SC - Packaged Almond Milk

[LrdRas@aol.com]

Good gentles all,

First, let me tell you how much I have enjoyed reading this list
the past several weeks.  The accumulated knowledge of the posters
to this list is an amazement.

Now, I do have an idelogical question.  And, if you all have 
covered this, ad nauseum, before, just tell me, and I'll withdraw
the question.

It comes down to this.  How "religiously" do we, as cooks, need
to/want to adhere to the perfectly period ideal, when faced with
mundane reality?

I'll give an example.  In the winter of 1997, I did a Winter Court
feast.  This is a SMALL,local event, not even published.  Just
for the folks in the Barony.  I was given a *total* budget of 
$485, to feed 100 people.  I had four courses (stew, chicken,
and pork, and dessert).  Now, I wanted to serve the "gourds"
receipe I found in Cariodoc's Miscellany (the one where they're
lightly fried and served with the garlic sauce).  Okay, so I'm
well aware that squash is New World.  So, I do a little reading,
and a little searching, and find find an Asian food market local
that has a edible gourd that fits the bill perfectly.  The 
problem is, in order to buy *enough* of these lovely little gourds,
I'm going to have to spend $250, or half my food budget.  So, do
I cut out a course, or do I use squash, as a "reasonable fascimile,"
knowing it's not *exactly* right, but that it's close.  I opted
for the squash.  The idea of a floured squash in a garlic sauce
was *different* enough, that a number of people wanted the receipe
later.  

So, the question is, is it better to give the "flavor" of a medieval
dish, than to forego it altogether due to expense/time/unavailability,
etc?  

And, yes, if I were making the dish for an A & S competition, or 
something along those lines, I'd spend the extra money, and buy the
"real thing."

I'm curious as to how the cooks in the SCA feel about this.

Fiondel 
15 days 'til the Coronation feast and I'm not READY!



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