SC - explaining medieval cooking to pro cooks?

[LrdRas at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/22/98 8:15:22 AM Eastern Daylight Time, parlei at algonet.se
writes:

<< The question here (directed primarily to those here who are now or have
 ever been professional cooks, or have found themselves in similar
 circumstances) is what will the need to know?  >>

IMO, the biggest thing to emphasize would be that they should not leave out
steps and that they should follow the recipes that they are given exactly.
You might also point out that 'improvements' other than tasting for spice
balance are usually 'modern' innovations. 

For example, my critique of a recent recipe which left out the initial period
parboiling of the poultry.  In that case, myself and another professional cook
have a decided disagreement yet even in the current middle ages it is often
recommended that chicken be parboiled before it is sent to the BBQ grill.

If they are professionals they should have little or no problems in following
a recipe.  They might also be told that things like salting food was often
left out of the recipe when it was written.  But that particular bugaboo can
be overcome by including a line in the redacted recipe that states something
like 'salt to taste.'

All in all, if they are professionals they will prepare the recipe as it is
written.  Ask them if they have any questions after they have gone over the
menu and recipes then respond with clear and concise answers. 

Ras
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