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# Instructions to the Steward for a Feast in the Domostroy, 16th Century
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/esli-zhe-pir-predstoit-bolshoi-to-vsiudu-nabliudat-samomu-na-kukhne-v-razdelochnoi-i-v-pekarne/
- Published: 2017-09-06T09:47:47.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:53:07.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Archive, Books, Mores

"If a great feast is to be held, the master must oversee everything himself: the kitchen, the carving-room and the bakehouse. To serve the dishes at table, a capable man should be appointed, and at the sideboard, with the drinks and the vessels, an experienced man is needed likewise, so that all may be in order. Drinks are to be brought to table as the master has directed, to each what is ordered, and none is to be given away on the side without leave. At table, and when the feast is done, let the silver and pewter and copper ware be inspected, counted and put away, the tankards and ladles, and the bratinas, and the lidded bratinas, and the platters; and whenever anyone is sent somewhere for something, and whoever carries it, let it be demanded back of him; and lest anything be stolen on the side, let everything be watched strictly. Then in the yard, too, a reliable man is needed, to watch over everything and guard all manner of household goods, lest something be pilfered, and to protect the drunken guest, that he lose nothing and come to no harm, and quarrel with no one. As for the guests' servants who stand in the yard with the horses, by the sleighs and the saddles, these too must be watched, that they do not brawl among themselves, nor rob one another, nor abuse the guests, nor steal or spoil anything of the household's; he must look to it all and restrain them from every mischief; and whoever will not listen, let him be reported to the master. And the man set in the yard is to drink nothing at that time, nor go anywhere, but to keep strict watch over everything, here in the yard, and in the storerooms, and in the bakehouse, and in the kitchen, and in the stable.

When the tables are cleared and the feast is over, all the silver and pewter ware is to be gathered, examined, counted, washed and put back in its place, and the kitchen ware likewise. And all the dishes are to be sorted, the meat and the fish, and the aspic and the broths, and put away as was said before. On the day of the feast, towards evening or early next morning, the master himself must look over everything to see that all is in order, and count it, and question the steward closely as to how much of what was eaten and drunk, and to whom what was given, and to whom what was sent, so that the whole expenditure is known in every particular, and all the ware is accounted for, and the steward can report to his master exactly where everything went and to whom what was given, and how much tallied in each case. And if, God willing, all is in order and nothing wasted, and nothing spoiled, then the master should reward the steward, and the other servants likewise: the cooks and the bakers, who prepared the food skilfully and thriftily and did not drink; and he should praise them all, and feed them, and give them drink; then they will strive to work well in future."

How to throw a great party in the sixteenth century, or the Steward's Instruction for the Occasion of a Feast, from "The Book Called Domostroy, Containing Matters Most Useful, Teachings and Admonitions for Every Orthodox Christian..."