SC - What I wish I knew (was WoW)

[Seton1355@aol.com]

My personal observations:  I can not supply documented medical reports to support
Franz' contention but after 25 years in the SCA serving in SCA kitchens and
feastcratting I have seen hard evidence first-hand of a lack of Basic Food Service
Sanitation in many SCA kitchens.  No, I am not a medical expert - closest medical
training is my Chirurgeon badge and my Combat medical training from Vietnam.
Ah, but I have a sister!  Without giving her name, you may have seen her hands on
many food-servicing expose programs on TV.  Remember Tyson Chicken....the chicken
was fine [as fine as chicken can be] - it was the preparation of the local grocery
store roasting it.  How about the ice tea controversy in Atlanta, GA - that was
her too!  She hold a Master's in Microbiology with a minor in entomology (or
whatever "bug" study is). Her mundane job was food sanitation and food quality for
a major Laboratory.  She, too, was in the SCA for many, many years and we spent a
lot of time together in kitchens.  I am not going to start a list of actual
observations, but they are as simple as using the same cutting board for raw meat
and vegetables (unwashed between each) and taking out large quantities of huge
chunks of raw meat to be cut by one person.  By the time they would have gotten to
the last piece to slice it would have been sitting out, on the counter, in a hot -
non-air conditioned kitchen for three hours.  (FYI - can't think if I ever got to
SCA in an air conditioned kitchen :)  )  I advised that they only remove from the
cooler what they could cut in a given amount of time - yes, that meant more trips
to the cooler!  Oh, well.
Some cooks that feastcrat are "first-timers" - hey, we all started somewhere.  But
there are many people that do not follow the rules of sanitation in their own
homes.  They are just not aware of it and so they do not know the rules when they
cook or help in kitchens.  (Guess their schools didn't teach "Health" or like most
students - they slept through it).
I must admit though that it has been a long time since I have seen major
violations of the "Rules".  People are learning and becoming more informed.
As a Chirurgeon I always thought it was a good idea to have a Chirurgeon in the
kitchen.  Not to sit around and "observe", but to help and advise (if necessary).
That is why I, and my medic's kit, ending up in so many kitchens.  There would be
plenty of Chirurgeons on the tourney or battlefield, but none where live steel was
being handled, machinery was being used and hot appliances were everywhere.  And I
know first hand about using live steel in the kitchen.  It is so easy to get cut
with "Good Knives".
And also rules change - really they do - for years it was wooden cutting boards,
then plastic boards.  Now it is wooden cutting boards for meat and fish and
plastic for vegetables and breads.
Just my 2 cents (sense) worth.

Rayne
Gleann Abhann (Meridies)

Franz-Calontir wrote:

<< Learn something about Quantity Food Service Sanitation. I am convinced that the
vast majority of post-event woozies are not simple exhaustion, but mild
cases of food poisoning from the feast preparation >>

And Ras asked:   On what factual basis do you make such a bizaare statement?


============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================