Niccolo is so much into knights just now that I thought it would be fun to have a medieval supper. I have done this kind of stuff before—complete with authentic recipes from Le Menagier de Paris and Maestro Martino—and love it, but it rarely is a hit with other people. Manfredi endures it patiently, everyone else usually runs away as fast as they can.

So imagine my joy when it turned out Nicco loves it too. He wasn’t too keen on eating without forks initially (he must be the only four-year-old who doesn’t like to dirty his hands) but really enjoyed using a trencher (in a small deviation from authenticity, I used a double trencher for him—wooden board and slices of stale bread—to contain the damage to the tablecloth), and eating by candlelight. Much to my suprise, he even took to the idea that knights often started their supper with fruit and gobbled up an entire apple before his roast beef. Sadly, his enthusiasm did not extend to the Menagier’s split pea soup and Maestro Martino’s swiss chard tart. Guess I’ll have to find another ruse to make him eat vegetables.

Sir Niccolo at the table

He liked the whole thing so much that he asked to eat like knights again yesterday. This was unexpected and, in Manfredi’s case, not entirely welcome. Therefore, he tried to trick Niccolo by subtly adding modern comforts (such as fork, plates and a little electricity) to our knightly table—only to be stopped in his tracks by the little one.

“But papa, knights did not have forks. But papa, knights did not have plates. But papa, knights did not have lights.”

So there was nothing to do but eat roast chicken off wooden trenchers with our fingers in the encroaching darkness. Well, at least two of us thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Nicco’s drawing of Julius Caesar, complete with sword, shield and…crown!

Now, however, things may be about to take a turn for the worse as Nicco is developing a fascination for Julius Caesar and the Romans. We have already added a Roman shield and gladius to our armoury, and included a Roman re-enactment video in Nicco’s Youtube staple of medieval joust re-enactments and Fifth Gear car tests. So I expect we will soon have to try hosting a Roman banquet. But then even I will have a problem at the prospect of eating liquamen-soaked snails!