SC - How do I get started?

[Peters, Rise J.]

Excerpts from internet.listserv.sca-cooks: 5-Apr-100 Re: Goodbye (RANT)
(Was: R.. "Lee-Gwen Booth"@globalf (6310)

> From  Gwynydd of Culloden unto the Gathered Cooks:

> I think that Bernadette makes some very valid points in this post.  I have
> emailed her privately to tell her so - and I think that there is something
> wrong with the List when this situation is allowed to occur.  Yes, the
> discussion of what is or is not period is valid and good, but so was/is the
> period ingredients list for just the reasons she states.  Not all of us have
> access to the ingredients or books or whatever and we all need support not
> denigration.  This was the point that I made way back in the Lady Seaton's
> Project debate.

While I am sorry that the lady felt insulted and left, I'm not sure her
points are valid. So, she (and I'm sure I and many others) can't afford
everything needed to be a perfect medieval cook. So what?  None of us,
from those who have been researching medieval cooking for 40 years to
those who just started yesterday are perfect medieval cooks.  Socrates
said "The first step to wisdom is to realize what you don't know." 
Unfortunately, many people are unwilling to admit to what they don't
know. The argument in the RANT is one of the usual SCA rants, and has
always makes me mad because it is simply an attempt to lay a guilt trip
because someone discovered that perhaps they could do better and are
embarassed to admit it.

My view of this list is as a place to share knowledge, so if you don't
know you can find out.  It's a place to figure out what the high
standard of medieval cooking is so you can decide where you measure up
against the standard and where you want to measure up against it.  And,
frankly, if the cooks here lower the standard because some or most or
all of us don't measure up to it, we're doing a disservice to everyone
on the list.

Now, can we do all these things in a less abrasive manner?  Sure, and
that's something that needs to be worked on.  It's intimidating to get a
"Do you have a source for that" message, for example, "Neat, where did
you find that?" is much more neutral and less confrontational, yet
accomplishes the same goal.  I think that's where we need to concentrate.

toodles, margaret