SC - trencher history guesses

[Helen]

In a message dated 2/1/99 6:18:10 PM Eastern Standard Time, him at gte.net
writes:

<< So, I think that not eating the bread under your food is an aberration, not
the norm,
 in the long history of food.   I will go a step farther to say, I even think
that it is
 an aberration for the medieval times as well,  because more people than not,
would have
 been to poor to throw away that bread.
 
                                                     I am ready for your
slings and
 arrows.
 
                                                                     Helen >>

No slings and arrows here. I only thought I'd mention that since officially
the SCA states that everyone is considered nobleborn and it was the noblemen
who threw the parties and who left us a record of what to eat, I take
exception to be called aberrant or  abnormal becuse I would rather exercise
noble restraint and offer my trenchers to the poor. .:-)

The reality of the thing is that we know very little about the dining customs
of the peasant class and even less about what form their food took with
regards to cooking it. The knowledge we have of medieval eating habits is
based entirely on records left us by the wealthy and it is in fact their
eating habits which we discuss in detail.

As I think I stated somewhere before , when I redact and cook a medieval
recipe my standard of success with the dish is entirely based on one statement
to the exclusion of anything else. That statement is, "Would I serve this to
my King?". If the answer is yes then I feel I have been succesful in
recreating a period dish from period sources. If the answer is no, then I
don't serve it to anyone because even the peasants, in the end, ate that which
was prepared for the King. :-)

al-Sayyid
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