SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #208

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Mark Weiland wrote:

> I would like to introduce myself, I am Lord Balthazar Fitz Gryphon  and I
> reside in the Principality of Northshield.

Unto the Noble Lord Balthazar, Greetings and welcome from Gideanus
Tacitus Adamantius, of the Crown Province of Ostgardr, East Kingdom!

With regard to the judging of culinary entries in A&s competitions, you
say:

> It is true that several dishs i.e. a course does take up more room, but so
> does an entire suit of armour or a complete Elizabethan dress. We would no
> more judge any one of these things on only a breast plate or a sleeve so why
> should we judge a meal on only one dish. A meal is what we as cooks are
> trying to recreate, and a meal is napkins, table linens, plate, candlesticks
> and garnish. Presentation is vital to a more accurate recreation of period
> food than we ever give it credit for, because we experience food with our
> eyes as well as our noses and mouths, That is way judges of beer and wine
> hold these products up to the light and check for cloudyness and color.

Hmm. While in general I agree with you, but when you say that
presentation is more vital to an accurate recreation of period food than
we give it credit for, you lose me. It's not that I don't feel
presentation is important, but it sounds, from what you say, that you
are superimposing modern values on our medieval or renaissance
counterparts. We have some idea of what period table settings would have
been like much of the time. We also know that any culture other than our
own is more likely to appreciate a good meal, for all its sensory input,
more than we do, simply because most of us have more food than even the
period nobility, at least from the standpoint of access. However, that
being said, it doesn't seem we know all that much about the role of the
napkins, the linens, because it would have varied from person to person.
Much of it was brought to a medieval feast by the guest anyway. Again,
I'm not so much questioning your statement about presentation, but I
feel you might be making the right statement for reasons I question.

As for the fact that modern judges of beer and wine hold samples up to
the light, I agree with you completely, but period recipes for most ales
(I can't speak for wines, as I know little about their period
manufacture) suggest that they wouldn't have been clear at all, and even
if they were, the frequency with which they were kept in a container
transparent enough to make holding them up to the light worthwhile was
very low indeed.

In general I agree with what you are saying. I'm not so sure I agree
with the reasons behind your statements, though. I hope I am not doing
you an injustice.
 
> If you are worried about a single dish of preserves not capturing the judges
> interest prehaps a little resreach into the way a preserve would be used and
> presented in period would give it more completeness.

True. On the other hand, a period European maker of preserves (or just
about anything else, for that matter) would likely have been extremely
conscious of his/her place in society and role in this world and the
next. The same for anything he or she made. If the judges forget this
and overlook an entry because it is simple and unadorned, then they are
not doing their jobs properly, in my opinion. 

Adamantius
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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