SC - A&S competitions - long response

[Debra Hense]

Murkial,

I enter a single competition every other year or so, and usually do very 
well.  So, here are my suggestions:

If your items should be served hot for best flavor, aroma, whatall,  use 
seal-a-meal, or crockpots or hotplates, or microwaves.  You can get high 
scores serving it cold, but its easier serving hot things hot, or at least 
lukewarm.

For documentation,  I try to place my entry (I usually do a whole course), 
in a country and time period.  I explain why these items would be found 
together in a course (using actual menus from that time and place as 
examples).   I also try to explain who would have eaten this food and on 
what occasion.  For example: wealthy middle-class merchant upon the wedding 
of his son or daughter.

Then for each individual dish, I include the original recipe I worked from, 
and english translation (if original is in another language - a transaltion 
from one or more authors - as in Le Menagier, Goodman of Paris, Le 
Tavaillent, all three are from the time period and are probably the same 
manuscript, just different translations). Then I discuss the different 
transations, noting where all agree, and where they seem to disagree.  Then 
I give my redaction, noting where I followed one translation over another. 
 I also describe in my ingredient/measurement list, where I substituted an 
ingredient and why I used the substitute I did. For example, I substituted 
raw sugar where the recipe called for sugar, because I felt that it was 
much more approximate to the rendering of sugar cane during period, (all 
the molasses was not cooked out, the sugar was not bleached) and because it 
gives me a better texture, flavor combination with the other ingredients 
than white sugar or even unbleached sugar does.

Then I detail the process.  If I use a modern stove, I tell them so. they 
cannot deduct points for using a stove because few of us, if any, have 
stone hearth and stone ovens. But, if I made a special effort to cook the 
item in the coals of a campfire, I do tell them that, because it adds to 
the complexity factor, and attempt to be completely period.

And, I attempt to make sure the place setting is as period as possible, 
spoons, forks and knives are included for each of the judges, as well as 
five copies of the documentation.  Three for the judges (there are usually 
three and its a lot easier if each has their own copy), and two just to 
give out to people who wander by and are interested.

Sometimes, if I have time, I do go into the properties of some of the herbs 
and spices and why and where they are used in the meal. Like the red spices 
such as cinnamon and nutmeg, and ginger are used earlier the first courses 
of the meal to pique or stimulate the appetite.  And why mint was often 
included in the last course to sooth a stomach that has perhaps eaten too 
much, and to relieve the gas.  I also sometimes talk about the sauces, and 
whether they heat up a cold item, or cool a hot item.  This is all gone   
into in great detail at the back of Le Menegier in the Cariodoc collection 
of Medieval Cookbooks where they talk about boiling is better for certain 
meats because of their humors, and how certain herbs are better for 
counterbalancing those humors.

But, thats what I do.  And if it just a single dish, doing all of the above 
can only help.  It help you develope better research skills and developes 
your own knowledge of Medieval foods and recipes.

I have learned a lot about cooking from studying the Medieval recipes and 
cookbooks and treatises. And that knowledge is something I can apply to my 
modern day cooking also.  Never having obtained a sense of how things work 
together in terms of cooking, and what would taste good or compliment what 
until I started teaching myself about medieval cooking, I can honestly say, 
I have learned so much.  Just adding cinnamon to a dish will give it a 
sweeter taste, because our palates are so trained to cinnamon being served 
with sugar.  Using margarine doesn't give one the same texture or flavor as 
butter does.  Butter flavored crisco isn't.  Cinnamon added to meat adds a 
new dimension to roasts, casseroles, pies and stews. I can serve Ember pie 
to my family and have them love it, if I line the pastry crust with 
pepperoni slices before adding the filling and baking it.

Oh, well, gone on long enough.

Kateryn de Develyn
debh at microware.com

Two of my feasts/meals are located at:
	http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/4756/index.html

I will be adding the English one before Christmas.  I am almost done 
adding/converting to html.



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