Extensive commentary on Question 1

What do you want from a feast?

Now we get to the meat and potatoes of the Feast Survey.... or should I say meat and turnips? The actual comments offered by those that completed the Survey. And I want to take just moment to thank everyone who participated. Your comments and input was most appreciated. Your desires and feelings in this area have given me much “food for thought.”  One person wrote: “No one has ever asked me, or anyone that I know, what we would like at feasts. If we offer our opinions they seem to be quickly dismissed. It is as if our thoughts and desires are not necessary. Perhaps we should not feel this way, but we do.” If nothing else this Survey has been a forum for people to express things that they have always wanted to say, but no one ever asked them. This Feast Survey is nothing more than a collection of data. But I have learned much in conducting this Survey and I hope that you might also.

I wish that I could have the computer memory and space to list all the surveys, but I just don't. So, because of this limitation, I can only post a few of the many comments made. I have picked some that have caused me to pause and think. They may not represent my personal viewpoints. Heck, they may not even represent the viewpoints of the majority of the responders of the survey. But I selected them because I felt others could learn from them. To get a better understanding of what the "majority" thought, read over the "Consolidated Feast Survey Results" page.

Question 1 - What do you want from a feast?

Comments

• Fluids, Ambiance, protein, ambiance, starch and ambiance.
• I go to feast because I enjoy dinner conversation, the company and to see all the neat stuff. If I just wanted to just eat, I'd bring a ham sandwich.
• I expect feast to A) be edible, B) be period foods done correctly, and C) come to the table in an orderly and timely manner.
• Good “reasonably period” food, good company, a little elbow room, and time to enjoy it.
• I want interesting food that I may not have had before, but also food that is at least somewhat appetizing to the eyes, nose and mouth.
• A new experience. Food I haven't tried, flavorful recipes, competent servers with good attitudes, ambiance, a respectful attitude so that everyone can hear performances, and a seating arrangement that allows everyone to see any planned entertainment.
• Delicious foods, preferably a mix of old standards and foods I've never eaten before, served in passably medieval ambiance, providing an opportunity for socializing - this last means having a little time after eating a course before the next one comes out. Enough water to drink. Room enough to sit and not feel crushed.
• I want an experience to enhance the atmosphere of the event. Something that will approach the feel of a middle ages great meal for dignitaries. Good, well prepared food from authentic foods and recipes. A hospitable gift to the visiting nobility/royalty brandishing the generosity of the host/host group.
• Dinner and an education
• Enjoyable and unusual food that I can't get at a restaurant.
• Good food, sufficient to allay hunger, and of a period type.
• A chance to sample other foods from different lands and times. A chance to dine with friends and be entertained. There is more to feast than food but in the food I would prefer it to be hot tasty and plentiful. I recall a feast where there was an excellent barley and broth soup. Unfortunately what we got for servings was perhaps two or three tablespoons full.
• A good meal with a medieval ambiance. One of the things I really like about the SCA is the opportunity to live like a person from another time, if only for a little while. Done well, a feast can help create the illusion that we are in that other time.
• An enjoyable meal worth the price I pay.
• I want to have enough tasty (to my palate) dishes to satisfy my hunger while still having some dishes that satisfy my curiosity pertaining to period food. If the two coincide so much the better.
• Good food that doesn't get in the way of dancing.
• At least one novel dish (something tasty that I never would have tried on my own).
• Fun :) Feast is a lot of merrymaking.
• Edible food, in decent quantity, that is reasonably Period and different from everyday food. (If I want steak and potatoes, I can go to a restaurant)
• A selective sampling of what it was like in middle ages.
• A feast has to keep body and soul together, and it has to be tasty, but if those were all I wanted, I'd go to a church potluck or to a restaurant. I'm looking for an experience (a combination of food, service, hall, entertainment, conversation, etc.) that helps me suspend disbelief in being in the MiddleAges.
• Edible "period" food in adequate portions. Especially, I want to feel as though I've gotten the "right" amount of food for the money I've paid.
• A comfortable environment for socialization, and good food.
• Good food at low cost. I don't mind trying something "different", but would rather have some vittles that are identifiable as such. I have young children to feed, and they need something that THEY identify as food.
• A tasty, medieval meal. It doesn't have to be complicated, and dessert is not necessary, but good homemade bread is definitely the mark of a good feast.
• I want a feast that doesn't make me regret choosing not to go to McDonalds with some of the others, or causes me to stop at McDonalds on the way home because I'm still hungry.
• Food that is edible, entertainment that is light, good friends.