SC - Re: New World Foods: Rant/ Counter Rant (Long)

[Christine A Seelye-King]

Hoo, boy, well, ok, I wasn't going to get in on this whole rant thing,
but since Akim specifically asked, I'll throw in my two cents worth:
<snip>
>The salmon I purchased for $1 per pound in Sept. when it was salmon
season.  
	I have never seen salmon at this price, which is probably a good thing,
as my lord and I would make ourselves sick on it ;)

> All were held in the freezer until I was ready to start cooking. 
	This is a common practice here as well, and until recently, my deep
freeze got pressed into service even when I wasn't cooking.  (I ceased to
freeze, so we have quit using it :p) 

> But y'all very likely (assuming Caid or NY area cooks) have a huge
ethnic >subculture of folks that use these exotics mundanely on a regular
basis and
> therefore the price is reasonable.  
	Well, here I've got to step up and say what every Meridian knows, South
Downs (Atlanta) is a big, bad city in the middle of the otherwise mostly
rural South.  We have a large, diverse ethnic subculture here as well as
many importers and specialty stores at our disposal.   Still, I would
have to say that most of Akim's prices are in-line, we are land-locked so
our seafood prices are never dirt-cheap, although we do get very fresh
stuff through here daily.  


>Diana, Christianna,  jump into this if you would, because I don't think
folks >are going to believe the extent of the problems Meridian cooks
have faced >from my comments alone.
	Um, well, I won't deny a prevalence of "meat and potatoes are the only
thing a fighter wants to see" attitudes, but my experiences have been
similar to Ras', if the food is prepared, presented, and served in tasty,
beautiful and timely manners, most everybody will eat 80% + of the feast,
and be happy with it.  I have had more than my share of dreadful feasts,
but the majority of those had more problems with the service and the
cook's experience level than the actual menu.  

> sniappage of Akim's financial statement>
>I believe that the average disposable income for areas such as NY or
> California is considerably higher than in Meridies as a whole.
	I would go along with this, although it is my belief that the cost of
living on the left coast is higher than it is here, but produce prices in
the land of the San Joaquin Valley are unbeatable, if the tales are to be
believed ;).  

> 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
> $7.00 to $8.00 is a special Coronation feast allowance, sometimes.
> In 18 years of SCA cooking, the best I have been able to get as
> a feastcrat is $6.50.   
	Yep, this is pretty accurate.  

> If I had half of the availability and options that you apparently 
> have, Ras, I would likely also firmly believe in your opinions on
turkey 
> as much as Lanie does.  I know that folks in other areas of the country
> are not all rich either, but your disposable income goes a lot 
> farther when you visit our neck-of-the-woods than ours does when we
>"hicks" go to your big cities. 
	Whups, well, you lost me, there.  As I said, I'm from the big, bad city,
and have been looked on askance by folks from the more- ahem, rustic
areas of the land.  

>We cooks in Meridies have our shining moments as well, don't get me
>wrong. If our feasts aren't exotic enough or absolutely period at times,

>it's not that we don't try.  
	Ok, I think I lost the thread in here somewhere, weren't we talking
about using turkey at feasts?  As far as I know, the use of turkey as a
substitute has been done for some time, and recently it has been done as
an acutal period food as well.   I cooked some turkey pies from Lorna
Sass' "Christmas Feasts" a few years ago, with a recipe in her
Elizabethan section.   They were very well received, and there were
hardly any leftovers.  I can remember being suprised that the image of
Charles Laughton waving a turkey leg around that I had long thought as
incorrect was in fact much closer to the truth than I knew!  
	I have successfully added exotic ingredients to my feasts, including
some that were medieval exotic (like porrey of vegetables), and have
found that as long as they are presented with other foods that are
familiar,  a large majority of diners will try what is put before them. 
And many of the exotic dishes are no more than basic foods prepared and
served in combinations not commonly known to us now, anyway.  Education
is a constant thing, and unfortunately it takes a lot more great feasts
to undo the damage that one poor feast can do.   And no matter what you
serve, if you burn it, serve it too slowly or with poor light and
unknowledgable servers, folks won't like it.   
	I just have one more comment to make on this rant, and then I'll leave
it alone.  I have been in the SCA for 20+ years now, and have learned
more about medieval food in the last 3 years than I did the whole time
before that.  The advent of the internet is the greatest single tool
available to researchers of our ilk to come along.  I think the quality
and authenticity level of not only food but most other aspects of our
game will begin rising at an astounding rate, and those we are helping to
make their first T-Tunics and cook their first brie tart today will be
putting our efforts in the dust within a very few years.  
True, our regional locations will still dictate what we can affordably
serve (which is a terribly period concern) but our access to descriptions
and recipes that are direct from primary sources will continue to refine
our presentation of 'period' foods and feasting.  Soon, where we live
will have no bearing on the knowledge available to us.  
	Mistress Christianna MacGrain, OP, 
	Barony of the South Downs, aka The Evil Empire, Born to Rule!
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