SC - Feasts in Trimaris

[david friedman]

At 1:50 PM -0500 2/29/00, Jehanne Argentee wrote:

>No, but we do use single elimination tourneys instead of double to cut down
>the time.

And single elimination tourneys are no less authentic than double 
elimination tourneys--which isn't saying much.

>I am a cook myself. How does one define cooking a meal 'right'? To some
>gentles, it means producing an end product that people will eat with
>delight. To others, it is producing a meal close to period as possible,
>using means as close to period as possible. Others combine these two with
>varying degrees of sucess.

This assumes that the two are unrelated. But period cooks had to 
please their employers, which required them to cook things that 
people would like to eat. So far as I know, there is no evidence that 
period tastes were radically different than modern tastes. So the 
fact that something tastes bad is evidence--not proof, but 
evidence--that the cook has done a bad job of interpeting the 
original recipe.

>If a cook realizes that
>preparing a dessert with pepper will make it taste 'odd' or unpleasent to
>the modern palate, let them leave it out. We're talking about feast here,
>not ArtSci entries.

And it is that attitude which fuels the widespread hostility to 
authenticity--the idea that the only reason to do things 
authentically is to win a contest, probably in the hope of getting an 
award.

Would you similarly argue that there is no reason to wear period 
looking clothes rather than bluejeans and tshirts at the feast--since 
we are talking about feast, not artsci entries?

David/Cariadoc
http://www.best.com/~ddfr/