[none]

[rachel mccormack]

LrdRas at aol.com wrote:

> Correct. However, a meal is analogous to a completed
costume or
whatever. A
> feaster pays to participate in that experience.
Anyone in the SCA can
enjoy
> the art of cookery for free. All they need to do is
read the menu,
read the
> ingredients list, read the recipes. The can even
enjoy watching
others
> participate in the feast and see the dishes in all
their splendor,
and smell
> the smells for free.  If they want to 'participate'
fully, they pay.

One way to solve the idea of 'payment' for period food
at festivals (I'm not a member of SCA and i have
absoulutely no idea whatsoever what your festivals are
like so if I'm way off line line here, my sincere
apologies) is to copy the Spanish idea of tapas. At
food fairs here (and indeed, in many restaurants) 
people can buy tiny plates of food (often just enough
to put on top of a slice of French bread), and
therefore can try something different. In one food
fair I tried ostrich steak, sausage, salami and paté
all presented to me on slices of bread, each piece
costing about 75 cents (the wine to wash it down with
was free). If the problem is people not wanting to pay
(this in the richest country in the world, is to me,
very strange but as Jeffrey Steingarten points out
Americans spend a pitiful percentage of their income
on food, while I follow his philosophy of spending
between 30 and 100% of my income on it) for the food
in case they don't like it, by serving the food tapa
style people can by small amounts to try and if they
don't like it, they've only spent a small amount of
money. . . and if they'd really prefer a happy meal,
why bother even cooking for them?
Rachel McCormack
Barcelona, Spain  

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