SC - Alcohol in cooking

[LrdRas@aol.com]

Marcus Antaya wrote:
> 
> Well, Lords and Ladies...I don't have to stretch that far back to recount
> the tail of my first feastocrat duties...it was LAST NIGHT!!!
> 
> And it was a smashing success...It wasn't exactly period, but then that
> wasn't what I was going for. I'm so tired of period nazi feasts, where
> everything is redacted from 5 centuries ago, and with it nothing edible or
> to the taste of modern palates.

Okay. When you look back on this in retrospect, remember the following
could have been worse ;  )...

Actually, I just have a question. Is there anything, any reason at all,
any experience you've had, that can logically (and successfully) lead to
the conclusion that bad food has anything to do with whether or not it
is period?

It sounds as if you've produced a perfectly fine meal and made a lot of
people happy, and this cannot but be a good thing. No problem there, and
I congratulate you most sincerely. Suppose, on the other hand, there had
been problems and, god forbid, you turned out a lousy meal. Would the
age of the recipes have made any difference or made it any less lousy?

Bad food is bad. Good food is good. Bad cooks produce bad food no matter
what recipes they are working from, and good cooks can produce good food
from recipes centuries old, family recipes, or from the latest magazine.
 

> It was a feast of about 100, I did Beef and Barlet stew in a large bread
> bowl per table, hams with a spice rub, creamed turnips, garlic mashed
> potatoes, and ginger honey candy.  The second remove was split pea soup with
> ham, dill pickle rouladin, with maple glazed carrots and vegetarian risotto.
> For my second confection, I did 12th night cakes, the recipie which I found
> in my baronial newsletter.
> 
> Now, of that, only the pea soup, the candy and the cakes were period
> recipies...and I had never even tried to make the candy or cakes before that
> day.  All the rest were either my own creations, or the family recipies that
> I grew up with.
> 
> Never have I seen such a reaction to feast...a standing ovation from the
> entire populace present, including all peers...some of which Laurels in
> cooking.
> 
> I was blown away, and am still riding a bit of a high off it...grin.

As well you should be, after such a positive experience. And I would
expect no less encouragement from peers, including Laurels for cooking.
 
> I also want to say that I burnt the pes soup so badly, we had to start
> again...almost burnt the risotto, and all the cakes blew the filling out the
> sides so that they were very flat...yet all worked in the end due to
> experienced friends in the kitchen.

Funny... there are extensive instructions in Le Menagier de Paris on how
to avoid burning pea soup, and what to do about it... sorry, I just had
to mention that... but then, real, live experienced friends are at least
as valuable as ones which have been dead for centuries.
 
> All in all, a good day, if not tiring. Oh, and being the pursuivant and
> having to take an hour out to do court didn't help my blood pressure
> any...sigh.
> 
> Anyhoo, all were sharing their recollections, so I thought I'd do the
> same....

By all means, it's always a pleasure to hear of such a success. Don't
get me wrong, I don't mean to be critical of your choice, I just think
you're being a little (okay, not a little) unfair to suggest that period
food is somehow inherently not as good as modern food. I remember my
first feast receiving a similar reaction for a menu that was not
particularly based on period sources, but which wasn't blatantly modern.
I also remember receiving an even better reaction after my second feast,
which was based almost entirely on period sources. 

Me, I'm sick and tired of houppelandes. And I'm really tired of garb
fascisti trying to make me wear historical clothing at events, in order
to create the illusion that we're medieval people...

In all seriousness, though, I'm glad people had a good time.

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com