Cryptic Post..............All Is Revealed?!?!?!

contrary to what my colleague Robert thinks our most common question is NOT 'Why is Daves head that shape?'

It is in fact 'Do they sell that recipe book anywhere?' referring to the recipe book that we use when cooking at hampton court.
Here's a lousy photograph of one of the books:

It really doesn't do it justice, suffice to say I made 3 of these for us to use in front of the public; they're printed on laid paper, hand sewn then hand bound in pigskin. There are a lot of comprimises involved - the paper is modern, they were printed on a laser printer and so on, but they're a pretty good approximation of the real thing and are a good point of interaction between us and the visitors.

Over the last few years of using these books in front of the public I've lost count of the number of times that people have asked if they can buy a copy somewhere. Apart from a couple of people who were adamant that cost was not a consideration and really wanted a handmade book, the majority of people want a modern version of these books.
After numerous meetings where this was mentioned, Hampton Court finally decided that there wouldn't be enough demand for such a book and if i wanted to produce one then that was entirely up to me!

So the cryptic posts referred to :


The recipe book from our cookery events printed in a modern version.

Unfortunately there is a catch in that I am still waiting for the proof copy to arrive before I can authorise it for sale.

I've knocked together a very rough & ready website with more detail on here or you can click on the big picture link now at the top of the column on the right. (sorry, lots of text, not many pictures!)

As soon as everything is ready to go, which should be in a few days time, then the link will take you straight to the website where you can buy the book rather than my pathetic attempt at a web site!
Please have a look and do look at ALL the information there as it should explain more than I can fit into a post here.

Gentlemen....Start Your Engines....

So we rush headlong into the Easter cookery that starts on Friday and lasts until Sunday 15th - If you're able to pop to Hampton Court and see us in action then I'd encourage you to do so, if nothing else you'll be able to see if the grand menu plan has resulted in my early demise at the hands of the rest of the team!!

Tomorrow will be a jam packed day. Arrive at Hampton Court and receive the deliveries, make sure everything has been delivered then put it all in its places (fridges, shelves and cupboards). After that, when the rest of the guys arrive, we'll start work on washing all of the ceramic and bronze stuff that's been out on display since the Christmas event. A short break for a meeting with the boss, then back to it..finishing the cleaning then setting the kitchen up ready to start first thing on Friday.

I'll be taking pictures and video over the week, much like i did at Christmas if you were reading the blog then. The problem is how much access i have to the Internet over the week!!
I'm under the assumption that I'll only have a connection via my mobile phone and dial up which means only posting text and no images over the week I'm afraid. It is possible, but not probable that one of the chaps will also bring his own laptop and 3G data card as he did at Christmas, in which case normal service will continue (If I can sweet talk him into being able to use it)......just don't count on it.....I'm not as i can't get hold of him at the moment to ask.

Anyhow, all will be revealed tomorrow and you'll know as soon as I do.

I'm aiming to post the same sort of stuff that I did at Christmas, each day's menus along with general comments on how things have gone, hopefully on a daily basis but that will depend on so many things as the week progresses.

Off to pack my bags now ready for the off......more postings as and when over the next 10 days or so....including the one above!!

Cryptic Post 2

.......The answer to our commonest question!

2 For The Price Of 1

Back from a trip away and raring to go when the Easter event starts next week.

First of all an apology re my post on 11th February! In this I mentioned the very pleasant evening we had with our friends- food, drink etc. etc. but neglected to post any real information about our friends.......in order to redress that, here is a link to their website The Guild of St George

Secondly, the menus for Easter. Hopefully I've cracked it and they appear here (if somewhat larger than the column can cope with), enjoy



Think of that as a sneak preview as I'm pretty sure that apart from our Clerk, Robert, none of the rest of the team will be looking at this- boy are they going to get a shock next Thursday...tee hee hee!?!

Cryptic Post!

It's coming soon............and I don't mean Easter.









Hush Hush, Mum's the word! and all that






All will be revealed soon!

Easter Is Coming And The Goose Is Getting Fat....

..or something like that!

Not long to go now until the Easter cookery event is upon us.
The menus have been planned and the ingredients ordered it's now a matter of waiting to see if it all turns up on time or not.

Big Changes For Easter

So, 10 days of cookery are mostly planned and the shopping lists being drawn up when I get the dumb idea:
'wouldn't it be great to cook 2 meals each day? You know, at the proper Tudor court times...10.00am and 4.00 pm'

Unfortunately, everyone else thought it was a good idea too?!? So now we just have to deliver.

2 meals a day, that's no problem I hear you cry....well no it isn't, except for the fact that the palace doesn't open until 10.00 am and we only start work at 9.00!! Oh well, I'm sure it'll all work out fine and if not then the rest of the guys will undoubtedly let me know what a stupid idea it was.

At the moment, posting the menu's is problematic due to the format that they are currently in - scribbled in pencil on a sheet of paper, but as soon as I get them typed up I'll post them for all to see and to whet your appetites.

There probably won't be much activity from me for this coming week as I'm away on another job for the next 4 days or so, but there will be an update next weekend ready for Easter's cookery.

No Pressure, But You Might Like To Vote Here!

UKTV History are currently running a campaign to find Britain's best Historic site.

There's plenty of sites to choose from and it appears that you can add sites that aren't already on the list.

Comments

Just to remind/let you know that if you post any comments that needs a reply, I'll do so in the same post- unless it's such a doozy that a new post is needed.

So Helen, check out your comment

Back To School....

First off, following up from the images posted last time, I've added 4 more of the new stuff on display in the kitchens.

Yesterday saw me visiting Hampton School near Hampton Court for school dinner!?
To clarify, this year is the 450th anniversary of their founders day and they wanted to have a Tudor meal as part of the celebration. they contacted Hampton Court around 6 months or so ago and I've been working with them on this project since then.

In reality all I did was to supply a few recipes, albeit ones that i thought would be suitable for them, i.e. not too complicated for what would be essentially a one off meal- when we cook we have the luxury of being able to stuff it up....big time...we can always try again next time, the school couldn't. I also had to take into account the numbers that they would be feeding.....over 1000 portions of each dish!!!!!

We had a few meetings to talk it all through, they put in a ton of work (much more than I had to anyway) and they also decided to make it much bigger than they'd originally planned. Bryan, the chap who suggested the event thought it would be great to make much more of a 'day' of it, so spread the work amongst the school departments. Not only did they all pull together for the day, they included all sort of Tudor themed work into their lessons, from the art department who had the kids paint Tudor portraits and 'tapestries' to decorate the hall, through the IT department who came to the Palace at Christmas where they videoed us cooking and projected it onto the walls of the hall to add ambiance. The music department had the kids learning Tudor music which was played throughout dinner and the English department had the upper 6th translating the original texts I sent them.

All in all I was most impressed. The school had 'gone for it' with gusto and were rewarded with a cracking meal to boot. Deborah, the lady in charge of the catering had done wonders and produced a cracking meal- Beef Stew, Pork Stew, Cabochis, Tarte owte of Lente, Pears in Syryp and Oyle soppes!! It tasted great and most surprising the kids seemed to enjoy it too- although I'll know more in the near future when we have a 'wash up' meeting.
As far as i can tell, this was probably the first time for a long time that anyone had tried a Tudor meal of the complexity that this was for such a large number of people.

Now that that's done, I can get back to the menu planning for Easter, all MUST be done and dusted by next Wednesday.....so if you'll excuse me, back to work!

Ok, So I've Been A Bad Boy......

..and not written anything for over a week. I've been taken to task in an email by my 'number 1 fan' (my mother!) about not writing up last weeks stuff. Well to be honest, it was a long and tiring week and writing in the evening was the last thing on my mind... I know, I know, I should finish what I start, but last week I really couldn't be bothered.

Anyway, here I am now so all is better eh?

Last week was a busy week. Originally set aside for running repairs to the static display in the kitchen, you'd be surprised at the damage that occurred over the school half term holiday. So we were ready with glue in hand, to stick it all back down again. We were also adding new stuff to the display, more sacks, more plastic meat and as soon as the health and safety man approves, a couple of new wheelbarrows- I've added a few (5) photos to the photostream so you get a rough idea, you'll also get to see the wheelbarrow before anyone else so a sort of sneak preview.

On Tuesday there was the official opening of the new Clore Education Centre at Hampton Court. This newly revamped and added to area of the Palace will really add to and improve the education departments provision for school and adult education. As part of the education department, the 5 core members of the team were invited to the opening, best bib and tucker as guest of honour was HRH The Price of Wales.....which was nice. We didn't get to talk to him, but we did get to eat some very nice canapes !

Wednesday saw me in a meeting for most of the morning, talking to our manager about the forthcoming years cookery events. We've got some great ideas in the pipeline, some stuff you may have seen before if you've visited and a lot that is brand new.....more of that at a later date though.
The rest of the week saw us armed with a large tin of solvent based glue, sticking down plastic meat, pies and fish; let's just hope that they stay stuck for a little longer this time.

Time marches ever on and the Easter cookery looms large, it opens on the 6th April for 10 days, that's just over 3 weeks away!!!! This week I have to sort out the menu, work out the shopping list and then get the food orders in by the middle of next week so that we've got the ingredients to cook with. That means tomorrow will be spent taking another inventory of the stuff we have in stock so that I can start the menu planning on Wednesday.

As soon as the menu is sorted, I'll post it up for you all to see what lies in store for the cookery week. You should also (fingers crossed) see the number of posts start to increase as we prepare for the Easter week.