SC - Crayfish

[Philip W. Troy]

Kael writes:
 
> From what I've seen, most people on this list worry about authenticity,
> and are looking for documentation for everything.  At this point that's
> not a very large concern with me. (I'm not aiming for a Laurel, I just
> want to be able to produce an enjoyable and periodish feast)  

What does "aiming for a Laurel" have to do with it?  I've never "aimed
for a Laurel"; I just figured if somebody thought I deserved one, it
would happen some day, and that would be nice.  (It hasn't yet, BTW.)

I don't mean to jump on Kael for this, but it bothers me when people
assume that research is only valuable for entering contests and earning
points towards awards.  Research is valuable for learning about and re-
creating selected aspects of the Middle Ages, which is (a large part of) 
what I'm here for.  (If I were here for awards, I would have given up
ten or fifteen years ago....)

If "people on this list ... are looking for documentation for everything"
(which is in fact true of only SOME of the people on this list), it's not
to grade you on your research, but to USE it themselves.  A redacted
recipe with its original (and literal translation, if the original isn't
in English) is more useful than the same redaction without its original,
because the reader can come up with his/her own redaction, judge the
suitability of substitutions (as Kael himself suggested, I believe), etc.

On the other hand (Gideanus), I feel that an original recipe with at least
one redaction that works is much more useful than the original without a
redaction.  I have most of the same sources as everybody else on this list
(Cariadoc's Miscellany and Collection, Pleyn Delit, To the King's Taste,
Ordinance of Pottage, Viandier, Markham, Curye on Inglysche, Menagier,
Apicius, Sent Sovi, Nola...) so a reference to the original will often
suffice, but I'd like to see how a more experienced redactor and/or cook
has interpreted a given recipe, so I can get better at redacting these
things myself.

> And due to Mundane Obligations, I don't
> have the time to do extensive research to find primary sources.

Fine; fortunately, many of the primary sources are readily available.

> I guess, one of my greatest fears, is to serve a themed meal and have
> someone come over to me after the feast and say "That was a great meal,
> but did you know that they didn't eat such-n-such in that period"  

Why is this a fear?  If somebody tells me such a thing, it's an
opportunity for me to (a) get into an interesting discussion on the
subject; (b) learn something, and (c) do a better job next time.
Yes, I'd be a little embarrassed, but IMO that's a small price to pay.

					mar-Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib
                                                 Stephen Bloch
                                           sbloch at panther.adelphi.edu
					 http://www.adelphi.edu/~sbloch/
                                        Math/CS Dept, Adelphi University