SC - Think fast... favorite dish

[Uduido@aol.com]

Hi all from Anne-Marie.

Looking for medieval foodstuffs is always a fun challenge. Especially 
when you are looking for provisions for a whole barony! We are blessed 
here in Madrone (Seattle) with a GREAT farmers market, but here's some 
suggestions for the rest of you poor saps :)...

- --for produce, try and contact your local farmers market or produce 
stand. If they know you are gonna want three cases of mushrooms, they 
will have them for you. I have also done this with our local regular 
grocery store, when I needed a large number of leeks, out of season. They 
special ordered them for me.

- --for bread, try and contact your local bakery. Even middle america has 
"specialty" bread bakers. We contact "a la francaise" and ask for a pile 
of day olds. Still WAY better than anything you can get at the regular 
store. And cheap!! :D
 --for spices, we go with WorldSPice. Tony is a gem, and will make up 
poudre forte to my own specifications, and grind it for me. Hey, he does 
it all the time for the curry people, why not me?! Fresh spices from him 
cost less than the grocery store ones, and are so fresh you use 1/2 to 
1/3 as much, for further cost savings.

- --for meat, we go with one of the many family owned butchers here in 
town. As has been said before, they will cut it anyway I like, given 
engouh notice. This is also true for my local grocer, again, with enough 
notice, but I like to subsidize the local mom and pop shops. 

- --for dairy, we contact a local dairy and get stuff at wholesale. Eggs 
and butter, as well as cream and milk.

- -- we do use Costco, but I personally find the quality much much higher 
from the little local guys.

- --Rosewater, dried favas, pomegranite syrup, etc come from our local 
Middle Eastern grocer. The rosewater is about $3 for 250 mls, WAY chepaer 
than the little old stale bottles you get at the liquour store.

If you read the above, you probably noticed a theme. Local! That in 
itself is a pretty medieval concept...sure they shipped stuff around, but 
if it wasn't in season, they likely didn't eat it. A fact lost on many of 
our supermarket-shopping, meat in a plastic container, milk in a carton 
folks.

- --Anne-Marie, who finds that local purveyors are usually so intrigued 
with why you're buying so many leeks, they end up giving you a discount!

- --
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Anne-Marie Rousseau
rousseau at scn.org
Seattle, Washington
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