SC - Au Gratin (a semi-retraction)

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Stefan li Rous wrote:
> 
> I was not objecting to discussing a non-period food item on this list,
> although I'll admit that much of the discussion was over my head and
> perhaps a bit esoteric. I have enjoyed a number of the non-period food
> discussions here, such as the holiday dinner discussions and your
> description of various chinese feasts with your relatives. For instance,
> the thread on names has occurred before and I've got a file somewhere
> of that info. It just isn't in the Florilegium.
> 
> I have however tasked myself with capturing the bits of period food
> information that might be useful to others for the Florilegium. Because
> of the volume of this list this often has to be done "on the fly" since
> I seldom have the time, despite promises to myself, to go back and
> look at old digest fragments. This thread had expanded more than I
> expected yet I still didn't know whether it covered a period subject.
> I wanted to get an idea of whether it was period, so I could go back
> through the recent digests if needed, before they got too old and lost
> in the mass of old digest fragments.

No, of course I understand. The two sides of this issue might go
something like, "Is this information relevant to SCAdians as 'period'
historical recreationists? Maybe, but mostly not." Or, "Is this topic
possibly of interest to SCAdian cooks? Probably, because SCAdians tend
to be interested in history." I didn't see myself as being criticized
for discussing non-period food in detail; I was just acknowledging that
it's not everyone's cup of cuskynoles.

Sometimes I'll discuss something really fascinating that I've found with
friends in the SCA, and they'll ask if this thing I'm discussing is
period. I'll say, "No," and they'll say "Oh," sounding a bit
disappointed. Sometimes they'll look at me as if to say, "But if it's
not period, why are you interested?" My look in return, usually with a
grin, says, "It's culinary history! History doesn't stop at 1601! How
could you _not_ be interested?"

As for which approach is better, I don't know, but it's somehow tied up
with the statement of Brillat-Savarin, famous and influential culinary
smart-aleck, who wrote, "Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who
you are."  

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com