SC - Competition entry

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Debra Hense wrote:
> 
> Am I wrong about this?  Has lamb and mutton always been cooked to mush? Or, is this a case where modern tastes and preferences of the judge are taking precedence over what was medieval?
> 

Probably either the latter or the judges were under the influence of
hallucinogens. Did anybody recreate ergotic bread for them in another entry?

No, lamb and mutton (and very, very few SCAdians, percentagewise, have
tasted mutton, BTW, for all our talk about it) are not "supposed to be"
cooked that way. They are supposed to be easily chewed and digested, as
a general rule, but other than that it is a matter of personal taste.

Now, there are also some unusual carving techniques that may have been
misinterpreted, like, for example, a relatively modrn French tradition
of slicing loin of venison along the grain rather than across it. How
anything like that could be misinterpreted as what you were told is
beyond me, though.

I'm trying to be the devil's advocate, here. The modern dishes that
spring to mind as examples of meat that is "supposed to be" cooked to
shreds are ropa vieja, a Latin American beef dish of pot roast shredded
and returned to its sauce for serving, and pulled pork barbecue. Neither
is a medieval mutton stew. There are period dishes that call for meats
(usually chicken or capon flesh, sometimes pork, I think) to be cooked
and then "pulled all to a powder", i.e. teased apart  along the grain.
I've never heard of this in connection with Lambchop, though.

BTW, since this was a competition, you might have asked the judges to
document this unfamiliar practice, because of course they could, and you
were there to learn... .

I'm reminded of the time my small ale from Digby was judged by members
of our kingdom brewers' guild as being weak and insufficiently hopped.

*Rant mode on*
If the advantage of a kingdom having standardized A&S competition rules
and guidelines is that things like this get to happen, I'm glad to live
in the East, one of the last bastions of A&S anarchy/rugged individualism...
*Rant mode off*

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com