA cook cannot accommodate every diner’s dietary restrictions or we would only serve a glass of water and perhaps a small bowl of rice and sweet potatoes.

Gluten Free Lunch Option

Cockaleekie with Rice, Oatcakes with rice flour or Manioc breadsticks, dried apples and cherries, GF shortbread, tea or lemonade

Dairy Free Lunch Option

Lentil soup with ham, French bread (no dairy), Orange slices with cinnamon, biscotti, tea or lemonade

Egg & Nut Free Lunch Option

Cockaleekie with Rice, French bread, radishes, dried apples and cherries, shortbread, tea or lemonade