sca-cooks Creativity

[Donna J. White]

On Thu, 10 Apr 1997 15:36:27 -0400 (EDT) Mark Schuldenfrei
<schuldy at abel.MATH.HARVARD.EDU> writes:
>linneah at erols.com wrote:
>  It seems that everytime someone offers documentation for a
>  recipe(receipt) that they have taken one written in period and "done
>  their best with it".  Does this mean that a cook shouldn't create
>  their own recipies and call them "period" because they are based on
>  ingredients and techniques that would have been used in period?
>
>Ahem...  I wrote an editorial on this sort of thing for the first 
>issue of
>Serve It Forth.  (Well, I shot my mouth off on a mailing list, and 
>Elaina
>asked if I would turn it into an article....)
>
>Redacting recipes is not always easy: and that is with the ingredients
>listed right in front of you.
>
>Creating recipes is HARD, very hard indeed.  That is something that we 
>just
>don't do well.
>
>For example, SCA cooks have a tendency to say "They used X in period, 
>so I
>can put it in my recipe".  But... we use ketchup today.  Would you put 
>it in
>ice cream?  Why not?  Would you make a carrot sauce for lobster?  How 
>about
>adding fruit to rice?

I did this just last weekend -- It was a HUGE HIT with our Sultan and
Sultana.  She asked for the recipe.  I modified a Farsed Chicken Recipe I
received from our local Period Police and "did my best with it" to expand
it from 20 to 150 servings.  I opted for alternate ingredients when I
could not find the originals, but I maintained a period appeal. (NO I DO
NOT WISH TO ENGAGE in Periodicity Discourse.  I am a firm believer that
the cooks of old had to make do, too.  How do you think the recipes
evolved?  Creativity must be contatined in the realm of possibilities of
the period.  That is what I tried to do.)

>When I first started cooking period foods, I was AMAZED at the notion 
>of
>adding cinnamon to chicken: but they did.  Now, I use it often.  
>(Well, as
>often as I cook chicken.)  But it is not a modern idea.
>
>What, exactly, were the sorts of "themes" that ran through the minds 
>of our
>ancestors when they combined foods?  What did they need to know?  Was 
>there
>folk wisdom?  Humoral theory?  Is the food hot or cold?  To what 
>"degree"?
>What about the theories of medicine that came from the Arab world?  
>Does
>cheese open or close the gut?  What was in season?  Where?  When?  Was 
>there
>a market nearby where you could buy exotic foods?  How often, how 
>much?
>
>I don't know about you: but I know VERY few people that can answer 
>those
>questions.  I can't answer all of them: and I have tried.  And those 
>very
>few people don't often have the courage to try and create new 
>recipes...
>perhaps their expertise has made them humble?
>
>I enjoy "creative" cookery as much as anyone.  But, given that there 
>are so
>many recipes that have yet to be tried, and given that we learn more 
>about
>how to make them better all the time, I don't think we need to leap 
>off into
>the "great beyond" of making new recipes.
>
>And I don't for a moment believe that the vast majority of cooks that 
>create
>"period" recipes have done so accurately.  I am sure that there are
>exceptions, but not that many.
>
>BTW, for a fun idea on creative (non-period) cookery: next time you go 
>to
>the grocery and get trapped in line, try to make a meal out of the 
>contents
>of your neighbors grocery cart....  and maybe a few standard herbs, 
>spices,
>condiments and sugar.
>
>	Tibor


I look forward to seeing some of your recipes here.  I am always eager to
learn.  Just please don't beat me over the head with it when I may
politely disagree with your need for authenticiy and accuracy.  I respect
your right and privilege and your obvious experience.  I am just a young
rebel, I guess.

Respectfully and with Highest Regards,

Genevieve de Vaux / Donna White