tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75858722989054233912024-03-19T21:02:50.957+00:00Cooking The BooksThis is the blog of the Tudor kitchens cookery project at Hampton Court Palace, Surrey, England.
It's not an official blog and only represents how I see the stuff we do...enjoyTudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.comBlogger360125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-21470209301454356082011-11-23T15:55:00.001+00:002011-11-23T15:58:17.649+00:00Google +Right, the time has come to admit to myself....and you all, that it's highly unlikely I'll post much here again!
Not only have I lost the motivation to do so, the format and methodology of posting here is no longer suited to the way that I've come to update the world about the work in the kitchens at Hampton Court. The majority of what "I'm" doing is covered by confidentiality at this time, so ITudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-59974135977831273132011-07-15T21:42:00.000+00:002011-07-15T21:42:37.484+00:00Fish Out Of Water...is always the distinct feeling I get when at things like the IMC this week; I become acutely aware at my own lack of academic qualifications and always feel somewhat out of place. However, although the week started like that, by the end of Tuesday the situation was definitely much improved.
I had arrived on Sunday not having really finished my paper, but after a little time and contemplation I Tudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-23305038010713378222011-07-15T00:07:00.002+00:002011-07-15T00:07:41.922+00:00Full(ish) Report....,,,to follow soon!
Am nearly finished writing the report for you about Tuesday at the IMC but have just noticed the time...I've got to be up early, so I'll have to finish and post it tomorrow.
TTFNTudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-16681968446767010852011-07-11T19:44:00.000+00:002011-07-11T19:44:50.590+00:00Ah Ha!turns out that if you knuckle down and actually write something, rather than rely on random waffle and some pretty pictures, then making something coherent that fits inside 15 minutes is possible....just in my case, but that's only because I gave such a scatter gun title and abstract for the proposal that covering everything I mentioned in those in 15 minutes would task the best of us.
Still, asTudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-20283385135556663602011-07-11T07:49:00.001+00:002011-07-11T07:52:04.590+00:00It's IMC Time....Day The First.So sat here in my digs at the International Medieval Congress, half eight in
the morning and the room's already like a sauna....gotta love student
accommodation!
Finally finished putting the talk together last night, though undoubtedly
there'll be some tweaks later on when I have had a chance to gauge the
average presentation style here...I have to say that this is a first, 15
minutes to presentTudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-38322986685456752342011-06-07T13:48:00.000+00:002011-06-07T13:48:49.417+00:00You Can Take Your Stinking Meat And.....use it!!
Seems that the guys had some problems in storing the meat over the last weekend. As I mentioned before, thanks to the set-up for the Music Festival we don't get to use the modern kitchen for the June weekend and so they had no access to the large catering fridges for storing ingredients and in spite of their best efforts they weren't able to keep the meat in "tip top" condition for Tudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-37103737225116954062011-06-05T14:12:00.001+00:002011-06-05T14:15:05.402+00:00You Aint Seen Me....Right!Hard to believe, but it is indeed my weekend off the rota and hence away from the kitchens whilst the rest of the guys struggle with the June event.
It's always a tricky weekend because the Music Festival set up means we don't have access to the modern kitchen upstairs...so no baking but more crucially, no fridges!! I did my best to plan a menu that would fit this lack of storage as best it couldTudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-24363233512515212842011-05-26T21:46:00.000+00:002011-05-26T21:46:09.255+00:00Clarke Hall Food History Day
FYI the details of the trip back to Wakefield that I mentioned on Twitter, maybe see some of you there??Tudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-67361409574054235472011-05-24T23:51:00.000+00:002011-05-24T23:51:50.521+00:00May(hem)Well so far this has turned out to be a pretty duff month!!
I really didn't enjoy the last cookery weekend, that's one of the reasons I only updated you for the first day...I had simply had enough of it all and after work time was set aside for drink and loud music....I expect I was an arse to work with so apologise to the rest of the guys, but they're kind of used to that by now!
Since then Tudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-13245497537464841672011-04-30T00:15:00.001+00:002011-04-30T00:15:07.063+00:00Wedded...Bliss(fully Ignorant)Hmm, definitely an interesting day, not busy by any stretch of the imagination...but that's not too much of a surprise given the Royal wedding taking place!As we thought it might be, the bulk of visitors today were foreign with English not as their main language...mostly French as it happens...but all of them were interested and kept us busy with chat and questions...I don't think that I Tudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-58444892074795868462011-04-27T22:14:00.000+00:002011-04-27T22:14:41.450+00:00May Day, May Day!Well, blink and you'll have missed the 3 days between the last event over the Easter weekend and this coming May bank holiday weekend of cooking...what you won't have missed is the blanket coverage of the impending Royal nuptials...an extra holiday added for you...and an extra day of work for us, making this another 4 day event.
The Palace, as I mentioned in an earlier update, has the theme of Tudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-15588987517456450732011-04-24T00:03:00.000+00:002011-04-24T00:04:03.003+00:00All Quiet On The West(ern) Front.A much quieter day today than the jam packed one yesterday, still busy, just not as much as yesterday was.Cooking wise, another positive day was had and with regards to the overall aim of the weekend great strides have been made already...Christmas here we come!The wine fountain had been going great guns too, this year we seem to have acquired the responsibility to run the thing, though unlike Tudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-810377428450675982011-04-23T00:33:00.001+00:002011-04-23T00:33:27.849+00:00Good Grief It's Good Friday.Blimey, what a day that was!Glorious weather and a shut Windsor castle certainly brought in the crowds, no ideas as to the numbers, but the kitchen was full for most of the day, as was the rest of the building.....and gardens....as the line from Zulu goes, "there's thousands of them!" and there certainly were.It was good to see forum member and librarian about town Johnna visit us Tudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-2755324445150311602011-04-20T22:38:00.000+00:002011-04-20T22:38:05.371+00:00Easter Eggstravaganza!well, not really, but it makes a good enough title!
Better late than never I suppose with the plans for this Easter weekend in the kitchens at Hampton Court....so, what are they??
This weekend will see us starting on work for the next Xmas event...yes, you read that right, beat that supermarkets with your Easter eggs on the shelves on January 1st and Xmas cards in stock after Halloween!
Over theTudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-65551623039361417912011-04-10T01:49:00.002+00:002011-04-10T17:05:31.556+00:00Apropos Of Nothing...So, out for a family dinner yesterday and a situation presented itself that I really wasn't prepared for. It was a little pub restaurant, the usual sort of selection was offered on the menu...all looked acceptable and plenty of choice was available...nothing odd there.
Drinks were ordered first, then the food and I plumped for the chicken fillet "burger"...with chips (fries) and salad...it was Tudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-50545942966833206032011-04-02T09:27:00.000+00:002011-04-02T09:27:45.959+00:00What A Start........to the weekend!
Carter gets his pocket picked waiting for his train and has his wallet stolen with all his cards, cash and most importantly...return train ticket in!! Fortunately all cards managed to be cancelled pretty sharpish and he's talked Dave into giving him a lift most of the way home...just the tedious nature of getting a replacement card sorted now.
Ross on the other hand was halfTudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-45957940036105028622011-04-01T00:17:00.000+00:002011-04-01T00:17:49.308+00:00April Addendumrealised after I posted yesterday that I hadn't really said a great deal about plans for this weekend of cookery...doh!
Well once again we'll be looking at recipes from M.S. Harl. 5401 along with the usual stab at roasting in front of the great fire.
Recipes planned include syrop of wardens, rost mylk, potage of prunes and ryshellis of frute along with several others, though to be honest I've noTudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-75366810981241033062011-03-30T23:31:00.000+00:002011-03-30T23:31:06.554+00:00Our New Year Begins!!Regular readers may well remember that 'we' run our event schedule based on the financial year rather than the calendar one....and with that in mind the new year is just around the corner and this weekend sees the start for the new programme of events.
So what can you expect this year??
Pretty much the same as last year as it happens, a mixed bag of this and that culminating with an attempt to Tudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-33284198370711141452011-03-04T00:10:00.000+00:002011-03-04T00:10:04.176+00:00House RulesOk, so I suppose this is a post with a little explanation in it, something to let you know why there has been a vacuum of silence of late I guess.
When I started all of this blogging a couple of years ago, I set myself some house rules that I would always aim to follow. In the main, they are of no great concern to all of you out there, they set out how I was going to layout each post and things Tudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-38848869921463714212011-02-06T02:24:00.001+00:002011-02-06T02:24:40.062+00:00February Foibles.New phone, worse signal! Oh how technology is a fickle mistress...still if you're reading this at least the tech' held up for long enough for the mail to send and at the moment that's pretty good! Not much to report for you I suppose, we did a little cooking and an awful lot of talking, which seems to now be the norm....not that's any reason too complain as we had some great Tudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-81083921531571965312011-02-03T22:56:00.000+00:002011-02-03T22:56:59.269+00:00What Occurs When........people put a little thought into things!!
Now as I mentioned and posted before, I made a number of time lapse recordings of the meal time at Christmas so that we could get some idea of how the set up flowed....it really makes it so much easier to notice how the crowd moves about and so on. The trouble is, certain people got to thinking about how best they could "play" with the recording and Tudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-75061186184807195322011-01-14T00:33:00.000+00:002011-01-14T00:33:12.037+00:00T i m e L a p s eFirst of the videos that I took of the Hall being set up/taken down and the King dining has now been edited, you can find it over at the Gallery...just click on the thumbnail to get there:
Sorry for the appalling picture quality, but it was a very gloomy day and the lighting was awful, that and the fact that I'm using a small pocket camera not a video camera all combine to give the effect of Tudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-19476961134458241862011-01-13T00:21:00.000+00:002011-01-13T00:21:11.181+00:00Xmas ImagesJust put a new album into the Gallery with some of the images that I took at Christmas....only 25 I'm afraid, most of what I shot was for internal analysis later on and not, I'm sorry to say, for public consumption....that and they're mostly blurred or out of focus due to the gloomy lighting on the day or my general ineptitude!! For images of the event I can recommend those taken and kindly Tudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-73699256464200200102011-01-01T04:33:00.001+00:002011-01-01T04:33:48.397+00:00Fire From The Skies!Just a quickie as it's rather late!Was walking back to the digs through Base Court and found one of those hippy sky lantern thingies on the floor. If you use them, please think of the possibilities of where they may land, fortunately the heat source had burnt out, but what if it had landed alight on the Palace?Hippy types....thing before you light those decorative floatong lanterns....where Tudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7585872298905423391.post-92026976597097859272010-12-31T23:11:00.001+00:002010-12-31T23:11:13.810+00:00Happy New Year!!!Wishing you all the best for 2011.With luck in the coming year I can shift this blue funk and keep you better informed than of late .All the best and remember to drink responsibly tonight people....I may even allow myself a little drinky to celebrate the success of this event. An update will be forthcoming after the dust has settled, possibly a short one tomorrow too, but for now obscenely loud Tudor Cookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05255518452245806185noreply@blogger.com0