SC - Smithsonian dinner

[KallipygosRed at aol.com]

In a message dated 7/27/00 7:46:55 AM US Mountain Standard Time, 
Bronwynmgn at aol.com writes:

<< I never said anything about modern 
 palates, since I don't believe that such a thing exists. >>

I was paraphrasing. I didn't intend to quote you, or I would have put it in 
same.

<< 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". >

"Medieval-style, however, by the very term used, refers to something that is 
"in the style of" and not necessarily offered as an 'accurate portrayal of'. 
As example, a Gautier dress from his Spring collection has a lace ruff over a 
fitted jacket, with a bodice connected to a full cartridge pleated skirt. His 
comment on this is it is an "Elizabethan-style" dress. He is **not** saying 
it is an authentic recreation of an Elizabethan Dress, but that it has 
'elements pulled from the Elizabethan period of manner of dress', most 
noticeably the ruff, the cartridge pleats and bodice. I assume, and I think 
most normal mundanes and rational people could assume, that when they see 
something that is stated to be "Midieval-Style" that it is not going to be a 
an accurate recreation of the Midieval, but have elements of the style of 
that type of meal. In this case, probably having to do with the cooking 
elements of it, as that was what seemed to be represented as pretty accurate 
for period.

< 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.>

Okay, so they were not known in Europe during period. Some of them, I 
understand were not period anywhere (I'm thinking the Bell Peppers here, 
which has been brought up before on the list). But not all of the items were 
not "period" as they were used in other countries in the timeline (Soy 
Sauce). So, what you actually mean to assert, I'm guessing, is that the items 
were not 'regionally period to Europe'; Soy Sauce has since been stated to 
have been regionally period to China long before our timeline. Did the 
article purport to be asserting that the style of recipes were regionally 
isolated to Europe? I don't recall that being asserted. But, either way, and 
I'm really not trying to start/continue/beat an argument here, since they 
never said that they were giving period recipes, but recipes for the 'modern 
grillmeister'; I wouldn't fault them for having them not be accurate in their 
content. In fact, I would expect it.

Lars