SC - Problems of Thought....

[Cindy Renfrow]

<snip>
>Last night I had dinner with a group of friends, amongst whom was
>their Majesties of AEthelmearc (who I've known for years).  It was a
>casual, non-sca dinner, but her Majesty was telling me about a Christmas
>party she was at over the weekend with some other SCA people.  Now, she
>is a really big proponent of somewhat subtly pushing people she knows are
>doing good work to the people who have already been recognized in that
>area, so in conversation with a Cooking Laurel she pointed out that I
>had told her that Cheddar wasn't period.  The Laurel's response was
>*shrug* "People like it."  Her Majesty pushed a little bit, with something
>like "True, but she chose to serve other cheeses at a feast and to
>explain why when asked", to which the Laurel again replied, "Yes, but
>people like it".  One more try yielded the same type of response.
>
<snip>
>But it really ticks me off that a Laurel, whose role I see as being to foster
>their chosen art, would take such a flippant attitude.  I can understand
>someone saying "yes, that's true, and it's great that she's doing that
>research, although from a practical perspective it's inexpensive and
>people do like it, so I don't hold it against a cook for putting it on
>a side board."  but it was crystal clear to her Majesty that this person
>didn't want to know about a cook she might not have heard of before and
>didn't care what that person was doing.
<snip>


Milady,

Have you considered the possibility that the Laurel, in the interests of
politeness, did not wish to correct HRH in public?  Cheddar cheese *is*
period, & I don't know where folks have gotten the idea that it isn't.

"Cheddar, parish Sedgemoor district, county of Somerset, England...Cheddar
cheese was first made there at or before the beginning of the 12th century
and was aged in caves nearby... Cheddar is one of England's oldest cheeses.
The original, so-called farmhouse variety remains in limited production in
modern times.
In the traditional method of cheddar manufacture, the firm curd is cut, or
"cheddared," into small bits to drain the whey and then pressed firmly into
cylinders...The cheese, a light orange-yellow in colour, is wrapped in thin
muslin and coated with wax.  It is aged a minimum of three to six months,
preferably one and one-half to two years..."  Encyc. Brit.

The cottage industry of producing Cheddar cheese arose in the 16th century,
and spread to N. America in the late 1700s.

Cindy/Sincgiefu
(who'd gladly walk a mile through the snow for a pound of aged Vermont
sharp cheddar)
renfrow at skylands.net
http://www.alcasoft.com/renfrow/



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