SC - New World Foods-rant (was: turkey)

[Thomas Gloning]

<<< "It has always been somewhat  absurd to me, if early New World
 foods, with the economy of turkey in particular, are so seldom seen
 at feast."

I don't find this absurd at all. (...) the 'medieval' atmosphere that
most feasts and event settings are trying to achieve (...) item for high
ranking noblemen >>>

If you only want to have "medieval"-type recipes, it would be more
appropriate to just choose a different year for the end of the period,
say, 1480. -- I am sure it was chilling for 16th century people to get
some of the 'exotic' food stuff.

Marx Rumpolt in his German-language but international-in-spirit "New
Kochbuch" ('New cookbook', 1581) has several banquets for all kinds of
noblemen and other people like citizens and peasants. Now, what's
interesting, is, that _all_ the banquets for noblemen have at least one
dish with "Jndianischen Hanen", which was, if I am not mistaken, one of
the earlier German expressions for "turkey". -- Would some kind soul
please look at the picture provided in the Rumpolt-cookbook and comment
on the kind of bird that is depicted there? If you do not have access to
a Rumpolt copy, the picture is also at:
  http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~gloning/rump66p.htm

Rumpolt gives 20 recipes/ mentions 20 kinds of dishes for "Jndianische
Henn" and "Jndianischen Han" in the recipe section of his book.

The order of the banquets follows an order from the highest to the lower
noblemen (Keyser, Könige, Churfürsten, Ertzhertzogen, Grafen und Herren,
Edelleut). One of the dishes for "Edelleut", the lower noblemen, is:
"EJn gebratenen Jndianischen Hanen" (p.35).

Thus, it seems to me that noblemen even of the lower ranks were eating
"Jndianischen Han" at certain events in the late 16th century. On the
other hand, there are no such dishes in the "Bancket der Bürger", the
banquet/ menue of the citizens. ["since all members of the SCA are
considered nobility"]

Best,
Thomas
(P.S.: I find the 10%-argument out of the time span 600-1600, someone
mentioned, funny. In respect to these 1000 years, we have thousands of
15th century recipes, we have -- maybe -- hundreds of 14th century
recipes, we have a few 13th century recipes; some of the early _texts_
are extant only in _later manuscripts_. I would love to see _one_ 7th or
8th or 9th century cookery recipe (30% of the time). We have thousands
of 16th century recipes too; Early modern, & not always in a medieval
tradition; some of the New World food _is_ something new and interesting
for 16th century people, it seems to me.)