SC - Dormice WAS: period dishes for Ari

[Catherine Deville]

Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise said, of feasts where ingredients
were added at the last minute and not advertised.
> I was speaking generally, as I have heard many rumors of feasts all over
> the known world with different cooks where ingredients thrown in at the
> last minute that weren't publicized to the group. I've also heard
> feastocrats complain that it was unreasonable to ask them to publish a
> menu and ingredients list beforehand, because they cooked as they went
> along.

Again I note that I have been out of things for a long while, and when I
was a feastocrat it was not the habit to publish a menu in advance
(something which I think is a very *good* thing), but in over 11 years in
the SCA I had *never* been to a feast where the menu *with ingredients* was
published beforehand.  And it would seem odd to me to not be able to alter
ingredients as I needed and as I go along ('course I was taught to cook by
a mother, a grandmother, a father and a stepmother who all added
*everything* "to taste" and almost never measured anything that they knew
how to cook in advance).  Of course, I'm a big one for personal
responsibility too, so I expect anyone with a food allergy to take
responsibility for finding out what is in what they are eating and I do
believe that the cook should always have that information readily handy to
be disbursed as well.  And I do also see that having information for what
you're serving available to the populace ahead of time as being a good
thing.

The feast at which I was presented my "Crimsom Pillars" (a Glaedenfeld
service award) was not even my feast... I ended up becoming feastcrat at
the last minute to help out a novice who had accepted the job from someone
at the 11th hour and was now in over his head.  The poor young man had had
little guidance and was trying to work from the original feastcrat's plans
without realizing that more than 1/2 the menu required off site
pre-preparation.  He had also missed one of her grocery lists (the one with
the *spices* on it), so we had about 1/2 of the required ingredients.  As a
result, I ended up making up the menu on the spot with the help of several
other experienced cooks in the Barony and we pulled it off... but almost
*nothing* that went out was on the original menu.  That was an extreme case
complicated by (albeit good hearted) inexperience and we were working out
of necessity, but even the best planned feast can require accomodation at
the last minute for reasons which were unforseeable in advance.  In
general, however, such accomodations can be noted on pre-prepared cards and
the diner's who have concerns can be alerted to them as long as their needs
have been made known.

As I believe I said earlier, though, you can't cater to someone's needs
unless they take responsibility for communicating them to you.

I remain, in service to Meridies,
Lady Celia des L'archier