Chef Channon has been researching culinary history for over 15 years. This knowledge combined with her background in education and a passion for the culinary arts results in unique educational dinner parties and interactive cooking classes.

She has also been instrumental in developing and managing themed events such as weddings, fundraisers and food festivals.

Here you will find several examples of menus that I have recreated from historical sources. Often these recipes were developed by locating the ingredients of the original sources and then working with them to develop a recipe that best mimicked the style of cuisine of that time.

These dishes have been enjoyed by many, through private engagements, weddings and fundraisers and teaching programs. If there is a cuisine or culture you do not see, and are interested in, please contact me for further information. I have been working on several other areas of interest, including recent North American historical cuisine.

These menus can be altered and are only possibilities for you to consider.

As inspiration for a unique experience, I often turn to literary works. This menu is based on the references found within Geoffery Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales”, each one being matched with a recipe from a historical English manuscript from the 14^th Century or  thereabouts.

  On the table; Platters ofSlip-Coate Cheese- a soft brie cheesePandemayn- bread baked in the original style of the middle Ages

Dry Sausage- Beef sausage slices 

Roasts of Beef- Tender chunks of beef broasted in a red wine sauce

Baked Metes of Salmon- Spiced Salmon pastries with cheese

Frumenty- rich and creamy wheat or barley risotto

Chyches- Onion, garlic butter, sauteed chickpeasCompost- winter vegetables in a sweet pickle 

Fine Cakes- A roasted flour shortbread with fresh nutmeg and clotted cream

Gingerbrede- A fudge like confection of honey and wheat bread, blended with rare spices pressed into moulds and decoratedDates and nuts

Rastons- fresh baked, stuffed  mini sweet bread Suggested Drinks:

Ale (unhopped beer)

Braggot (ale made from the dredges of mead) 

 Mead - a honey wine  ª 

 Inspired by the earliest known European cookbook "Libellus de arte coquinaria" ,we recreated a delicious feast based on these unique recipes. The manuscript is believed to be a medical treatise that originates from the Mediterranean schools such as Salerno, and may even have roots in an Andalusian source. The uniqueness of these recipes is that they very clearly are influenced by early European food culture, probably as early as the 12th C. This manuscript is comprised of four Manuscripts, in Old Danish, Icelandic and Low German and as a continuation of my attempts at authenticity I will be utilizing recipes to accent the manuscript from these extended sources in as near a period as possible.

Chicken and Bacon in Pastry

Second Course-

Braised Beef and Wine Sauce- very similar to a Saurbrauten

Smoked Pork and Mustard Sauce

Kallis –bread pudding

Frittours and fruit-

Cider 

French 14^th C-

This menu is only one course of many that could be served as an example of the haute cuisine of France during the High Middle Ages.  I redacted these recipes from Le Viander de Taillevent (Master Cook to King Richard) and the Menagier de Paris (a household account written by French Knight) 14^th  C

A Salat of fresh herbs and fruit- a simple field greens and herb salad with redwine vinaigrette

Powdered Beef with mustard and cameline sauce,served with  payndemain

Pomme Dorre- a pork and beef meatball that is basted with saffron or spinach batter and baked to appear to be golden or green apples

Chicken and Syrup- Roasted chicken with a light egg/saffron  based sauce

Rice Engoule- Golden Basmati Rice, spiced with Saffron

Sweet Rissoles and Marchepane- Fruit and nut stuffed pastries and almond marzipan

The following recipes are recreated based on the oldest known cookbook in existence;

Apicius- 1-4th C AD.

Appetizers
Moretaria and Flat Bread- garlic and cream cheese spread with fresh flat bread

Salad
Ne Lactucae Laedant/A harmless salad- a variety of greens with a savoury dressing

Side Dishes
Phaseoli Virides Frictae-Fried Green Fava beans or chickpeas
Alicam Vel Succum Tisanai-Bulghur Wheat with herbs and a Vinegarette dressing
Or Frumentum- Barley Risotto

Entrees
SalaCattabia- a cool summer entree of shredded chicken with layers of herbed fresh cheese and bread, molded in the shape of a fish, dressed with cucumber slices as scales, finished with capers and herbs
Or Stuffed Chicken with Sauce ala Apicius- Lovage, celery and onions are baked in the chicken and the broth reduced to au jus Or Isicia Amulato ab Aheno/Rissoles with a Thick Sauce in a Casserole- meatballs with a rich herbed gravy Or Pernam et Ficus et Frumentum-Ham with Figs and simmered barley.

Desserts
Dulcia Domestica/Homemade Sweets- Nut Stuffed Dates, simmered in honey and spices Savillum/Cheesecake- a tangy cheesecake with a sweet sauce