SC - Silphium & Alisander (fwd)

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Hi all from Anne-Marie
ok, heres the deal. We're doing 15th century re-creation. Not the SCA way
of picking bits of this and that from all over, but trying really really
hard to stick to 1470 Franco Flemish/Bruges. While we play in the SCA now,
our goal is to get up to speed so we can play with the other non-SCA 15th
century re-enactment societies.

This means that we're looking really closely and hard at all kinds of
things, both manuscript illuminations and at the museum catelogs and
inventories (I sooooooo hope that Museum of London book on kitchen stuff
comes out!).

Now, with that background...
> 
> > If the former then on an open fire you can cook things in frypans, on
spits
> > and grill racks, in cauldrons and pots, so why not use recipies
designed for
> > these cooking methods? Add to that some cook-before and heat up options
and
> > you have a big range.
> 
I'm having a hard time finding fry pan things. At least not the short
handled fry pans that I have in my kitchen. The pictures all show VERY long
handled things (almost looking like 18th century bedwarmers), or else a
cauldron shaped pot with a long handle that the Museums call "a skillet".
Anyone who can point me to PRIMARY SOURCE material that shows your standard
short handled fry pan? I have a theory that pot holders arent period cuz
you didnt need them. Long handles and manipulating cauldrons by the chain
means you dont need them?

> > Grab bag of Stuff we learned - dig a trench, not a round pit - much
easier
> > to control the fire and more room for more cooks. Set up two tall
tripods at
> > each end, with a pole between to hang pots from and spits along.
Crossbars
> > on the tripods hold ladels, forks etc out of the dirt (and a pair of
leather
> > gloves for hot pots). 

I am told (and my looking at pictures supports this) that the tripod is not
how 15th century folks held pots. Norse, yes (so its perfect for the SCA).
we need to use a set of metal or wood bits making a frame over the firebox
(which is supposed to be the pit in the ground, or else in a house, a
raised platform or fireplace/hearth, but most parks really get upset if you
dig holes in their lawns. go figure). Can anyone point to PRIMARY SOURCE
MATERIAL that shows 14-15th century Europeans using a tripod set up to cook
on?
> 
> Use pot-hooks or chains with hooks (as seen in Viking age finds) for
> suspending pots, then you can adjust the elevation of the pot as needed.
> For limited size pots (up to, say, 15-20 lb total mass) I prefer the
> home made style: two wooden hooks tied together in an "S" shape, and
> some (strong!) cord for adjustment. Unless you know how to do these you
> should ask a local woodworker to help you out; the trick is to carve
> them so that the the load is on the wood, not the lashings. 
> Unfortunately I've never seen any indication that the lever type rigs
> for suspending pots are period, since you can make some really nifty
> setups with them. 
> 
I have seen several pictures of "tremmels" in period illustrations, as well
as example in catelogs of medieval kitchen toys. Ditto chains and hooks, so
we're set there :)


Again, as always, I love to have myself proved wrong, but really need to
see the primary source documentation to belive it (I'm such a sceptic...I
take little for granted).

thanks!
- --AM
============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================