SC - No alcohol in the sauce

[Anne-Marie Rousseau]

In a message dated 7/26/2000 11:23:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
KallipygosRed at aol.com writes:

<< And I thought the comment had been made that the article never supposed to 
be 
 purporting to offer "period" recipes but "medievaloid" recipes that could be 
 cooked in the style of "period" dishes. Someone had said the article was 
 accurate on styles of cooking, etc., but for modern palates, gave a series 
of 
 recipes using modern ingredients. >>

I'm the person who said what you are remembering.  I was trying to explain 
why someone else on the list shouldn't go haring off complaining to the 
magazine about offering such horrible period recipes, and I explained that 
they never said they were period, they called them "medieval-style".  I then 
said they didn't fit my definition of "medieval-style", and appended the list 
of ingredients used in various of the recipes to explain one reason why I 
didn't consider them "medieval-style".  I never said anything about modern 
palates, since I don't believe that such a thing exists.

<< If I'm correct in how the thread has gone, then how can one be upset with 
an article for not offering "period" recipes when it states out front it has 
no intention of doing so?>>

Nowhere in the article did it state that they had no intention of offering 
period recipes.  What it had was a recipe section entitled "medieval-style 
rubs and marinades for the modern grillmeister".  I was commenting on the 
fact that they were hardly in any medieval style with which I was familiar, 
and that all of them, without exception, contained foodstuffs not used or 
known in Europe duuring the medieval time period.  This, to me, pretty much 
automatically disqualifies them from being "medieval-style".  As an example, 
here is one of the recipes:
(From Renaissance Magazine, Vol 5 #2 Issue # 18, page 35.  I have changed 
fractions to the equivalent decimal for clarity.)

Spit Roasted Chicken with Savory Wild Rice Stuffing
1 2.5-3 pound whole chicken
3 tablespoons barbecue dry rub for chicken
.5 cup wild rice
.5 cup white rice
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 cup chicken broth
.5 cup chopped onion
4 sun-dried tomatoes chopped
.5 teaspoon cayenne powder
.5 teaspoon dried sage, crumbled

Coat chicken with rub, being sure to put some under the skin.  Set aside and 
in a sauce pan, cover the wild rice with 1.33 cups boiling water, return to a 
boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 40-45 minutes or until tender.  
Drain off any excess water.  Saute the white rice in the oil for 2-3 minutes 
and then bring the broth to a boil, add the white rice, and return to a boil. 
 Reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Do not drain.
Add the wild rice, onions, tomatoes, cayenne, and sage to the rice and mix 
well.  Spoon the mixture loosely into the chicken cavities and secure the 
neck skin to the back of the chicken.  Insert the spit rod through the bird, 
tie the wings together, and tightly secure the bird to the rod.  Position a 
drip pan beneath the bird on the grill, and lower the top and grill over a 
medium heat for appoximately two hours, or until the chicken is finished.
To enhance the presentation, cut zucchinis lengthwise and brush them with 
chile oil.  Grill during the last 15-20 minutes of cooking, and remove and 
sprinkle with grated Romano cheese.  Serves: 4

I find the use of even the term "medieval-style" deceiving at best for this 
recipe,and it certainly could give a reader a false impression of medieval 
food.  However, while I would tell the magazine publishers that this is not 
medieval-style cooking, I would not complain to the them that the recipe is 
not period.  They didn't say it was period, but they did claim that it was in 
a medieval style, which it patently is not.

Brangwayna Morgan