Wedding Feast (Part Two)

At a single command, the servants sprang into action. Fires blazed in the fireplaces, and warmth filled the hall, driving away every trace of dampness and chill.

Since winter had arrived, the dining tables were covered with thick cashmere cloths. Such comfortable luxury was inexpensive, yet greatly pleased the guests.

More than a dozen long tables had already been prepared.

Under the butler's arrangements, the guests took their seats one by one: nobles of higher rank first, then the older gentlemen, and finally the ladies and young misses.

After a flurry of activity, most people had seated themselves at the tables, and the servants brought out appetizers and aperitifs.

Then dish after dish began to arrive.

Besides being stewed and roasted, meat was minced and made into seasoned meat paste. This world had a famous delicacy called "Blanc Meat Sauce," made by grinding chicken into a paste, mixing it with almond milk and sugar into a thick batter, then heating it and serving it with fried almonds and fennel.

Another famous dish was "Little Meatballs." Fish or chicken was minced, mixed with broth, eggs, and breadcrumbs into a paste, then squeezed by hand into little balls and boiled in water. It could also be made into fried meat patties.

Sauces were also served, made from wine, grape juice, vinegar, onions, ginger, pepper, saffron, and cloves. Used in cooking, they made the dishes even more delicious. Cinnamon and mustard were placed on the tables as well. These were all quite costly ingredients, and the guests felt satisfied at the very sight of them.

Pike, crab, crayfish, oysters, and eel were also enormously popular at the table.

The servants brought more bread, butter, and wine.

Table etiquette was exceedingly complicated, with fixed rules for every procedure. From how the tablecloth was laid,