Lancelot and the Christmas Meal

Everyone knows that Sir Lancelot was one of the bravest knights in Camelot.  Most people, however, do not know that he was an extraordinary cook. 

Arthur had the best cook in the land obviously, but allowed Lancelot to cook on certain occasions. 

This angered the cook, who felt his position was challenged.  In a fit of anger one day, he challenged the knight to see who could cook the best meal for King Arthur and his court.  Word spread to the king, who decided to make it a huge contest.

They settled on Christmas evening, when the cook and knight would each prepare their finest meal, and King Arthur would decide which one did the best job.

After several people told the cook that he was a fool for making such a challenge, the cook began to doubt himself.  After all, what if Lancelot actually prepared a better meal?  What would become of him?

So he bribed one of Lancelot’s squires to get the exact recipe that Lancelot was making, and give it to him.  If he prepared the meal exactly the way Lancelot did, the king could not pick the knight over the cook.  The squire accepted the deal, but later realized he could not betray the brave knight that way, and confessed the deal to Sir Lancelot.

The wise knight convinced the squire that he should not tell anyone that he had betrayed the trust of the cook.  He set about to thwart the cook’s dastardly plan.

He didn’t want to change the recipe, since duck breast with a rich Hollandaise sauce was the King’s very favorite meal.  He decided instead to present it in a way the cook could not. 

The cook would certainly serve the meal on the very best silver platter in the palace.  But the cook didn’t get out of the kitchen much, and never left the castle.  He was unaware that a silversmith in Ludlow had discovered that by melting different ores together, he had come up with a coating that was even shinier than silver.  The silversmith was Hawthorne Krome, and he titled his new discovery “Krome”.

Christmas evening came, and the kitchen was a rush of activity.  The cook and knight each hurried themselves with preparations.  The cook slyly knew that he was preparing the exact same dish as Lancelot, and felt sure he had outdone himself.  At the very least, his dish would be every bit as good as the knight’s.

Both meals were presented, and Arthur delighted in them both.  When the time came to announce the winner, the entire hall fell silent.  Cheers went up when it was declared that Lancelot’s meal had been chosen to be the better of the two. 

The chef loudly protested, saying he had prepared the exact same meal, the exact same way.  Arthur pondered for a moment, and looked at the disheartened chef. 

“It was his presentation,” he finally said.  “Yes, yours was delicious as well, but his platter was much shinier and nicer looking than yours.”

Which just goes to show:

There’s no plate like chrome for the Hollandaise.