Last week I talked about King Richard’s Faire, and the main show that the faire revolves around. This week I want to tell you about the thing that fuels everyone at the faire: the food. Now you might think “ok, yeah, standard fair food.” My answer to you is: Ha! Honey, you’ve never seen food like this. Because there are so many options at the faire, I’ll just talk about three things: the turkey legs, bread boules, and pickles.
1. Turkey Legs
Normally you probably associate turkey legs with thanksgiving, not summertime. However, King Richards Turkey Legs are not for your average consumer! I swear they get bigger every year! This year the leg I got was the size of a ham fit for four people, smoked and slow roasted, and so covered in in greasy goodness that you can feel the heart attack coming on but you don’t care because it’s just that good. It’s been two weeks since I had one and writing about it I can taste it again and I really wish I could get another one. Ideally you can share this between two people, but once you bite in you’ll question if you love the other person enough to give them any. Something else to understand about these legs: they are so famous that if you google “King Richard’s Faire Food” 99% of the pictures you find are of the turkey legs, with one picture of the blooming onion.
2. Bread Boules
Ok, what’s a bread boule? Well, it’s also spelled Bread “Bowl” and that name speaks for itself. It’s a loaf of bread that has been hallowed out and filled with (at KRF) either stew or chowder. I’ve never had the chowder, as I don’t usually care for chowder – I know, I’m from New England and don’t like chowder, scandalous! – but I do love the stew. It’s very much like a chicken potpie soup, and occasionally needs salt. But it’s a beautiful mix of chicken, corn, peas, and carrots in a really creamy, gravy-like broth. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a picture of the boule, because it is eclipsed by the turkey.
3. Pickles
Now you’re asking why I would bother to bring up something as simple as a pickle. You haven’t seen these pickles. Again, no picture is available, but let me tell you about these things. They are at least six inches long classic dills, and as big around as a water bottle. When I was a kid it was the one thing I wanted to get to eat and it would be my whole lunch. I would need a whole bottle of water because of all the salt in the pickle afterwards, but it was sooo worth it! They’re crunchy, and juicy, and have just enough of a salty, tangy, bite to them to not have a one dimensional flavor of dill. These are, and have been so popular, that when the faire tried to get rid of them one year, the outcry of disappointment from the patrons was so loud that they had to bring them back the following year.
I certainly hope reading this article has made you as hungry as I have gotten writing it. Please join me next week for the third part of my King Richard’s Faire series: the people.
