SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #208

[Mark Weiland]

>------------------------------
>
>Date: Tue, 22 Jul 1997 22:45:17 -0400
>From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
>Subject: Re: SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #208
>
I must apologise for not making it clear that most, but not all, of my
research is focused on the Italian Peninsula of the 13th thru 17th centuries.

>
>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.

Please forgive me if I present myself to aggresively,I am not very good at
the written word.

While many good cooks in the Society go to great lengths to ensure well
researched recipes, how many times is the hall and table setting catch as
catch can. The first part of Cristoforo da Messisbugo's BANCHETTI is
dedicated to who came to dinner, how to set the hall, how many table cloths
to place on the table, how many silver candlesticks should be used, how many
silver salt cellars to use, and more in the same vain. When Montaigne
visited Rome in 1580 he wrote"In front of those to whom they want to do
particular honor,who are seated beside of opposite the master, they place
big silver squares on which their salt cellar stands, of the same sort they
put before the great in France. On top of this there is a napkin folded in
four and on this napkin is the bread, knife, fork, and spoon."
In Sano di Pietro's (1406-1481) painting the ST. PETER HEALING PETRONELLA
one can see wonderful clear glass carafes and glasses filled with red wine.
There are more paintings that help us to come to a more clear understanding
of what a period table and meal would have looked like and I contend that
the guests (nobles) did not bring their own plates,linens and candles and
that the food was presented in the most appealing way possible.

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. 

Again I was not clear in what I meant to say. Instead of presenting a finely
made jelly in a ball jelly jar, instead place it in a proper period storage
container or better put it in the container from which it would be served to
guests. >
 
Balthazar__________________________________

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