SC - Apology

[Huette von Ahrens]

In a message dated 7/24/2000 9:48:54 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
ekoogler at chesapeake.net writes:

<< And I guess that this perception is furthered by things like the 
Renaissance
 magazine.  I just read an article they published on period cookery...and was
 apalled!!!!!  I do intend to write them a letter regarding their 
misinformation.
 I don't care if it is a magazine directed primarilly at Ren Fairs.  It still
 should have accurate information.  One of their "period" recipes included
 potatoes and green peppers! >>


Whoa, wait a minute!  I read that article too.  The article itself, on "The 
Meats of the Great Hall", is relatively decent and uses quotes from period 
sources, including the one about different types of spits which was posted 
here not too long ago.  The recipes associated with the article are the 
problem - but you will note that they are clearly titled as being 
"Medieval-Style Rubs and Marinades for the Modern Grillmeister", and nowhere 
do they claim that these are actual medieval recipes. 

Mind you, not one of them is what I would call "medieval -style", and every 
single one of them uses new world ingredients - Worcestershire sauce, wild 
rice, cayenne powder, onion salt, soy sauce, bell peppers, you name it, it's 
in there.  But if you go and complain to them about how they are incorrectly 
representing medieval food, they would be within their rights to tell you 
that they never claimed the recipes were medieval, because they didn't.  I've 
considered writing and asking why they didn't use real medieval recipes for 
sauces for roasted meats, and offering them some.

As far as being upset about having purchased a year's subscription, you might 
take notice that the rest of the articles (and even the cooking article, if 
not the recipes) are factually correct for the most part, if at a rather 
basic level.  I was specifically reading through it looking for "bad" 
history, since I expected it, and was pleasantly surprised not to find too 
much of it.  Well, all right, the food article does say that the "profuse 
amounts of meat and pastry devoured by the noble classes" caused skin 
irritations, tooth decay, heart disease, and many other infections resulting 
from "indulging in" (some indulgence) spoiled meat.  But it goes on to talk 
about the various birds used, and to accurately list the ingredients of 
sauces used for roasted birds.  All in all, I was pleasantly surprised at the 
overall level of accuracy.

Brangwayna Morgan