SC - Perforated or covered vessel?

[LrdRas@aol.com]

"Mór Dhàna" wrote:
> 
> This isn't just a shameless plug for my website! I would really appreciate it if someone (or ones) could take a look at my compilation of 14th Century food available and let me know if I'm totally off base with anything. Thank you very much! Link is below.
> ---
> Mór Dhàna

Very impressive!

One or two things to consider: 

you might try to make it clearer at the beginning of the page that your
focus is on 14th century Europe/Middle East. It seemed to me sort of
taken for granted that anyone visiting the site would be members of the
SCA or some other similarly-focused group, and someone interested in
researching, say, 14th-century Osaka or Lima might be either misled or
disappointed if they don't spot the "fine print" a ways through the
page. This is, in a way, the same kind of difficulty that arises when
people use the term "period" to ordinary historians and students,
assuming they'll know what the term means.

In re specific details, what jumps out at me is that you go to a lot of
effort to have complete lists of, say, game animals, and then add,
"whatever you can catch", which could be seen as spoiling the effect a
bit. The job you've undertaken is a pretty tough one, and if it were me
doing it, I'd hate to go to all that trouble so some non-initiate could
look at it and say, "Oh, good. Turkey comes under the heading of
whatever I can catch, doesn't it?"

Also, I could be wrong, but I don't think gelatin, as a stock ingredient
or foodstuff, was a common item, if it existed at all, in sheets or
powdered form like we use today. It seems it was mostly prepared from
things like pig's feet, poultry, fish, or just about any high-collagen
animal product, and eaten more or less immediately. I've seen references
to aspic as an ingredient, but I believe it is actually a reference to
galingale, a result of the early confusion between galantines and
gelatin. Maybe someone else could offer something to clarify this point.

I hope you won't see this as sniping: you've obviously worked very hard
on the page(s), and I mean what I say in only the most constructive way:
I hate to see hard work wasted, when with a few changes it could be a
really excellent site! You've done a lot of good work you can be proud
of, and I look forward to seeing the site again.

Adamantius
Østgardr, East 
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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