SC - Byzantine Bread Stamps

[Decker, Terry D.]

david friedman wrote:
> 
> At 12:00 AM -0500 3/14/00, Seton1355 at aol.com wrote:
> 
> >
> >  a project involving adapting SCA foods and period
> >  recipes into a form which can be eaten by people with serious illness or
> >food
> >  restrictions such as colitis, diabetes and several others. While the results
> >  cannot be said to be period by any stretch of the imagination and I have
> >  varying opinions about the results, I feel this work is a good thing and
> >  might provide a means whereby those with serious illnesses might be able to
> >  have a 'medieval-like' experience while being able to eat well.
> 
> Wouldn't it make more sense to  find period recipes that are
> consistent with those restrictions instead of altering ones that
> aren't? That way the people in question can have a considerably more
> medieval experience.
> 
> Concern about the health consequences of food is a very period
> attitude, and combining that with the religious restrictions results
> in a pretty wide range of recipes. Vegetarian recipes, in particular,
> are common in the surviving cookbooks.

In theory? An unqualified yes, it would make more sense. In practice,
maybe it still would make more sense, but there are some considerations
that may be more important to others than to us. For example, while
pursuing research into Lenten, fish day, and other of the more austere
recipes, these may still not address the specific health needs some of
our members have. Looking still further for the ones that do have no
meat, no wheat, no spices, no nuts, no dairy, no food content of any
kind, no trace of an organic molecule that may give somebody problems
(yes, I'm exaggerating for effect), can produce a low rate of return on
one's research time.

I've been doing this medieval cooking thing, with varying degrees of
enthusiasm, for about 15 years, you've been doing it since dinosaurs
walked the earth and were featured as main courses. It's pretty easy for
people with shelves and shelves of nothing but period cookery sources to
spend half an hour or so and come up with a few dishes that meet some
specific dietary need, and can be easily incorporated into a menu for
home, camp, or feast use. Coming up with a lot of them, though, when you
have fewer sources and would perhaps be intimidated by some of the
sources if you did have more, can be difficult, and sometimes discouraging.

Of course, helping with that sort of thing is what the Cooks' List is for.

My own reservation on the project is that since some people tend to
research until they find what they need and dig no deeper, I'm concerned
about some of the messages that might be sent to some diners by
presenting these foods as the product of research. How much research is
a nagging question sometimes. How often do we use other people's
research without question? How often do some of us use a recipe, and
when asked for documentation, say, "I dunno, a cooking laurel gave me
this recipe 12 years ago...s/he said it was period"?   

What are the odds of someone taking some heavily doctored recipes and
using them, say, at a demo, without either knowing, or caring if they
did, that they are heavily altered? How many of them may go on to write
really bad newspaper articles? ;  ) .

My advice to Lady Phillipa Seton is to Proceed With Caution. You are
probably pursuing the easier solution to your problem, but it could
backfire, so you ought not to rely too heavily on the method.

Adamantius (drat, these soapboxes are getting small...) 
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com