SC - TI Article - Support Kitchen

[Susan Fox-Davis]

> Actually the I have asked this question on the Calon-list and was told in no
> uncertain terms that the Calontir fighters DON'T WANT period foods after the
> battles.

I think this may be unrealistic in the minds of the fighters. Basically I think
they
know what they are used to and have no desire to change it. But if presented
with period food, properly planned and prepared they would eat it.  As an
example,
I attended an event last week that was very hot. I had to attend as I was the
current
champion.  The feast for this event didn't appeal to me at all. Basically
sausages,
eggs, various cold pies, etc... I got the feast as part of my duties as
Champion but
really would have rather to have gone to town and eaten at a restaurant.

But I reluctantly attended the feast. It was wonderful. The cook had worked
hard
to research recipes and did an admirable job. The cold pies were wonderful, a
white tart and doucettes and a spinach pie. Everything was tasty and perfect
for
the hot weather. I was so impressed that I went to the kitchen and presented
her
with a bag of gold. (The new golden dollars. I told her to keep some and then
present a dollar to anyone in the region who made an attempt at period cooking
or
for those underappreciated workers who are always there.)

The object of this lesson is that if the fighters are presented with, say a
nice pork
pie, they will eat it and like it. One of the energy foods that I always bring
and I
usually run out of is dried apricots. And fighters being the beasts that we
are, will
eat anything.

The day after the Pennsic Chili Party I wanted to get rid of the half a pot of
leftovers
so I could clean it. There was nobody in Ansteorra camp so I went next door to
the
Calons and invited them for lunch. They pretty much beat me across the street
and
didn't wait for it to reheat. I also fried balogna for them. One year we
dragged several
gallons of cold chili out onto the battlefield and fed all the fighters cold,
nuclear grade
nasty chili. It was some of the best stuff I've ever eaten. Don't sell
post-combat
fighters short on what they will eat.

> They want the soup, the Gatorade, the PBJ and any other high Carb
> food.  That is what Jenna provides what the fighters want. This is not a
> Kingdom sanctioned activity, It is all done with donations. So she is at the
> mercy of the donors, mainly the fighters, and period foods would cost her
> too much.

I have no problem with what Jenna does. She provides a service to her fighters
that
most kingdoms don't do. And an article or letter of rebuke will do no good.
However
I do think that giving her some thoughts about period foods which are just as
easy,
useful and acceptable to fighters would do both her, the fighters and the SCA a
boost.
Get her excited about it and not defensive. I have never meet an SCA cook that
didn't
feel a bit of extra pride when they serve period food and have it eaten. So I
suggest some
of the people on here who feel the most bothered by this to contact her. Give
her some
recipes that meet the above criteria and get her excited by it. Especially
before anyone
submits letters to the editor or a "counter-article" with period foods. Ask her
if she
would mind you writing a "counter-article" on period foods to feed an army. Let
us
please not forget that we are all family here and courtesy gains more converts
than
being right.

Perhaps sending her a letter beginning something like: "Hello Jenna, I really
like what
you are doing for your army as mentioned in your TI article. A few of us read
your
article and got to thinking about stuff that people got fed in period and found
some
really cool results! Did you know that you could make things like a pork quiche
cheap
and it would really satisfy hungry fighters? And make the atmosphere even more
like an army returning to camp? Here's some more stuff you may think about,
what do
you think?......"

This makes her part of the process instead of excluding her.

Also, I notice that nobody has mentioned the rather interesting article before
that about
supposition on Viking food based on physical finds and referencing sagas. I'm
not sure
how accurate it was but I did like the article and some of the findings.

Well, these are just some thoughts.

> Thorbjorn
>

Yers,

Gunthar