SC - Apple Butter Question

[upsxdls@okway.okstate.edu]

Mistress Elaina:

Interkingdom Anthropology is a weird thing, at times.  The Outlands "requires"
creativity in A&S entries.  Here in Trimaris, creativity is frowned upon, and
discouraged at every turn, but only in the Historical categories of the
competition.  The last set of Art/Sci rules I read, we had a whole bunch of
SCA categories for those entries which were not direct copies of extant
medieval "things", including food.  Only direct copies are considered
"historical" entries.  I actually got into a discussion with a Laurel recently
concerning this topic, and was told that creativity was not documentable,
therefore it wasn't considered "historical".  This struck me as strange, since
history is peppered with concrete examples of man's creativity.  However, as
it was explained to me, Historical Art/Sci is not the place for the
interpretation of history; it is the place only for copying originals.  I
think it's because most of the judges in these competitions are not trained
historians, and therefore have very little, if any, practical knowledge of
history as an art.  They only understand history as a science, and then only
as it applies to their particular point of interest and assumed "expertise".  

In the Outlands situation, I would suggest making two versions of the same
dish, one rigidly copied from the original recipe, and the other with some
"creative" change.  Unless there is some division of historical from SCA
categories with significant differences in judging criteria, in which case
stick to the historical categories and hope the judges know what they're
doing.

Walk in peace,
Wolfmother
 
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