Tasting Dinners (was Re: SC - Re: Period Feasts)

[grasse at mscd.edu]

Greetings, Gwen-Cat here...

I am new to this list (but not the SCA) and could not let this point pass 
by...

I also pre-test my recipes before a feast - on my roomies, my household, 
the local cooks guild, and or a party - but the experiments are out of my 
pocket... the budget is for the feast and feasters!!!  and as for buying 
retail - Not if it is available on sale, in bulk, at the farmers market... 
(in on case I wanted a somewhat obscure veggie (and knew this in spring for 
a late August feast) so I grew it myself!)

I hope to learn from all you venerable posters, so thank you in advance for 
all the useful knowledge I plan to glean from this list.

Gwen
Caerthe
- -------------
Original Text
From: "kat" <kat at kagan.com>, on 10/15/1998 1:37 PM:
To: Incognito_SMTP at InfoTech@MSCD["'cooks'" <sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG>]

Ras writes:

>> And you need to try the recipes out on some associates
>> to see how they are received, how they will play in a feast, and what
>> changes you need to make to fine tune them.  I usually throw a dinner
>> party for 12 to 16 when I'm testing out a feast menu and I do not lack 
for
>> volunteers. 

Anne-Marie responds:

> i heartely second this! I have taught Feast Planning classes in the SCA 
and 
> been told "oh, but I never pretest!". It was like it was a point of pride
> with them. They may have lucked out, but theres nothing that cant be done
> better and cheaper if you plan ahead. 



Actually, though I agree with Anne-Marie about testing recipes, I must 
confess I am a staunch opponent of the ubiquitous "tasting dinner."  

NOT because I don't believe in testing the recipes ahead of time; I do that 
anyway, both when I redact them and when I'm gearing up for feast.  (Remind 
me to tell you the story of my husband's accidental period chicken 
sometime...) 

**Soapbox mode on**

What I DON'T agree with (this is not directed at any specific person, just 
a general complaint) is the common practice in my area of paying for the 
tasting dinner **out of the feast budget.**  

I think that reeks!  I have been to too many feasts where there was barely 
a mouthful of meat per person "but we spent all the money in the budget."  
Yeah, and I bet they paid retail, too...  <sigh>

I think that if one pays $12-$15 for a feast, one should get a feast.  Not 
a mini-dinner plus the knowledge that one paid for the cook and the local 
nobility and a few friends to have a nice three-course meal last week.

**Soapbox mode off**

Pardon the semi-rant; this topic came perilously close to one of my 
buttons... :-)  NO offense meant toward Anne-Marie or Ras, who have my 
highest respect, or toward anyone else...

	- kat


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