SC - Adjustments, ethical or otherwise LONG

[Philippa Alderton]

Lady Celia des L'archier, and others new to the List, let me try to
interpret things a bit for you, in order to put things more in context.

As far as your argument about the "ethics" of substitution, I think that
Adamantius was using it in the sense that it is "unethical" to lie- in other
words, to serve a modern feast to someone, while calling it Medieval.

Going on to his other points, he is talking about fine degrees of varance
from the original recipe, and this can be a fine line indeed. His first
level comment, as I read it, was adjusting the spices in the dish which are
given in the recipe- for example, adding a bit more salt, or a bit more
rosemary or sage or whatever, in order to balance the flavors a bit better-
that is certainly well within any cook's creativity. This might also include
using the alternative ingredients specified by the recipe, as in the
Chocolate drink recipe we've been discussing, regarding subbing in the
aniseed for the logwood cods- again, well within ethically trying to
reproduce Medieval food, as described in the recipes.

The second level he's discussing, is what do you do when you find you're out
of whatever? Someone forgot the garlic, or the long pepper. In that case,
you'd try to replace it with the nearest Medieval eqivalents, as you know
and understand the recipe, and work from there. If that happened to me, I'd
be thinking about garlic chives if I needed fresh garlic, or garlic powder
otherwise, in the first case, and perhaps cubebs or modern black pepper in
the second case. Whatever I used, despite it not being in the original
ingredients list, would be to bring the food to as close to the original
taste and appearance of the recipe as I had prepared it when I test cooked
it. If I did sub ingredients, then I'd make a note of it, and make that
information available.

The third case would refer to the totally non-PC (as we on this List would
consider PC) cook, who tastes something, and decides that it needs more of
their favorite flavor, such as A's image of peanut butter, regardless of
what the recipe itself calls for. This is just flat irresponsible, and
unethical, when you decide that you're going to do it your way, regardless
what  the Medieval cook was intending, particularly when you then present
the dish as accurate Medieval.

OK, some examples.

In the first case, that's what every good cook does with everything they
cook. Food and spice qualities are not absolutes, so it is absolutely normal
to add a dash more of pepper or salt or whatever, depending on many factors,
like the freshness and strength of the ingredients, including the spices.

In the second case, at MK Coronation last spring, Yasmin had made up packets
of spices for the veal, as per Platina, and when it came time for me to
spice the Crown Roast I was prepping, she'd forgotten to bring the packet
for it. Since I wasn't about to send it out unflavored, I raided the spices
of the school kitchen we were cooking in, with the help of the School Cook
who was required to be there by site rules, and made up a mix to apply,
which was as close as I could make it to the original spice blend. No
allergies or strong preferences were expressed by head table, so I didn't
worry about it- there was very little left when it came back.

The third case was best demonstrated by a friend's daughter, when her mother
invited me over to dinner- the girl was making lasagna for her boyfriend,
from Mom's recipe. Well, it turned out the girl didn't like cottage cheese,
so didn't add that, then she fancied herself a vegetarian that day, so took
out the meat, decided she didn't like the other cheeses, left them out, and
by the time she was done, the "lasagna" was dried up baked noodles in
unseasoned tomato sauce. Mom fed me a couple of hamburgers.

Now, as Mordonna said, the image of adding a dash of sugar to reduce the
acidity of a dish is not a problem for most diabetics, and the ones that are
so brittle that it would be a problem need to eat something else, preferably
at home. What will cause problems, though, are the serious allergics, and
with some of them, using the knife that cut mushrooms, for example, to cut
the meat for something else, can put them right into anaphalactic shock. Any
responsible cook makes themselves aware of these issues, and takes steps to
avoid these situations, but that's also the reason for the ingredients list.

In an upcoming feast, my Lord is seriously allergic to egg whites, and I
passionately hate anise. Of the total number of dishes presented, there are
a total of three which are listed as having one or both of the offending
substances, so I posted the Cook and told her about the allergy problem, and
made sure that the offending substances wouldn't be added to other foods-
for example, that the dumplings would be sealed with water, not with egg
whites, and that 5 spice powder wasn't going to be added to everything,
whether it called for it or not. She assured me that this was the case, and
I'll check back with her on the day of the feast.

When you're dealing with Adamantius, listen very hard to what he says. He's
not by nature a nasty person in the least- in fact, he's a very funny and
caring person, who uses hyperbole frequently to get his point across. He's
also a very serious Cook, and has the bay leaves to prove it- relax, and
listen to him- just don't get him started punning ;-)

Cariadoc has been around since God made dirt, and is also very
knowledgeable, but he has a very dry sense of humor, which many people just
don't understand. He's also passionate about his cooking and authenticity,
but unfortunately, sometimes he comes on as a grouch, because people don't
understand him. He has every award known to SCA, and btw, he's a law
professor ;-)

Relax a bit on this List. We don't have flames (unless Ras and I get into
arguing, and we've been known to argue about whether or not we were
arguing), and if we do, they're short-lived because we really do try to keep
things cool- and if we don't Papa Gunthar tends to sort things out in a
hurry.

Hope this helps you understand a bit better, about where we are, and where
we're coming from.


Phlip

Nolo disputare, volo somniare et contendere, et iterum somniare.

phlip at morganco.net

Philippa Farrour
Caer Frig
Southeastern Ohio

"All things are poisons.  It is simply the dose that distinguishes between a
poison and a remedy." -Paracelsus

"Oats -- a grain which in England sustains the horses, and in
Scotland, the men." -- Johnson

"It was pleasant to me to find that 'oats,' the 'food of horses,' were
so much used as the food of the people in Johnson's own town." --
Boswell

"And where will you find such horses, and such men?" -- Anonymous