[Sca-cooks] Researching....

[Huette von Ahrens]

Sigh.  There are times I wish that you would come to
me first ...

--- Mercy Neumark <mneumark at hotmail.com> wrote:
> Hello Everyone!
>
> On Foodtv, "Good Eats", there is a food historian
> that he has on the show
> that discusses whatever "food theme" he is talking
> about.  Since I'm not
> looking at the show right now (at work...christmas
> eve...with NOTHING TO
> DO...ihatemyjob) I am not sure if she has a PHD or
> not, but this got me
> wondering.
>
> We in the SCA try to make sure that things are
> Period.  But how you do all
> research if cheesecake (my Laurel's example)is
> period?  I'm assuming that if
> there is a such thing as "food historian" that there
> must be books that just
> deal with ingrediants (college text books
> maybe?)...or is it how it seems to
> me that in order to know if X recipe (say
> cheesecake) is period that you
> have to have a ton of different books, illustrations
> and painting
> referrences in order to say "Oh yeah, this is 100%
> period."

Yes.  No they are reference books, not text books.
And, yes.  It helps.
>
> This is probably a super stupid question, but it
> just seems like it should
> be easier to tell if strawberries were used in pies
> in the middle ages.

Middle Ages?  I am not sure.  Renaissance? Yes!  In
Sabina Welserin.  There is a reason that I chose
strawberries for dessert at GWW.
>
> Along this same vein, has anyone come up with a
> bibliography on what "must
> have" books people should have if they want to
> create period stuff?

Yes, in the Florilegium and I have been working on one
of all the period cookbooks I own.
>
> One of the reasons I am asking this is in order to
> create new recipes using
> period techniques and ingrediants.  As part of the
> "creative" part, I figure
> it is reasonable to come up with new recipes, or is
> this a no-no in the SCA?
>   Just curious really.

Well ... yes and no.  I think that "creating" a new
recipe for a dish that is mentioned in period but has
no known recipe attached or found in other sources
would be okay as long as you preface your work by
stating that it is not a period recipe, but the
product of your speculation after extensively
researching the subject.  It should not be "Well, I
like apples, rosemary and roast goose.  They are all
period ingredients so I will make a dish with these
ingredients thrown together."  If you found a
reference to an apple-stuffed, rosemary-laced roast
goose in the Canterbury Tales and couldn't find a
similar recipe in all the period cookbooks, then that
would be okay, in my opinion.   Your creativity should
come from your thorough knowledge of the subject, not
your imagination.  Just as an SCA painter should paint
for the SCA works based on techniques of Leonardo and
Michangelo, etc. and not techniques she learned at Art
School from a modern painting teacher.

Huette


=====
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they
shall never cease to be amused.

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