SC - Spices on Nerves of People

[Philip & Susan Troy]

With a Rebel Yell ;  ) , LrdRas at aol.com wrote:

> What everyone seems to be doing here is viewing the question from a
> standpoint of others telling you what to cook. When applied to period feasts,
> which is what I tho't the subject started out as,, how can you maintain such
> a stance?
> 
> When writing a period feast, do you go out of your way to find things you
> don't enjoy cooking for the fun of it? And if others are planning your feast
>  and telling you what to cook then you are not a head cook but are ion fact
> some what more akin to a lackey.

Nope. The point is that sometimes a properly period feast will contain
an item or two that the cook doesn't happen to care for, and it is quite
possible (and to my mind, necessary) for the cook to voluntarily include
these items and still retain more or less complete  creative control
over the menu. My example was eggplant. Usually I don't care for it, but
it would be pretty difficult to do a Middle Eastern or Mediterranean
feast without them, except under some rather unusal, artificially
constructed circumstances. I feel the effect of my cooking them, even if
I don't generally care for them, is better, on the final result, than
the effect of my having to explain to people that I am refusing to cook
them because I don't feel like it.
> 
> Mundanely, I am occasionally sought out to cook for entimate affairs by those
> who are aware of my talents. I plan the menu, choose the recipes, and produce
> the meal. My current project involves preparing an authentic Medieval Feast
> for the Victoria House at the Pennsylvania College ofTechnology as one of the
> visiting chefs series of $100.00 a plate dinners. Famous gourmands such as
> Julia Child , Paul Prudhomme, Jeff Smith aand others have participated in
> this series. I am not boasting here by name-dropping. I am merely trying to
> show examples of cooks who have their own unique style and are sought after
> specifically because of that style.
> 
> My budget is for all practical purposes unlimited and total planning of the
> culinary aspects of thie feast are my perogative. Do you or anyone else
> really think that I am going to go out of my way to prepare dishes that are
> not consistently wonderful and hand-picked for the delights they offer to the
> palette?

Not at all. But as you have pointed out with reference to potato salad,
it is possible to do a superlative job on foods the cook doesn't care
for, or in fact, cannot eat. I happen to produce several exceptional
eggplant dishes, and have sold them in restaurants for top dollar, but
I'd just rather eat something else. I feel that a good cook should be
able to establish for him-or-her-self quality standards that are
independent of personal likes and dislikes. All the more so a cook that
has been trained as such, as you, I and a few others on this list have
been, either by a school, or on-the-job training, or both.
 
> The bottom line is, IMHO, I am asked to cook a feast because my style is
> unique. I am not asked to cook other peoples menus. Indeed, if I wre asked to
> do such a thing I would have to decline the invitation.

Are you familiar with the expression, "The iron hand in the velvet
glove" ? I am well-known for my tolerance for other people's requests.
Sometimes the Benificent Oz will even deign to grant them. But no one
who knows me would even dream for a moment that this is a sign of
weakness or a relinquishing of creative control. I can do Maitre
Escoffier with the best of them (it was better when I was mustachioed,
of course ;  ) ), and it can intimidate the hell out of people.

I suppose the difference between what Lord Ras seems to be concerned
about, and the actual reality of my situation, is that if I choose to
cook a dish that is something I personally don't care for, I will take
every step to make sure it is good, anyway, and it is always by my own
choice.  

Adamantius, remembering the bit in Robert B. Parker's "Promised Land"
where one character says to another, "You'll do as you're told!", and
the other character responds, "Nope. I always do what I want. Just
sometimes they overlap. But not this time." (Probably liberally
paraphrased)
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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