SC - Re: sca-cooks Re: Research paper on Medieval foods.

[Thyra Fairfax]

>
>From: Kofryna the Goatherd <kofryna at geocities.com>
>Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 11:25:35 -0400
>Subject: SC - Re: sca-cooks Guilds?
>
>In Highland Foorde, the Cook's guild has been active since the beginning
>of the year. We run it in the same fashion as some of the cooking
>classes sponsored by the county. For a small fee (cost of the food)
>everyone gets to participate in cooking the dish and sample it
>afterward. We usually have a rough head count of how many folks will be
>attending beforehand.
>
>To avoid it becoming a one man show, we do the following: The
>coordinator, who chooses the recipe, doesn't take direct part in the the
>preparation of the dish. This is done by the other guild members. The
>coordinator makes sure that everyone does something (from grinding
>spices, chopping meats, cleaning vegetables, stirring pots, etc.).
>Everyone will have their turn doing something, so it really isn't a 
>problem. The coordinator works at supplying things that the guild
>members need on the spot (a bowl, a spoon, etc.) to keep things going.
>Kofryna the Goatherd
>

In addition, our group shares the cost of the groceries. Oddly enough, we've
developed quite a following of folks who aren't interested in cooking, they
only want to eat! So they ante up, too. A good time is had by all! We
frequently cook to music that is performed in the other room by the
non-eaters. But we have a tradition in our shire of singing cooks, so that
isn't too hard to live with!
Occaisionally there aren't enough "cooks" for the recipes and groceries I've
brought, so we draft people who don't usually "do SCA cooking". It's sneaky,
I know, but they usually end up volunteering for kitchen duty at the next
event once they learn that by the time the recipe gets to the event, it will
be in english, with modern measurements, and everyone in the room will be
familliar with it.

The entire Aethelmearc Crown Tourney Feast is being handled this way (except
for 2 of the sotelties). We have made game pies, consumed game pies, and
voted on game pies as a cook's group, to get at the right seasoning level.
We've made carrot and parsnip tartes, apple moyse in various resurections,
experimented with salads and herbs, and generally got to play with our food
to a high degree.

While this probably isn't a good time to offer a blatant commercial, I'd
like to invite all those folks attending Aethelmearc's First Crown to share
some of their best goodies with us. I'm planning a groaning board of donated
sweets, with kudos going to all those deserving folks who contribute by
attaching cards with the names and home groups of all the generous folk who
contribute. We've decided on a red and white theme (Aethelmearc colors), or
the escarbuncle, but these elements are not mandatory.

Anyone wishing to donate may contact me for more information. Goodies need
to be in small batches (1-2 dozen is plenty, or an equivalent number of
servings), and they need to arrive in the kitchen already on their serving
platter (labeled with the owner's name). The refrigeration room available is
minimal, so you may wish to keep this in mind.

Why are we doing it this way? I feel rather militant about the fact that
cooking is one of if not THE hardest job at an event. The nature of a
kitchen segregates the cook from the rest of the event, and so cooks are
perhaps the most under-recognised artisans in the SCA. All over my circle of
travel I meet slaving cooks who are seldom rewarded for their efforts. I
know a number of gentles who have quit the SCA for this very reason. We
should do something at every opportunity to point out all the individuals
who undertake these rigorous jobs, so that they get the recognition they
deserve. And if we could combine it with a chance to eat and share recipes,
what could be better?

Aoife (stepping down from the soap-box). 
"Many things we need can wait. The child cannot."
				---Gabriela Mistral, Chilean Poet 1889-1957