SC - Cooking Laurels

[Elaine Koogler]

I have come to the general conclusion that there isn't any "way to become a
cooking Laurel"....it seems to vary from Kingdom to Kingdom and from candidate
to candidate.  Much the same way it works for Pelicans.  Different people have
different ways of considering who should get a peerage for what, so there's just
no set way to define it.

I don't have a Laurel...I'm a Pelican, and not for anything having to do with
cookery.  In fact, I've never gotten any sort of award for my cooking, though
folks seem to enjoy my feasts, which are period and come from recipes I have
redacted myself,...and published in much the same way Adamantius describes.
Please understand--I'm not complaining.  I'm just making it very clear that if
you do this for anything other than the joy of doing it, the joy of making
others happy (with full, happy tummies) and learning an incredible amount of
information, then you should give it up as a bad job because I don't know of
anyone who can give you a set formula for getting a peerage in anything!
(Although we did have a King recently who came into our Pelican meeting and
demanded that we do just that...and refused to add any more Companions to our
order until we did so!!!!)

Kiri

Catherine Hartley wrote:

> <snipppage>
>
> It's been quite a few years since I've done a feast without providing a
> pretty basic form of documentation, either by posting the information on
> various bulletin boards on site, or by providing a handout. Normally I
> provide the original recipe from as close to a primary source as I can
> get (it might be a translated version, and perhaps tacked together from
> several manuscripts, such as one of Scully's translated and transscribed
> Taillevent recipes), and a translation, if necessary, into more-or-less
> plain modern English. Then I do a paragraph describing the basic method
> used in period, usually entitled, "What They Did", followed by a section
> entitled something like, "What We're Doing", explaining any changes made
> to the process, such as running the fish under a grill in sheet pans,
> instead of sauteeing cod for 350 before finishing the cooking in the hot
> sauce. It's up to the reader to decide whether what they're eating
> allows them to participate in a Medieval Moment; as I've said before I
> have a very tenuous relationship with the word, "period". Most people
> seem to really like the food and the documentation format, but I'd say
> the documentation is really geared for those interested in medieval
> cookery: probably those people who don't know or couldn't care less
> about medieval food wouldn't be suddenly converted to The True Path by
> the documentation alone. People (myself included) do have a good time,
> though, when I'm able to point out some relevance of a menu item to an
> individual's persona.
>
> I'm not sure what else to add; luckily there are several other cooking
> Laurels on the list. Of course, none of this is intended as "How to
> Become A Cooking Laurel 101" Still, I hope it helps.
>
> Adamantius
> --
> Phil & Susan Troy
>
> troy at asan.com
>
> <snip>
>
> I would say this is the best thing to do, as well... I have a cool program
> that lets me create "cookbooks" with the primary source recipe, a
> translation, and my adaptation of it.. I plan to have several available at
> the next feast I am cooking (Meridies Crown List) and it is in .pdf format
> for easy emailing....
>
> I agree that the perception of what people want and the reality are very
> different, and by challenging folks to try new things, you may find yourself
> pleasantly surprised! I have certainly found this to be true.
>
> Catilin of Enniskillen
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