SC - Back from Pennsic

[Robin Carroll-Mann]

The week flew by so fast...

It was wonderful meeting so many gentles from this list at the potluck 
on Tuesday.  It's nice to be able to match the face to the name.  
"Potluck" is a poor name for a spread that was nearly a feast.  There 
were so many delicious dishes, that I will not attempt to recount them 
all.  I rolled out of the tent.

On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of attending Ansteorran Chili Night 
for the first time.  Our own Papa Gunthar was in charge, and I saw him 
only briefly as he darted about, exhorting his troops--, err, cooks.  I 
requested a bowl of the "mild" chili, and was glad I did so, as it was was 
my effete Eastern palate would call "medium".  My lord husband had 
the medium and enjoyed it, but felt no need to open any of the jars of 
peppers that were available for the truly foolhard-- err, brave.

On Friday, I enjoyed Meridien hospitality, and dined with Mistress 
Christianna.  She and her fellow cooks served up a wonderful meal, 
based around the "leftovers" from the previous night's Tavern Party.  
Some of the pork was cooked in a yummy egredouce sauce, and that 
which was left plain made a fantastic base for Fra Niccolo's mustard.  
And there were baked onions and fried eggplant and zucchini, and a 
fresh herb curd cheese made by a lady who had attended the 
cheesemaking class.

I did not get to nearly as many of the cooking classes as I had hoped, 
but there were several interesting ones.  Of particular interest to me was 
"16th century Italian Cooking" by Master Basilicus Phocas, who has 
been translating a period Italian cookbook for several years.  Each 
Pennsic, he gives a class, and his handout includes a new batch of 
translated recipes, some with redactions.  One of the recipes was for a 
pudding made with rice flour and milk, which bore a strong resemblence 
to Ginestada (the recipe I posted a few weeks back and which I served 
at the potluck).  I am starting to regret that I do not read Italian.

I had to buy a couple of cookbooks, of course (Scully's Neapolitan 
Cuisine, yaaaaaay!), and visited the Pepperer's Guild to stock up on a 
few items.

Remember when I was asking about mold materials?  There's a nice 
recipe in Granado for a sweetmeat subtlety -- marzipan flavored with 
cinnamon and colored with sanders.  It's molded in the shape of a 
peach pit, with a whole blanched almond inside.  To make some for 
Pennsic, I used an alchemical clay that can be baked in a home oven, 
but I am not convinced of its safety for longterm use.  So I contracted 
with a potter to make a peach pit mold out of earthenware.  She's going 
to try both glazed and unglazed, as I'm not sure which will produce 
better results.  I look forward to playing with it.

That's about all the cooking news I have from Pennsic.  I think there 
were some battles and such, too...


Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
mka Robin Carroll-Mann
harper at idt.net