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(For previous posts in this series, see items tagged with 'messisbugo'.)

The bulk of the banquet has come in the numbered courses, but there is still a fair amount of ritual and food to come. After the last numbered course, there is a clearing away of the dishes on the table as well as of one of the tablecloths (presumably to clear away crumbs and detritus of the meal as well). The instructions for this step are all quite parallel and then are followed by a list of sweet dishes to be brought in, along with utensils and napkins. This unit will be listed in 3 parts: the removal, the sweets, and the utensils along with any additional material.

The Removal

15?0
And then the cloth and all other things were taken off the table, and scented water was given for the hands, and the confections were brought, that is:

1524
And then one cloth was taken away along with the other things on the table, and water was given for the hands, and in were brought:

1536
And then everything was taken off the table, as well as one cloth, and then scented water was given from the hands, and in addition:

1537
And then scented water was given for the hands, and brought in were:

1540
And then one cloth and all other things were removed from the table, and scented water was given for the hands, and then came the confections, which were:

1548
Scented water for the hands, then came the following confections:

Summary

Despite the omission of the cloth-removal in some cases, we can identify a clear template for this step:

• Remove everything on the table


• Remove one of the tablecloths


• Bring scented water for hand-washing


• Serve the confections (as detailed below)

The Sweets

15?0
8 pounds of confections in syrup in 10 plates.
Quartered quinces in 10 marmalade boxes and 10 marmalade boxes of marena cherry jelly together in 10 plates.
Prunes in sauce, 10 marmalade boxes, with candied peaches around them, together in 10 plates.
Little honey-spice breads [coppette] in 10 plates.

1524
20 honey-spice breads [coppette] in little plates.
10 toroni in pieces, in 20 little plates. [“a kind of big comfets”, the word “toroni” modernly means nougat]
20 pounds of confections in syrups in 20 little plates.
80 little marmalade boxes of quince preserves in 20 little plates.

1536
10 pounds white confections in 10 plates.
10 pounds confections in syrup in 10 plates.
10 honey-spice breads [coppette] in 10 plates.

1537
14 broken coppette in 14 plates.
Confections in syrup, 14 plates.
Pine nuts and pistachios, peeled, rinsed in rose water, 14 plates.
56 marmalade boxes of marena cherries and quince jelly in 14 plates.

1540
Quince preserves in 36 little marmalade boxes in 12 little plates.
Candied pine nuts and candied common seeds in 12 plates.
Citron and lemon rind and other fruits in syrup, in 12 plates.

1548
CONFECTIONS: [note: the menu explicitly labels this list]

5 pounds confections of various sorts in syrup, 7 plates.
White confections of various kinds, 7 plates.
Marmalade boxes of various sorts, 14 in 7 plates.

Summary

Dishes found in all menus

• confections (of various sorts) in syrup, in one case “citron and lemon rind and other fruits in syrup” are specified

Dishes found in at least half the menus

• “marmalade boxes” (5 menus), typically with quince preserves specified as the contents (hence the association with marmalade), but “marena cherry jelly” is also an option (or an addition) and one menu has an extensive assortment of preserves (prunes, candied peaches, quartered quinces, marena cherry jelly) all served in marmalade boxes


• “coppette” (honey-spice bread) (3 menus)

Other dishes

• “white confections” of various kinds (2 menus) - It isn’t clear what these are, but there is some suggestion that they may be fruits candied in sugar


• toroni in pieces (1 menu) - The suggestion is a type of candy, perhaps nougat


• nuts (2 menus) - either specified as candied or not

So our basic menu template would seem to call for:

• fruits in syrup (e.g. citrus rind)


• dry fruit preserves, especially quince preserves or cherry jelly, served in a “marmalade box” - It seems reasonable to envision this as being like membrillo


• honey-spice bread

The Utensils

15?0
Knives and white napkins and scented toothpicks.

1524
Napkins and knives in 20 little plates.
Scented toothpicks as needed.

1536
Scented toothpicks, napkins, and knives in 10 plates.

1537
Scented toothpicks, napkins, and knives.

1540
White napkins and knives in 12 plates.
Scented toothpicks when they were needed.

1548
Napkins and knives, 7 plates.
Embroidered [?] and perfumed toothpicks.

Summary

The list of confection also includes the provision of knives, napkins, and scented toothpicks.  Plates are also mentioned in many cases, but in the same sort of phrases as is used for the serving of dishes, and not of sufficient number for the number of guests. So it may be that these are used to convey the other utensils rather than being used for the food. One presumes the knives and napkins are used in serving out and consuming the confections. And that the toothpicks are for the obvious purpose at the end of a meal.

There is additional information in the 1548 menu regarding what the diners were doing at this point. It seems likely that similar activities were included in the other banquets but that this level of detail was not included in the descriptions for those.

1548
While they were eating the confections, my Consort sent two baskets with 27 packets of scented flowers, some real and some faux, one for the Most Illustrious Lord Duke, and one for the Most Illustrious Lord Prince, which their Lordships distributed among the dinner guests.

While we were playing this flower game, the Hall was rinsed, emptied and swept, and then they went to dance, and danced until nine o’clock. [the instruction then leads directly into the collation]

The Mini-Messisbugo

I didn’t have the equipment or personnel to do a full removal of the table settings and one of the cloths, but after clearing away all the serving dishes, I served a confectionary course of:

• quince paste (alas, with no marmalade boxes)


• an assortment of dried and candied fruits (dried cherries and strawberries, candied orange peel)


• nuts: pistachios and pine nuts