SC - Do you think it would be appropriate?

[david friedman]

>My quandary is this, would it be appropriate to cook simple dishes using the
>type of foods prepared and making them with an Eastern flair, even though I
>have no actual recipes?

I am not sure what "appropriate" means. It would be more period than
picking modern Chinese recipes at random, less period than cooking from
cuisines for which you actually have period recipes. I am rather negative
on "silk road" feasts in any case, since so far as I know they correspond
to nothing done in the Middle Ages and typically result in the cook being
committed to cook from cuisines from which he doesn't have period recipes.

>So you all know, I found a reference in the book (I will bring it into work
>or send myself the reference here) to a cookbook written in the 13th century
>by a cook of a Chinese household.  They didn't have any recipes from it,
>just a reference to the book.

Sounds fascinating; please post the reference and maybe somebody can track
down the book. Does it sound as though it has been translated?

>Also, does anyone know if Winter Melon is period?

According to the chapter on T'ang food in _Food in Chinese Culture_, edited
by K.C. Chang, wintermelon was eaten in T'ang times, which is to say by the
tenth century.

>And if so, where can I
>find one now?

A good Chinese grocery store.

David/Cariadoc
http://www.best.com/~ddfr/


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