SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #281

[L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt]

Marisa Herzog wrote:

> perhaps m'lord if all were as courteous as your words in this post, there
> would be less "peer fear".  I know some of both, but have for the most part
> been treated better by those without title than those with.  Part of why I am
> so happy on this list.  Cold shoulders and hot words seem fairly rare here.
> apologies to the bandwidth for continuing off topic.

Baron Tibor is, if I may quote Sir Reepicheep in one of my son's
favorite books, the Mirror of Honor. I'm inclined to think he represents
that proportion of peers, barons, etc., that are honorable people, which
is really about the same as the proportion of decent folks without tin
on their heads, compared to the ignoble ignoble, if you take my meaning.

I get this mundanely, too. I live in a city of just under eight million
souls. There are quite a few crazies living in it. Also quite a few
really lovely people. I suspect that in a town of, say, eight hundred,
it's quite likely that the proportion of decent people to rotters is
about the same as where I live. In spite of this, I am often regarded by
people from other areas as being a bad person, or rude, or any of a
number of other bad things, simply because of where I live, on the basis
of no other evidence.

There used to be a kid in my local group (God, he's grown up, a squire,
and autocratting his first event this year) who, as a joke, used to go
around and ask people in his best Billie Burke voice, "Are you a Good
Peer or a Bad Peer?" a la The Wizard of Oz. There are both kinds, but I
suspect the bad ones gain a greater reputation for ill than the good
ones do for nobility.

I, for one, have never been sure whether I would make a Good Peer or a
Bad Peer, and have always striven to maintain the illusion of being a
Good Peer, which to me means trying to do the job well even when you
don't feel like it. Keep up the illusion long enough and it becomes
indistinguishable from reality. Possibly a bit cynical, but the end
result is a happy crowd nonetheless.

As for the approachability of various tin hats, I can only say that I am
just as well-intentioned now as I was before the leaves landed on my
head, and the fact that I am sometimes a little abrasive, and a little
larger-than-life (speaking in a somewhat penetrating tenor with wild
gesticulations, etc.) is in no way the result of an attack of peerage. I
was that way all along. Kind of like Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden,
playing the role of Taillevent (Oh, Chef of the Past...Can it core a
apple?).

I really hope, though, that no one is put off by any of this, because
approachability without intimidating people is part of the job
description. If I didn't care to be "bothered" by mere mortals ;  ) , I
could simply have said, "No, thank you," to Their Majesties of the East.
I think this is what Tibor meant when he said that the tin hats are the
very people you should get to know.

One last little comment before getting to business: learning to deal
with the folks you share the list with isn't always a waste of
bandwidth, especially if someone else can profit from your experience. 

> back to topic,
> what vegebles in the "brocolli" family, if any, are period?  They are all
> technically mustards aren't they?

Yes, they are. Related to cabbages, I believe, also. I remember a huge
argument about this on the UseNet newsgroup rec.food.historic fairly
recently. Modern broccoli seems to be a fairly recent (19th century or
so) development on the part of plant breeders, probably American. The
rumor that it was "invented" by a family named Broccoli is simply
untrue. The plant we now call broccoli-rabe is probably period, though,
although I don't recall any recipes for it offhand. You might check
Platina (I don't own a copy---horrors!) and perhaps the Tacuinum
Sanitatis, which is sort of a medical manual which talks about almost
every conceivable food product available in the late medieval
Mediterranean basin. You may find that the leafy, headless cabbages are
the closest you will get: things like kale and collard greens. Brussels
sprouts, though, are period, I understand. I know that takes a load off
your mind ;  )  !

Adamantius
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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