SC - Weather Forecast for Estrella XVI

[Mordonna22@aol.com]

In a message dated 2/13/00 12:59:55 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
ringofkings at mindspring.com writes:

<< white carrots to name 
 a few) >>

White carrots are not extinct. You can buy the seed through any good seed 
supplier. I have 10 packets laying in front of me now. The seed packet says 
that they were first grown and used in 10th century Persia. They are open 
pollinated so I will be leaving a few to over winter for seed production next 
year (carrots are biennial). Open pollinated purple, red and yellow carrots 
are also available.

There are also period varieties of apples still in existent in the same form 
as they were in the middle ages such as Lady apples. Apples varieties are 
propagated by grafting not by seed so the existing Lady apples are not 
different from the original Lady apple.

Not all gardeners are on the 'hybrid' bandwagon. Many of us take great care 
to plant open pollinated types and save seed from year to year. This doesn't 
mean that serious gardeners shun hybrids but rather a concerted effort to 
keep heirloom and historical varieties alive and well is in place. For 
example, there may be many varieties of dill but some of us still grow and 
use with regularity the standard type that has existed for millennium. The 
same holds true for a multitude of other plants and animals. We have chicken, 
cattle, sheep and plant breeds that were in existence throughout the SCA time 
period. Unchanged. There are organizations whose members go to great lengths 
to preserve and grow the old varieties. One of the new additions to my 
perennial beds this year will be sea kale which I finally managed to track 
down at Thomas Jefferson's home in Montecello. In 3 years I will have enough 
of a stand to serve it at feast. The position that we no longer have foods 
that are exactly the same as those used in the middle ages is an erroneous 
concept. It simply is not true.

Be that as it may, I don't think that those of us on the list that advocate 
being as close to period as possible are out of line. There are standards for 
the practice of any art in the SCA and cookery should be no exception. 
Encouraging beginners to try to be as authentic as possible should be top 
priority in any art form.

There are cooks who present a feast that is clearly not period and they 
deceptively present it as period. There is no problem with beginning cooks 
preparing 'medievalish' dishes or even with advanced practitioners presenting 
fun and/or periodlike dishes or even using non-period ingredients IF they 
clearly state this is what they are doing in their menus. The real problem is 
Kitchen Stewards who dishonor the art by deceptively presenting a dish as 
'period' when it is not. 

So far as ingredients being unavailable locally, many can be grown, most can 
be ordered from somewhere or the other and with a little preplanning they are 
not costly. For instance, Phlip was able to track down rabbits on the hoof 
for a buck and a quarter apiece for a feast. That was much less expensive 
than chicken. I get goat from Wegman's for a dollar and ninety-nine cents a 
pound. Blood is free. Oftentimes they throw in livers and other ingredients 
for a 'donation' mention in the menu or ingredients list flier. Pig heads 
were problematical, I admit but after I suggested that they sell the jowls 
and ears to me and leave the bones, skin and other things attached to them 
there was no problem. 

Game, although not the same species in most instances, is readily gotten in 
my area at least. One of the most often heard phrases is 'Would you like some 
venison? We are getting tired of eating it.' It certainly is not considered 
exotic fare. While it may not be the exact species, it is close and it is 
better than using commercial beef when it is available. The cost is free 
except for a hunting license. The last venison I used was gotten after I 
watched an 18 wheeler turn it's head into a bag of jelly. The police were 
dutifully called and they helped tie it to the car.

Other folks mileage may vary but doing the best you can with what is 
available, preplanning, bulk purchasing, growing your own or having someone 
else grow it, letting the vendors/merchants know what you want in advance, 
and carefully planning the menu around what is available/seasonal and only 
using recipes which contain ingredients that are available will almost always 
result in a feast that  is as close to period as possible for any given area.

Ras