SC - Re SC: Distress in Trimaris

[Philip & Susan Troy]

> 
> Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 08:51:16 EST
> From: WOLFMOMSCA at aol.com
> Subject: Re: SC - Distress in Trimaris

> >From the Crown Princess of Trimaris, Anastasiya Zadorovc, OL:
> 
> "While I am on the subject of food, let me address feast in general.  More 
> than anything, his Highness and I want our populace to be able to eat the 
> food that their populace has paid for.  So when we step up, we request that 
> all Feastcrats endeavor to stay away from all period feasts.  We do not mind 
> if some removes are of a period nature, however, we wish other removes of a 
> more easily digested by the majority-of-the-populace nature!  We understand 
> the reason that totally period feasts are cooked, but in some cases our 
> populace is paying the price for historical accuracy: and their 
> twentieth-century palates (and sometimes tummies) are unable to appreciate 
> the research and effort that went into cooking that particular time period."
> 
> When I read this, I had to stop and go back and read it again.  In fact, I 
> have read this particular passage at least twenty times in the past 24 hours. 
>  I'm wondering if my reaction to this passage is going to dissipate, given 
> enough time to forget about it.  Am I wrong?  Is this just a moment of 
> unthinking lunacy, or are we here in Trimaris, who find cooking period feasts 
> to be one of our most joyous and delightful pastimes, just going to have to 
> suck it up and serve Happy Meals to high table?  I'm just dismayed at this 
> point to have the future Queen of Trimaris (traditionally, the patroness and 
> fosterer of the arts & sciences),who is herself a member of the Order of the 
> Laurel, plainly and most distressingly discourage the practitioners of our 
> particular art and science for the duration.  It's going to be a jungle of a 
> reign; if I start growling now, I'll never last.

I don't blame you. This is pretty crappy. It appears to be an
over-reaction to something, possibly some bad cooking. Either that, or
this particular pair of Royalty have either impossibly childish tastes
in food or some serious medical problems. On the other hand, none of
that justifies the condemnation of a cuisine for bad experiences with
individual events and practitioners. I had some bad pasta the other day.
When I am on the throne of the East, I will outlaw Italian food, neh?
Logical, neh? I wonder what Her Highness's particular specialty as a
Laurel is...maybe she's a costumer. I could publish my whim that nobody
make or wear woolen clothes because somebody made me an ill-fitting
woolen cotehardie, therefore the majority of the people of the kingdom
feel that wool is stoopid.

Take heart, though. In practice, it may mean some simplification of some
of the pottage recipes. Recently we had an Eastern Crown who published a
whim to the effect that, owing to an impaired digestion, His Majesty
wished meats to be served to him with sauces on the side. In  a case
like that, it wasn't much of a problem in practice, since high table all
got pretty much the same food as everybody else. Obviously there were
some cases where it was impossible, but then His Majesty never made a
fuss about it. He merely stated a preference.

I suspect that Her Highness wouldn't know period food if it got up and
bit her on the wimple, so, apart from the possible expedient of the
sauce on the side for roasts and such, for practical purposes I suspect
it can be ignored.
    
Phlip, what ever happened with that Middlebridge thread on brownies and
"overspiced medieval food"?

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com