SC - Re: [Trimaris] Highnesses, Lownesses, and Period Cooking. (fwd)

[Linda Peterson]

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Linda Peterson <mirhaxa at swcp.com>
To: <merc at radknives.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 29, 2000 6:26 PM
Subject: SC - Re: [Trimaris] Highnesses, Lownesses, and Period Cooking.
(fwd)
> I'm not sure this went back to the Trimaris list, and is the best reply to
> your missive.  Mirhaxa
>   mirhaxa at morktorn.com
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Tue, 29 Feb 2000 18:00:44 -0500
> From: Jeff Gedney <JGedney at dictaphone.com>
> Reply-To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
> To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
> Subject: SC - Re: [Trimaris] Highnesses, Lownesses, and Period Cooking.
>
> > People pay for feast, and as
> > such they should have the right to suggest that the food be acceptable
to
> > THEIR palates and tastes.
>
> hey, the Clue Phone is ringing, Pick it up
> We have given in this discussion numerous of examples of period feast and
> food items that were damned tasty to _my_ modern palate.
>
> I did an almost _entirely_ period feast for my first feast, and everything
was
> very much enjoyed.

  ** The clue phone bit was a bit lame, but again you missed the point. No
one said that there weren't period dishes and whole feasts that tasted good.
What it was was a request that the food taste good, whether period or not.
**

>
> Food is food.
> We have not changed, biologically, since ad 800, and much of our tastes
> have remained. (I eat and enjoy a 5th century grilled steak every 4th of
July)

** food is food ? Are you sure you're a cook ? Also, a steak grilled from a
5th century cow would taste a bit differently from what you're used to
today, different feed, etc. We haven't changed much biologically, but we
have both socially and psychologically, both of which effect how we percieve
things like food. **

>
> the myths of "changing tastes"  and u""unpalatqable over spiced glop" are
> just Hollywood conventions, and have no basis in research or reality

 ** Tastes in food change with age,  and are effected by what foods you were
raised on/are used to ( my father liked eating tongue, calf's brains and
liver, and I definitely do not). As for overspiced glop (french cuisine ?),
almost any dish, modern or period can suffer that fate. We've all had our
personal disasters in the kitchen.. **
>
> I would have hoped that SCA Royalty would try to elevate our recreation,
> not pander to unsubstantiated cultural myths.

 ** You can't have it both ways, you can't insult them AND expect their
support at the same time (and yes, I know it goes both ways). **
>
>
> >  Does the word COMPROMISE ring a bell ?
>
> Sure does.
> as in "compromising the stated goals of SCA events".
>
> I give you the corpora of the SCA
>
> II. SOCIETY EVENTS
> A. SOCIETY EVENTS DEFINED. The term "Society event" refers to tournaments,
feasts, and other activities whereby participants can display the results of
their researches into period culture and technology in an environment which
evokes the atmosphere of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

 ** An interesting interpretation of both my words, and corpora. So you're
saying that to compromise the other side merely has to give in completely to
your ideas/ideals of what a feast should be ? **
>
> Read that again.
> Now tell me how serving Tang and Turkey at an event "Displays results of
research" or "evokes the Atmosphere of the Middle Ages and Rennaissance"

 ** While I realize that neither Tang or soft drinks are period (I'm not
sure about turkey[not crazy about turkey anyway]), we do make certain
concessions to the modern world. If you want to drink water from a well or
stream, or sift beer through your teeth, that's fine by me, just don't ask
me to. Going for period authenticity should after all have some limits. A
cook whose food displeases a Princess would likely end up on the rack, now
wouldn't that evoke a Medieval atmosphere ? I wouldn't approve of that
either. **
>
>
> >  I'm a Custom Knifemaker, and if I don't make what people want, they
won't
> > buy it.
>
> And if you were making a knife for an Arts competition at Pennsic,
> I very much doubt it would be a Klingon knife. It would have a period
design.
> there is no forum to make food for many in the SCA except through feasts.
> Why shoud we pander to the lowest common denominator, instead of trying
> to be the best period cooks we could be?

 ** I don't try to be the best period knifemaker that I can be, I try to be
the best knifemaker that I can be period. I have hundreds of period designs
to base my knives and swords on, but I am always willing to adjust those
designs  to suit other people's tastes. As for the Klingon knife, there are
a number of similar period knives (the Batluc ? thing I'm not sure about).
**
>
> > If you make a period feast that less than half of the people in the
> > hall can choke down, then why should they pay for it ? Just so the cook
> > doesn't have a snit? I don't think so.
>
> I never have had a problem "choking down" perfectly period food made by
> cooks around here.

 ** If there's never been a bad feast in your area then you folks are
luckier than most. **
>
> Two things can spoil a meal, bad cooks and bad recipes.
> Since _we_ have no trouble with the recipes, I think you might see what
> may be the REAL problem with "period" feasts in your area.
>
> You should try fixing the real problem. You do not have enough cooks who
> know how to properly research, redact, scale up and cook period recipes.
>
> If your plumbing leaks, you dont tell your family not to bathe, you get
the
> pipes fixed.
>

 **Okay then, instead of calling names and such, why not offer some good
period recipes already redacted and such, so that even a poor cook such as
myself can follow them. Or come down here and teach a cooking class, or
submit your recipe/tips to our Kingdom newsletter, etc. **


> Harumph!
>
> Just because HRH has a high rank don't make her right, it just makes her
> wrong with precedence.

 ** It doesn't make her any more right or wrong for making a request (not an
order) and stating her opinion in a polite manner than it would you.  I'm
not a Peer or belted at all, so I guess by not completely agreeing with you
that makes me wrong without precedence. **
>
> brandu

                                             Duncan the etc.
>
>
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