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Feast Menu – Defending the Alpine Gate

Editor’s note: This will be updated with more details about each recipe and ingredients as those write ups are completed.

We chose to theme this feast slightly differently than our previous feasts. Traditionally we have a course centered around each side of the conflict. This feast is themed around the Battle of Marignano, in which the French (and supporting mercenaries!) defeated the Swiss. Swiss cuisine already has a lot of influence on and from the French, northern Italian and German cuisines we would be considering for our “opposing course”. So you will not find the separation of the sides as clear as in some previous feasts.

First Course

Medieval Swiss cuisine was influenced by their neighbors. Le Viandier de Taillevent was well known in Switzerland, for example. Within the country, there was regional variation, none greater than the divide between the agrarian plateaus and cities and the Alpine herding regions. We chose to theme this first course around Alpine foods, which included lots of dairy but not a lot of meat. Foraged food such as mushrooms and chestnuts was also common.

Dishes:

  • Alpine Macaroni: pasta and parsnips in a cheese sauce
    • served with salt-cured ham, fried onions, saeurkraut and apple compote to top as desired
  • Mushrooms with oil and garlic
  • Spring salad of arugula dressed with vinegar and oil

Second Course

In looking into the conflict, we found that the southernmost canton of Switzerland, Ticino, was conquered in this era. It was previously under control of the Dukes of Milan. We were excited to discover that Maestro Martino, celebrity chef and author of the 15th century’s most famous cookbook, Libro de Arte Coquinaria, originally came from the Blenio valley in Ticino. We have sprinkled recipes from Martino throughout the feast. This course is also themed specifically around Ticinese food.

Dishes:

  • Minestrone Ticinese: vegetable soup with onions, celery, kale, cowpeas, parsley, garlic
  • Pane Ticinese: white bread in a unique shape
  • Lamb meatballs with onions

Third Course

We had to include recipes to represent the mercenaries at the mercenary Defending the Gate! The German landsknecht and Venetian condottieri supported the French army in this conflict.

Dishes:

  • Italian chicken with orange sauce
  • German stewed red cabbage with apples and raisins
  • Italian torta di pane / German egg cake – a dessert made from stale bread, eggs, sugar and raisins

YIS, Jasper & Helena