SC - Re: Convincing People to Eat Period Food

[ChannonM at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/28/00 5:54:48 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
owner-sca-cooks at ansteorra.org writes:

<< People need to be convinced.  They need to be taught that period food can 
be
 good, and some of these people aren't going to find out because they aren't
 going to feasts in the first place. >>

I have taken to producing a menu for my feasts, it gives an accurate 
description of the dish and always sounds very yummy to anyone reading it. 
This has allowed us to distribute the menu at the door, post it all over the 
event and allow people to take them home with them. It is an advertisement, 
plain and simple and it gives gentles a chance to see that period food can be 
very delicious without trying it! People are more willing to try something 
that they can make sense of up front. Ever read a foreign menu without having 
anyone interpret the dishes for you? For most people it's kinda scary to 
order food you don't understand.

Example
For my feast theme Field of the Cloth of Gold (1520)

Arboulastre or Herbolace
Spinach, herbs and cheese compliment this simple baked egg omelette

Alunder of Beef
Roast of Beef stuffed with parsley, thyme, sweet raisins and butter gently 
spiced andn baked in a red wine and cinnamon sauce

Wardens in Conserve
Pears preserved in a honey and white wine syrup spiced with fresh ginger and 
whole cinnamon

A Dish of Snow with French Wafers

An incredibly light and refreshing whipped cream and meringue subtlety, 
served with fresh apple slices and lace like hand pressed wafers

There were several other recipes, but you get the idea. People surveyed the 
menu and could chose what to concentrate their eating on. No one went away 
unhappy or hungry.

It's just a suggestion to lure people into trying something different.

Hauviette