SC - Re: SC Ealdorereans experiment-VERY LONG

[Jgoldsp@aol.com]

In a message dated 9/18/98 9:51:47 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Jgoldsp at aol.com
writes:

<< Now as for being period in redracting turnsole was period so was pennyroyal
I do not see many people using these items if an item is questionable for
modern  eating habits >>

I have never come cacross arecipe that called for these items that i was
interested in redacting. However, should I do so those items would definitely
be used in a feast situation. As with rue, which I do use at feasts
occasionally, the amounts used are not harmful.

<<and may cause discomfort as a cook in a feast situation >>

I fail to see the point you are making here.

<<it is your responsiblity to  care for your guests well being >>

No, as a cook, it is my responsibility to cook. I am neither mommy nor daddy
to those who choose to eat at my feasts. As is well-known on this list and by
those that attend my feasts, I neither cater to allergies nor food aversions.
The person eating is TOTALLY responsible for their own well-being and it is
THEIR personalresponsibility to read the ingredients or contact the Kitchen
Stewart ahead of time to inquire as to which dishes they will be able to eat.

<<and leave the exactness to small  "guild meetings" not the major feast hall.
>>

This statement appals me. Cookery is no less an art/science than any other
activity in the SCA and if a person's declared field of study is period
cookery, they have an obligation to do the best they can to provide their
feasts guests with carefully researched feasts as close to period as is
possible.

And the major feast hall is the perfect forum for serving these dishes. The
vast majority, if not all, of hte period recipes we posses are in fact records
of food meant to be served in a major feast hall to vast numbers of people.
When properly redacted and prepared those same recipes are, indeed, fit for
the noblemen and royals they created to nourish. The oral and nasal
stimulation they provide the senses is far beyond anything found within the
realms of 'simole' fare.

Before anyone gets too upset, I would like to state that i have been to many
feasts that were not only simple, but contained a good number of non-period
dishes which are the stuff of Dreams. Those feasts will always hold a plce in
my memory. There is nothing 'wrong' with this kind of feast but I would hope
that the serious student of historical cookery would want to improve their
skills and talemts in a way which would lead them toward the production of
totally period feasts.

<< ...<snip>.... "modern" chicken does not need to have this step preformed in
most reciepes from "olden times" >>

IMO, for accuracy in redacting and for the full effect of flavor any steps
that can be acommodated in a medieval recipe should be. Anything less would be
period-like in flavor.

<<It is redundant >>

Having done extensive work in this area, I assure you that the effort is worth
the finished product in terms of flavor.

<<parboiling a fryer or broiler chicken for 15 mins. will not produce a broth
wroth much of anything .>>

Agreed. However the inclusion of the feet, neck, offal and other choice bits
would produce a good broth with continued simmering

<< if you wish to include this step use a fowl not a chicken.>>

All members of the Dinosauria sub-class of Avia are 'fowl'. 

While peasant raised chicken was most certainly tough and old, chickens raised
in batteries for the purpose of eating would not have been so tough. The
culling of unnecessary young roosters (you only need one for the flock),
capons and the purposeful rearing of meat birds within noble households would
have produced chickens very similar to those we now buy labled as 'stewing
chickens' with regard to tenderness.

 << If you are cooking for numbers time is of the essence ...<snip>......and
you can save yourself some time....>>

Agreed. Time is important but IMO it is better to co-ordinate the timing of
the various feast dishes through careful planning and adequate staffing as
opposed to eliminating steps in the preparation of the medieval recipe. Modern
cooking incorporated the short-cuts over the ages and what you get when you
'short-cut' a period recipe is essentially a 'modern' one. This is not the
route I choose to take.

<<These are my opinions >>

As mine are mine, although i share some of them with several others. :-)
 
<<and I do not say they are the end all just a begining >> 

This is a good thing. Serious students of cookery are always a good thing. 

                      <<  ttfn; Joram >>

al-Sayyid A'aql ibn Ras al-Zib, AoA, OSyc
Guildmaster and Kitchen Steward- The Guilde of Ste. Martha
Kindom of Aethelmearc
Shire of Abhain Ciach Glas
The Mountain Confederation
Clan Ravenstar
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