SC - Herbolade

[Anne-Marie Rousseau]

Karen Evans wrote:
> 
> I have studied the archeological reports of the remains of foodstuffs
> found in pre-Norman Ireland, but there is very little in the way of
> cookbooks from that period to tell me what I want to know.  Are you
> implying that I change my persona to match the existent cook books?
> 
> Lady Tyrca Ivarsdottir

To add to the body of archaeological knowledge of the foodways of
Pre-Norman Ireland, there are pieces of period monastic poetry, for
example, speaking of various foods, which gives us a somewhat better
idea of what early medieval Irish people actually ate, as opposed to
what they may have grown for animal fodder, or simply had access to, but
didn't actually eat. There's a great 15th-century poem (yes, it's late
for you but still useful) in praise of the herring; it's quite similar
in tone to the food passages in Piers Plowman, but more amusing.

There are also food references in Norse sagas and eddas that might help
as well. As for the body of archaeological knowledge, have you tried
making meals of the foods that we more or less know were eaten, based on
midden analyses, for example? People have done practical studies of how,
for example, pit-boiling with hot rocks was probably done. Apart from
proving that the methods are workable, the cooks also learned a bit
about the potential value of trace amounts of wood ash as a seasoning,
along the lines of some of the cookery of some of the Native North
Americans. 

There are also probably some foods that have survived more or less
unchanged to this day. Some "traditional" Celtic foods are actually
fairly modern, but then some aren't. Part of the fun is in finding out
which ones are probably very ancient throwbacks.

Obviously it's easier to work with recipes when you can find those that
correspond to the time and place you are trying to recreate, but this
was your choice, and comparatively few SCAdians have made the choice as
you have. You accepted the comparative lack of culinary information as
part of the package when you chose your persona, which is fine.

I don't think the statements about using the available information over
manufacturing recipes were aimed at anyone in your specific case. There
simply are few or no recipes available from your period, and you will
have to improvise if you want to try to recreate the foods of late Dark
Age Ireland. But there's improvisation and then there's improvisation,
and the first thing you should do is learn absolutely everything you
can, short of finding recipes themselves, since there are none,
virtually, that I've found. That includes the lists of contents of trash
middens, literary references, and what archaeologists have been able to
learn about the cooking methids most likely employed.

One of the problems that some people (myself included) have been seeing
with the arguments in favor of creating "period-ish" recipes is that
they frequently are a convenient alternative to doing any actual
research. That might not be true of everyone who made such arguments,
but I think it's true of enough of a percentage to be a little
disturbing.

I have a similar problem with my own particular period, BTW. There are
no known fifth or sixth century Romano-British cookery books. I can use
some recipes in Apicius, along with some very similar  archaeological
information to what you have seen in Ireland, and make a reasonable
attempt. It's just that I have no interest in proving to anyone other
than myself that such-and-such a food I may create is universally
period. I simply say it's my best guess at how roast lamb would have
been eaten at such-and-such a time and place. Most everybody else just
say "Yum."

Adamantius   
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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