Download May Potrero War 2016 Siege Cooking Contest

May Potrero War 2016
Siege Cooking Contest
The Conquest of Britain
The Barony of Calafia hosts Potrero War each Memorial Day weekend at Potrero County Park. This major event
routinely attracts over 2500+ attendees from southern California and Arizona. Among the many contests which
make up the event is the annual Siege Cook-Off. This contest pits five teams of cooks from throughout the region
against each other to prepare a feast of at least 5 dishes, using only the small crate of ingredients provided and water.
These authentic meals are prepared in outdoor kitchens, without the use of electric appliances and modern utensils.
The use of documented period recipes in preparation or for inspiration is rewarded, as is the use of period methods
(replica spits/pots/pans utensils) in meal preparation.
Siege Cook-off 2016 Rules
1. The contest will be limited to 5 teams. The first five teams to apply will participate. A stand-by
team will be kept should any of the teams fail to show up. The teams will receive the victuals at the
appointed time and location. The maximum team size is four cooks, there is no minimum team size.
2. Teams will report to Camp Griffin on Friday between 5-9 pm, but no later than Saturday at 10 am,
to pick up their provisions. The $15 materials fee is due at the time victuals are received. The teams
are to present their prepared meals at 5 pm in the Closed Ramada on Saturday. Each team will be
provided a separate table to present their meal on.
3. Teams must complete and present the associated paperwork with their meal to have their entry
judged. Associated paperwork is:
a. A roster showing the names of all members of the team.
b. The team’s list identifying the ingredients provided to them and which items the team used
in their cooking.
c The team’s listing of dishes presented, with ingredient list by dish.
d. Extra credit given for 1) providing a complete recipe used to prepare each dish; 2) if a
documented period recipe is used in preparation or used for inspiration; 3) if period methods
(replica spits/pots/pans/ovens & utensils) are used in meal preparation; 4) if the dishes all
work together as a whole in both taste and presentation.
4. Teams are requested to return unused items and the storage containers (i.e., canning jars, vials, etc)
the victuals were provided in.
5) Teams are to prepare a feast of no less than 5 dishes, either appropriate to the cuisine of the
occupying Roman forces or to the native Britons. Each dish is to serve two people only, using only
the ingredients provided and water. The use of electric appliances or utensils is not allowed. The use
of liquid fuel or LP gas stoves is permitted.
5. Judging will be on a “blind” basis. Each team will judged on:
a. Required associated paperwork presented.
b. Presentation of the meal to include:
1. Table layout and decorations. Decorations are to be appropriate to the culture displayed
and to the scenario provided.
2. Overall visual appeal.
c. Adherence to established modern food safety practices. Any detected violation that could result in
illness or injury will result in disqualification.
d. Most use of the ingredients provided.
e. Each dish presentation to include:
1. Visual appeal.
2. Aromatic appeal.
3. Taste and texture.
6. Prizes will awarded in the following categories:
a. Best Team Overall.
b. Best Individual Dish.
c. Best Composition of the entire meal.
The Roman Empire, 54 A.D.
Imagine If:
You are a Briton, a resident of what these newcomers call the Hyperborean Isles, better known to
you as England. These strangers, who call themselves Romans, seem friendly enough but they
want access to all your fresh and stored food – will you share with these armored strangers?
What will you cook with what you have?? What might these “friendly” invaders have that might
be of use to you?
You are a proud member of the Roman Legions, deployed to the back of beyond, and what little
you know of these lands is from old texts from the days of Julius Caesar. You brought some
staples with you from home, but know the natives have access to more fresh foods, but they are
wary and you are uncertain if their intent is hostile. You know it will be some time before
additional supplies can be brought from Mother Roma. You only have limited stored goods,
which you may need if these blue-painted natives turn hostile, and no time to plant crops. Your
leader calls for a celebration feast – what will you cook with what you have?
Background History
The Roman conquest of Britain was a gradual process, beginning effectively in AD 43 under
Emperor Claudius, whose general, Aulus Plautius, served as first governor of Roman Britain
(Latin: Britannia). Great Britain had already frequently been the target of invasions, planned and
actual, by forces of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire. In common with other regions on
the edge of the empire, Britain had enjoyed diplomatic and trading links with the Romans in the
century since Julius Caesar's expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, and Roman economic and cultural
influence was a significant part of the British late pre-Roman Iron Age, especially in the south.
Between 55 BC and the 40s AD, the status quo of tribute, hostages, and client states without
direct military occupation, begun by Caesar's invasions of Britain, largely remained intact.
Augustus prepared invasions in 34 BC, 27 BC and 25 BC. The first and third were called off due
to revolts elsewhere in the empire, the second because the Britons seemed ready to come to
terms. According to Augustus's Res Gestae, two British kings, Dubnovellaunus and Tincomarus,
fled to Rome as suppliants during his reign, and Strabo's Geography, written during this period,
says that Britain paid more in customs and duties than could be raised by taxation if the island
were conquered.
By the 40s AD, the political situation within Britain was apparently in ferment. The Catuvellauni
had displaced the Trinovantes as the most powerful kingdom in south-eastern Britain, taking
over the former Trinovantian capital of Camulodunum (Colchester), and were pressing their
neighbours the Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Julius Caesar's former ally Commius.
Caligula planned a campaign against the Britons in 40, but its execution was bizarre: according
to Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars, he drew up his troops in battle formation facing the English
Channel and ordered them to attack the standing water. Afterwards, he had the troops gather
seashells, referring to them as "plunder from the ocean due to the Capitol and the Palace".
Modern historians are unsure if that was meant to be an ironic punishment for the soldiers'
mutiny or due to Caligula's derangement. Certainly this invasion attempt readied the troops and
facilities that would make Claudius' invasion possible three years later. For example, Caligula
built a lighthouse at Bononia (modern Boulogne-sur-Mer) that provided a model for the one built
soon after at Dubris (Dover).
Three years later, in 43, possibly by re-collecting Caligula's troops, Claudius mounted an
invasion force to re-instate Verica, an exiled king of the Atrebates. Aulus Plautius, a
distinguished senator, was given overall charge of four legions, totalling about 20,000 men, plus
about the same number of auxiliaries. The legions were:
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Legio II Augusta
Legio IX Hispana
Legio XIV Gemina
Legio XX Valeria Victrix
The II Augusta is known to have been commanded by the future emperor Vespasian. Three other
men of appropriate rank to command legions are known from the sources to have been involved
in the invasion. Cassius Dio mentions Gnaeus Hosidius Geta, who probably led the IX Hispana,
and Vespasian's brother Titus Flavius Sabinus the Younger. He wrote that Sabinus was
Vespasian's lieutenant, but as Sabinus was the older brother and preceded Vespasian into public
life, he could hardly have been a military tribune. Eutropius mentions Gnaeus Sentius
Saturninus, although as a former consul he may have been too senior, and perhaps accompanied
Claudius later.
References
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Frere, Sheppad Sunderland (1987), Britannia: A History of Roman Britain (3rd, revised ed.),
London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, ISBN 0-7102-1215-1
Tacitus, Cornelius (98), "The Life of Cnaeus Julius Agricola", The Works of Tacitus (The Oxford
Translation, Revised) II, London: Henry G. Bohn (published 1854), pp.343–389
Further Reading
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The Great Invasion, Leonard Cottrell, Coward–McCann, New York, 1962, hardback.
Was published in the UK in 1958.
Tacitus, Histories, Annals and De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae
A.D. 43, John Manley, Tempus, 2002.
Roman Britain, Peter Salway, Oxford, 1986
Miles Russel – Ruling Britannia – History Today 8/2005 pp 5–6
Francis Pryor. 2004. Britain BC. New York: HarperPerennial.
Francis Pryor. 2004. Britain AD. New York: HarperCollins.
George Shipway – Imperial Governor. 2002. London: Cassell Military Paperbacks.