SC - Re: New World Food Rant / Counter Rant

[LrdRas@aol.com]

First there were a few questions about my comments:

David Friedman/Cariadoc asked:
>>Lamb                                    $7.99 -$9.99 per pound
>That seems extraordinarily high--are you talking about high end lamb
>chops, leg of lamb, or lamb shoulder?
That would be whole bone-in leg of lamb.  Lamb chops are $9.99-$14.99
a pound and the stores don't mark it down very much (comparatively) as
the end of sale date is reached.  Middle Tennessee is not much of a lamb
consuming region and therefore prices are high.  I can only get a
reasonable price if I buy a spring lamb for $35-$40 and slaughter it
myself (against state law incidentally if you are serving it to anyone but
your family).  Professional processing brings the price right back up to
the low end price, so why bother?

>Lentils and garbanzos are period too--are they also expensive?
Oh, no. They are very reasonable dried and I tend to use them
a lot, even mundanely as they are very high protein and low fat.

>>Apples                                  Fiji, Braburn and Gala are still
                                                   considered premium
exotics
>And are all long out of period. Finding period apple varieties is
>pretty much a matter of luck, not of being in places with fancy
>grocery stores. I used to be able to buy Summer Rambos near
>Pennsic--which is not exactly the heart of a metropolis.

Oh yes!  Pennsic is great old apple country.   I was including those
just to illustrate how hard it is to get anything besides Delicious
that has some flavor (Delicious apple = oxymoron)  at a reasonable
price.  I tend to buy Rome wholesale by the case for SCA cooking.
In order to solve my problem long term, I am planting a two acre
orchard of all period varietals like Summer Rambo, Lady, Fameuse,
Sops of Wine, Montemorecy cherries, etc.  I plan to sell case lots
of period fruit to feastcrats in about 5 or six years.

>>I can go on with a list like this, but as far as the comments about
>>"familar foods" being not what one expects at an SCA feast go,
>>I am sick to death of chicken, pork and beef and junk fish.

>Are you sick to death of period recipes using chicken, pork and beef?

I am sick to death of being served one leg or one thigh on rice with
some nebulous cream sauce and having it served up as "period". Not
enough, not period, too mundane!  I proposed turkey because the
feastcrats who have served chicken a la outrage could serve three
times as much  roast turkey for the same price and in the candlelight
we could imagine it to be peacock or swan or baby roc, whatever!  I
brought up this thread because I knew turkey was fairly widespread
in late period and wanted to discuss possibile circumstances in which
it could be appropriately served at feast; thereby giving some semblance
of period, knowledgable sanction to its use.  Many excellent replies have
given me new sources and recipes to check out.  Our European list
members have access to a lot that I don't and I am very appreciative
of their efforts.  I didn't intend to get into bear baiting (not Bear
baiting)
others about turkeys but I got on my high horse about the way Ras
particularly put his argument.   "Turkey is too mundane and spoils the
medieval ambiance of feasts", I got as the jest of his message.  Well,
it is my opinion that turkey, corn and potatoes are in period as European
produced foods and they are woven into the historical context of period
life.  This cannot be ignored because you have an opinion about these
foods that don't fit in with your concept of what the SCA should be doing.
This is a problem I have with fanaticism about THE DREAM which I
just had a long rant on the Meridian Tavernyard List  The argument
on turkey almost seemed verging on hypocriscy from folks who have
so extolled the virtues of authenticity and have animatedly argued with
you about how fruit filled raviolli were prepared and served.  Yet turkey
is to be ignored because it is too familiar a mundane food? I don't get it!

>>An average budget per head on a Meridian event is in the range
>>of $4.50-$6.00 per person for feast and $.50 to $.75 for breakfasts

>I would regard that as on the high end--assuming you are talking
>about the feast cost alone, and not including the hall cost.

Yes, the feast alone is what I meant.  Those figures are about right.
$4.50  to $5.00 is very common with special theme feasts being higher.
The budget has only risen about $1.00 on average in the last 20 years
in central Meridies.  The person who could give excellent data on this
would be Mistress Rosemund of Mercia who regretfully is not on this
list at present.

>What strikes me about this post is that you are justifying the use of
>turkey on the grounds that you cannot afford things such as eels and
>geese. But, since turkey is not an exotic (or highly flavored) meat,
>the relevant comparison would seem to be to chicken, beef, pork, and
>lamb, all of which are common in period recipes--unlike turkey, which
>only comes in at the very end of period, and for which we have close
>to no period recipes. Given a shortage of exotic ingredients, the
>obvious way to make SCA feasts different from ordinary restaurant
>food is by using period recipes that have non-exotic ingredients.

>Am I missing something?

Actually, my goal was not to justify turkey in lieu of more expensive
foods.  I wanted to justify turkey in lieu of cheap chicken and short
feasts as a viable alternate in the case of cooks who serve less
than authentic  dishes habitually anyway.  At least I can imagine
that I am having a feast in period if there is adequate food (even
though it runs too mundane).   One of the goals that I feel has
been accomplished is that members of this list have been
challenged either to rebuke my premises or go out and find
documentable recipies, which they did (both).

One of MY dreams about SCA feasts and making them different
is that some (but not every) events should charge somewhat more
for feast.  I spend $12-$20 on lunch daily  in Nashville; I am not, and
have seldom been, satisfied that I have attended a FEAST, lavish and
opulent!  There have been some very wonderful ones that have fulfilled
this dream for me.  There was some great cooking and greater
planning!   It just seems to me that more and more the "feast"
is just a meal and this largely because of budget, budget, and budget.
What a mundane medium 2 topping pizza costs is not to much, in my
estimation, or an occassional blowout lavish SCA feast at an event
not scheduled to death with meetings and classes.    You can ask
Meridians on the list who have attended feasts I have prepared,  I
am considered a bit overwhelming in variety and quantity.  I also
have a preculiar foible in my cooking; I never use frozen foods,always
fresh.   I have driven autocrats gray by doing absolutely no preprep or
shopping ahead of times; I habitually pick up everything from the
wholesalers, dairies and packing houses (preordered)on the way
to the site!   I also make a party of cooking with the kitchen staff
volunteers bringing treats, wine and music.   I get lots of repeat
helpers.   This List has been very satisfying to me as a cook because
I can share experiences, documentation and just plain argue when
I feel ornery or trade absolutely fowl puns.

Well, I had intended to compile a summation of my counter-rant,
 but in answering the questions posed by his Grace, Duke Cariadoc,
I seem to have said about everything I wanted to say except thanks
Ras, Bear, Lanie, Mordonna and everyone one else for an enjoyable
session of ranting and raving about something I feel was interesting.
I doubt that this will be the end of this thread as I know y'all have
more to say too.  I look forward to it and I can probably goaded into
another pontifical tirade if you work at it.

Akim