Medieval Style in a Modern Holiday Feast
Wish you could bring some medieval style to your holiday feast but not sure where to start? In this post, we give you options and ideas on how to bring medieval and fantasy style to your modern holiday feasts. From serving to eating, we give a few different options and styles for you to look at, including Viking, medieval, and more. This post sticks to a meal of about three courses.
Serving Food at a Medieval-Style Holiday Feast
If you are looking at medieval or Viking touches for your holiday feast, there are a couple of materials to keep in mind. A couple of popular materials over the centuries were wood and iron. Cast iron is a timeless material for any feast, whether it is medieval, Viking, or even modern. In the modern day, we see cast iron cookware. Medieval cooks would have been familiar with cast iron cauldrons like the Small Medieval Kettle. Thus, having a cauldron like the one just mentioned would bring in a medieval or Viking style when you serve a soup as a first course. Of course, having the Round Steel Medieval Cooking Stand would be a good idea as well. With the stand, you can more easily serve the soup by having the round-bottom cauldron closer to the table. In addition, you could also use a pan like the Steel Skillet with Folding Handle to create a modern dish with a more medieval flair.
Serving a Main Course
When you need to serve something from a plate, such as a main dish, another material to consider is wood. Wood was an incredibly popular medieval as well as Viking material for kitchenware. Even today, we still see wooden kitchen utensils. If you were wanting to include wood as a material for serving your modern holiday feasts, the Medieval Wooden Tray would be a good option. This tray and similar items are ideal for bringing in a medieval touch to a banquet.
Often a main course will include a meat dish and will require the use of a serving fork. We offer a historically styled one in the form of the Hand Forged Serving Fork. Again, it brings in that touch of iron. Both wood and iron fit a variety of styles and themes. They work well for medieval, Viking, and even fantasy themed dinner arrangements.
Eating at a Medieval-Style Holiday Feast
Moving onto the place settings that you may wish to create at your modern holiday feast; we continue the theme of choosing materials and styles with a medieval or fantasy feel. With the basis of a three-course meal, one way to bring in a historical touch but maintain a coherent look is to use the same finishes and materials multiple times. For example, if a holiday meal consists of a soup or salad with a main dish and a dessert, you would want to use the same materials throughout the courses. To illustrate, you could use something like the Medieval Wooden Bowl for your soup or salad. Then, you could use something like the Medieval Wooden Plate for the main course and the 5 Inch Medieval Eating Bowl for a dessert. Of course, you will need something to eat with. We offer a variety of cutlery sets like the Hand Forged Cutlery Set. This option works for both medieval and Viking themes.
Holiday Drinkware
When you get thirsty, you will want to take a drink. Your choice in drinkware can easily set the scene for a particular historical theme. For example, if you were wanting a Viking theme, you could use something like the Viking Drinking Horn with Horn Stand or the Viking Gods Long Boat Beer Stein for a slightly more fantasy Viking vibe. Perhaps you would like some drinkware more along the lines of a cup or goblet that a noble might drink from. You could drink from a piece like the Residenz Wine Roemer. It works for both medieval and Renaissance style feasts, depending on the other items on the table. Another option could be the Simple Medieval Tankard. A tankard like this would work well for drinking hypocras or another medieval drink. For more info on medieval foods and drinks that you may wish to include in your holiday feast, check out our article on a Medieval-Style Thanksgiving.
Tankards, cutlery, and other pieces are a great way to bring in another popular medieval material: pewter. Modern pewter drinkware and cutlery are much safer than their medieval counterparts and add to the historical feel of a banquet table.
Holiday Feast Accessories
Continuing the theme of pewter items, table accessories and other pieces on a dining table are a great way to continue a particular theme or add elements of another one. Dining accessories are especially helpful for bringing in medieval fantasy themes. For example, if you were trying to create a medieval forest theme, pieces like the Pewter Squirrel Salt and Pepper Shakers and the Acorn and Oak Leaf Pewter Pitcher would be good options. They allow you to add a feel of the forest in an elegant way. Other nature-inspired pieces work well with fantasy themes such as magical gardens or forests. We have multiple pieces in the Harvest Fine Dining Collection that would work well for the fantasy garden idea. Another fine dining collection that we offer features a Medici theme which is ideal for a Renaissance-themed dinner.
From medieval to Viking and more, there are many historical and fantasy themes to consider adding to your modern feast. We looked at pieces that you could use to serve your banquet as well as pieces to eat a feast with. There are a wide range of feastware items available. This way you can choose what best suits your needs. We hope that we were able to walk you through how to bring in medieval and fantasy styles to a modern holiday feast.
