Food
Although intended to imitate a meal that might have been served during the Middle Ages, the food at a madrigal dinner is often regional and will vary from show to show. Courses usually include a wassail or drinks course, salad, a main course and dessert. Although the Boar's Head Carol is the most popular madrigal song to announce the main course, the most popular meat for the main course is chicken, often specifically Cornish game hen.
During the song which accompanies each course, a symbolic object may be carried to the kings throne by two or more ceremonial guards. A boar's head is the universal symbol of the main course. However, since the head is not actually part of the meal and will be used for many years, most madrigal dinners use an imperishable head. Sometimes this is the head of a real boar, pig, or javelina, preserved by taxidermy and sometimes it is a replica, made from papier-mâché or plaster. The Boar's Head Carol equates the presentation of the head with the presence of Christ in the festivities.
Read more about this topic: Madrigal Dinner
Famous quotes containing the word food:
“The office of the prince and that of the writer are defined and assigned as follows: the nobleman gives rank to the written work, the writer provides food for the prince.”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)
“This is the only “wet” community in a wide area, and is the rendezvous of cow hands seeking to break the monotony of chuck wagon food and range life. Friday night is the “big time” for local cowboys, and consequently the calaboose is called the “Friday night jail.””
—Administration in the State of Texa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.”
—Bible: New Testament, Luke 3:11.
John the Baptist.