SC - Smithsonian dinner
Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Mon Jul 24 18:00:06 PDT 2000
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
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