SC - Serving Temperature of Food

[grizly at mindspring.com]

sca-cooks at ansteorra.org wrote:
> The thread on Boston Market got me thinking about re-heated chicken.  Many of the feasts I have attended had prepared dishes re-heated and served, yet on what evidence is the food served hot?  Chicken today is commonly served hot or cold.  Why would people in peiod only serve it hot?

A quick run through Platina, yields this from Book IV.21;

"Besides, as in winter we more safely eat warm food, in summer, cold; as in summer, kid and chicken, acid and cold; in winter, squab, warm and dry; in autumn, quail and figpeckers; in spring, little birds taken from the nest after they have put forth feathers; in winter, thrushes and blackbirds."

Considering this in the light of humoral theory, a cook might want to serve "cold" foods hot to help off-set the humors.  By the same logic, "hot" or "warm" foods might be served cold.  >>>>>>>>>>>>


Another question that begs here is whether the ambient temperature of something will change the humoral quality.  My readings suggest that it is not the actual temperature, but its intrinsic quality that must be balanced.  Ergo, a cold moist ingredient quality would be balanced by an ingredient with hot dry quality.  The method of cooking (braising, dry roasting, boiling) can also mediate the humoral quality by the humoral aspects of the cooking method.

What I'm looking at here is that all cooking is hot, therefore should be a wash.  It is the moist vs. dry that can be mediated with the method.  I would love more discussion on these issues Bear has brought up.

niccolo difrancesco