SC - Period Dining Atmosphere
RichSCA at aol.com
RichSCA at aol.com
Wed Apr 5 05:15:38 PDT 2000
Okay, Niccolo diFrancesco, going to chop up your letter out of sequence. :-)
First and more important ... please furnish the webpage addresses for these
cookbooks. Your wrote: "the resources available to us (no cheating on this
one since 5 translated cookbooks are online)" I am sure that the many "new"
cooks on this list would like to peruse them.
Secondly - from your statement "It's like degree of confidence in statistics.
One knows that, unless there is a written account as evidence, any
substitution will cause deviation from an accurate recipe that is found from
the time period in question."
This brings to mind my college class in statistics. My professor said on the
VERY FIRST DAY... "Statistics are made up of facts and facts never lie, but
statisticians can manipulate the facts." (made me want to stay in the class
<sarcasm>)
Then he gave this "Factual" statement: Do you know that the murder rate in
New York City increases in the Summertime? Well, it does. This is a proven
fact. Ah, but did you know that during the Summertime in New York City the
sale of ice cream also increases? Well, it does. This is also a proven
fact. Now, what can you deduce from these two facts??? Well, it is obvious.
When the sell of ice cream increases so does the number of murders. So ice
cream MUST be the cause of the increase in murders or at least have a direct
correlation. Thus it should be recommend that to bring down the murder rate
in New York City in the Summertime all sales of Ice Cream should be
prohibited." duhhhhhhhhhhhh?
Rayne
In a message dated 4/5/00 6:54:55 AM Central Daylight Time,
grizly at mindspring.com writes:
<<
"Okay to improvise" is fraught with subjective possibilities. It is a
continuum again. The more you know about the whole picture of fiedls
affecting historical cookery, the more confident you can be that you are
approaching a food that is closer to authentic/accurate improvisation. It's
like degree of confidence in statistics. One knows that, unless there is a
written account as evidence, any substitution will cause deviation from an
accurate recipe that is found from the time period in question. It will be
the cook's personal intimacy with the cultural world of the cook who created
the original recipe that will determine how confident we can be in that
variation as representative of the culture.
The only caveat I have in making changes is that they be represented as
such. Make the change, proclaim it on the menu, and move on. Decide my
motives, my level of participation in histoirical accuracy, the resources
available to us (no cheating on this one since 5 translated cookbooks are
online) and other resources available to spend on cookery (time, energy,
emotion, MONEY) and make responsible decisions based on all of those facts.
Bbe honest with self and others when presenting the information and foods
that result from my efforts.
Just my own personal ethic on this topic. It changes often, but stays
pretty much in the ballpark :o)
niccolo difrancesco
>>
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