sca-cooks Viking Period Cooking - Looking for Information about

[Harbarth@aol.com]

Aldyth at aol.com wrote:
> 
> Aldyth here.
> 
> Where I have been doing my cooking for the last 10 years, our cooks have
> always been encouraged to pay their site and feast fees.  In any event I was
> associated with, I did.  Generally we don't pry into other kitchens to verify
> whether or not they anteed up or not.  I have given reduced or free feast to
> some of the servers associated with my feasts, when the revenue of the event
> permitted.  If it didn''t, I paid the difference in what I gave as a break
> and the actual price.
> 
> It might be "nice" to acknowledge the hard work of the kitchen staff by
> reducing or eliminating their fees.  You have to understand that out here in
> the boonies, with the exception of our Baronies (5), events generally bring
> in less than 100 bodies, unless it is Crown, Coronation, or A&S.  There is
> also a general feeling of price gouging if the entire ticket (site and feast)
> goes over about $12 each.

Having been in on this thread about whether cooks should pay for an
on-board space or even a site fee, and evidently made a muddle of
things, I'd like to throw in my final two cents on this subject.

I generally do not have to pay a site fee or for an on-board space.
Since I don't use up an on-board space, and that space is being sold to
someone else, there really seems no need.  The site fee is a different
issue. One could argue that if the cook is on site, they should
contribute to the payment for the site. I generally offer to pay the
site fee, and what stewards tell me in return is in a similar vein to
the argument about why I rarely reserve an on-board space for myself: if
I am not going to be availing myself, for the most part, of the
activities and amenities the event offers, then what is the point? If
the event is going to be bankrupted for lack of my $3, or whatever it
is, then there is something wrong with the financial structuring of the
event that my $3 won't cure.

In addition, I am well aware of the value of a professional cook's time.
Where I live, a mundane cook (outside of the fast food industry) doesn't
get minimum wage. Entry-level jobs ususally pay more like $10 an hour.
The cook's job is to transform the raw ingredients into something that
can be sold for far more than their original cost: in this case the
price of an on-board reservation. This is generally regarded by the
people who eat at our events as an incredible bargain, and we virtually
always sell out in advance. So, the cook's activities generate income
for the event, even if it is only a dollar so a head.

Another simple reality is that the cook is often one of the first people
on site, and is often too busy to stop what he or she is doing to worry
about hooking up with a porter / troll person. The simplest solution is
to simply treat the cook, as regards the financial structure of the
event, as someone who is not on site, and who doesn't enter into the
formula. It's not as if the SCA's liability policy covers event staff,
anyway.
 
> How about starting a general discussion on how everyone budgets a feast?

Ah!  Good question! Would you believe...I have no idea? It's not that I
never knew what I was doing, but it has become a sort of second nature
issue. I've been doing this for a while, have a pretty good 
handle on costs, quantities needed, portion control, and waste factors.
I've never been significantly over budget. I'm sure all the same
decisions are being made for my feasts as are being made when other
cooks adhere to a manual of some kind; it's just that I find it hard to
put into words. Sounds like a good project to put on one of the front
burners. Maybe I'll be able to get back to you soon.

Regards,
Adamantius