[Sca-cooks] RE: Butter and Brie and Yams, Oh my!

[Elaine Koogler]

I think we have to temper our desire to be totally period with a knowledge of
what's available.  Obviously we can't do feasts that are always 100%
period...even if we knew where we could find ingredients that were identical to
what was used in period, they would probably be prohibitively expensive.  And
I'm not so sure we know with any degree of certainty what was actually used,
especially in sense you're talking about.  Things like milk and butter will be
different not just because what we're using is pasturized, etc., but also
because the cows may well have eaten a different mix of greens/grain/grass than
what they get now.  You just have to say to yourself that you can only carry
this thing so far.

For example:  the dish I took to the potluck was a Middle Eastern date dish.
Stuffed dates.  The original recipe said to take fresh dates and let them dry in
the sun for 2 days.  Now, where I am, I don't have access to fresh dates, so
must use dates that have been dried.  When Ras (the original "let's do
everything absolutely period" member of this list...along with His Grace,
Cariadoc) and I talked about my redaction at Pennsic, he wanted to know why I
didn't perform that first step.  When I told him, he said that I did what was
necessary for a feast or for this potluck.  However, quoth he, I should, perhaps
look up one of the recipes for making fresh dates out of dried, do that, then
try sun-drying the dates just to see if it made a difference.  Even Ras admitted
that we have to bow to necessity when cooking a feast!

Kiri (hoping this will help with your depression.....)

"Dunbar, Debra" wrote:

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> Oddly enough, I've been bemoaning the fact that it is very difficult to
> stroll into the local Safeway (or even your local Farmers' Market) and get
> produce that isn't some hybrid genetic engineered mutant.  Even the organic
> stuff isn't really a variety that would have been found in Medieval Europe.
> Everything labeled "yams" seems to be some variety of sweet potato, and now
> cheeses aren't really what they say they are, and even that staple, butter,
> is in dispute!
>
> I'm so depressed!
>
> Alys Katharine's comment about the holly has got me thinking.  How is it
> practical to prepare a totally documented feast for an event?  Maybe for
> some small cooking A&S thing, but to feed 200+?  How do cooks display their
> Magnus Opus, their SCA doctoral work?  No matter how carefully prepared it's
> always going to be flawed by modern yeast strains in your bread, modern
> hybrid veggies, etc.
>
> What's a part-time hobbist to do?
> Wrynne
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