SC - re: feastocrat vs. head cook

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Decker, Terry D. wrote:

> Interestingly, I have not seen any consideration of what titles should
> be used the the person autocratting the feast is not the person cooking
> the feast.  We've covered cooks, but what do we call the Director of
> Food and Catering at the event when they aren't the Evening's Hash
> Slinger?

"Pest"? I can see very few situations in the SCA where a
food-and-beverage manager who doesn't actually cook and/or instruct the
other cooks would be necessary. There may be some instances, but I feel
they are rare.

Perhaps I am misunderstanding you. If so, I apologize. I have worked
with other cooks who have been under the "authority" of a F&B department
head at events, and it always seems like a golden opportunity to
eliminate the middleman, who seemed primarily interested in playing
dominance games with his authority. But I don't mind, because I
generally just ignore them. They do make life difficult for my friends,
though, so they can upset me as a result.

Now, if you're just referring to the autocrat, I believe the term
approved by the majority of the people on this list was "steward".
Unfortunately I believe several kingdoms have a legal structure whereby
the term "autocrat" is more or less mandated by kingdom law. No reason
why that couldn't or shouldn't be changed, of course.

Sorry about the rant, BTW. Probably the worst feast I have ever been
involved in was "run" by a Feast Coordinator, who had neither cooked a
feast nor served one, so far as I know. He undertook to be personally in
charge of the service, and was also supposedly the person to whom the
head cook reported for menu approval, etc. He rewrote the menu in such a
way that the budget was doomed pretty much from the start (for which the
cook took the blame, ultimately), added 100 on-board gentles to the
troll list the day before the event, and then failed to show up the next
day. He was ill, it seemed. I would have mentioned this event in
connection with the horror stories thread, but the  entire experience
was just too painful for so many people. It was the same event where my
knives were ruined, though...

Adamantius

P.S. : The late medieval term, in French, for the F&B manager, who
supervises both the cuisiner and the butler, but who works under the
steward, is "officier". 
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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