SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #327

[Stephen Bloch]

Laurene Wells writes:
> ... haven't tried any of them yet.  Many of them I can't even UNDERSTAND.  The
> others...  Well, my husband isn't very brave for me o try them and serve
> them to him.

A brave-tongued spouse can be an enormous asset to a modern-medieval
cook, so it's worth trying to train him :-)  Start with some dishes that
(a) consist primarily of ingredients that you know he likes, and
(b) other people have already redacted successfully (e.g. a large
fraction of those on this list).

>  And occasionally they call for ingredients I have no idea
> where to find, that it seems might loose the right touch without them.  How
> do you guys come by some of these strange ingredients?  (Juniper berries?
> there are dozens of species of juniper!)  And how do you know when it's
> appropriate to substitute marigold petals for saffron?  (Sorry, I can't
> afford a spice that costs $1000 an ounce!)

I have no trouble finding juniper berries on the spice shelf at my
neighborhood grocery store.  The subject of saffron has come up a number
of times on this list, but to summarize:
(a) it's incredibly expensive per ounce, but not per serving because you
only need something like one thread per person.
(b) marigold petals, safflower petals, etc. have somewhere vaguely near
the right color, but NONE of saffron's distinctive aroma or flavor.

					mar-Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib
                                                 Stephen Bloch
                                           sbloch at panther.adelphi.edu
					 http://www.adelphi.edu/~sbloch/
                                        Math/CS Dept, Adelphi University
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