SC - First Feasts & changing traditions

[upsxdls_osu@ionet.net]

> Every time I have a "super period" feast, it turns out to be so esoteric
> that nobody seems to be able to eat it. It has indeed prejudiced me to that
> fact and I apologize.

Don't feel bad.  A few years ago there were very few people in Ansteorra
who cooked period food. And many of those who tried often produced nearly
inedible meals. There were exceptions, Mistress Meadhbh, Baroness Clarissa,
and Master Bjorn would produce good researched dishes but ofttimes they
were fairly small or produced rarely.
The majority of period food I'd tried, well, sucked.
When I cooked feasts I tried to give them a Medieval flair and be slightly
unusual but really didn't know a period recipe if someone smacked me upside
the head with a cuskynole.
I created this list not to for it to be a font of period food information but
for
an opportunity for cooks to tell horror stories, critiques, suggestions and
recipes to those interested.  Imagine my surprise when suddenly I get
all of these people who talk about period food as if it was actually edible.

> I hazard to partially disagree with you on that one.
> I agree good cooks can make good food, but I know some very good cooks who
> have made recipies that were just horrible.  All in the name of period.
> However, you are correct for the most part.

Everybody screws up. Especially with a cuisine that they are unfamiliar with.
I'm a pretty good cook but last weekend made a cassoulet that was a bit too
salty. Why? I didn't realize the smoked meats would have imparted so much
taste to the final product. Next time I'll correct that.  (It was a cassoulet
using
smoked turkey and also had smoked pork chops. Not the classic version of
duck in comfit and lamb.)
Does that mean that cassoulet is bad? No. It means I need to learn more
about it. I would bet the first time you tried to cook Mexican with nothing
to base it on it wouldn't come out to your liking either. Period food is a
type of cuisine and needs to be played with a bit. That's actually part of the
fun.

> Ok, I also concede I'm letting my prejudice run away with me.  I hacked on
> the period thing, because I'm not a good enough cook yet to be able to pull
> off the stuff I'm not intimately familiar with, ie redacted recipies, but I
> was asked from any number of people if my feast was documentable, and it was
> really starting to get irritating.  I apologize to the list members if I
> offended anyone.

Well that happens on here. I'm sorry. But there are now a ton of great
cookbooks,
many written by members of this list, with totally redacted recipes they have
tried out with friends and decided that at least this version doesn't suck. The

members of this list will be more than happy to give you listings and ordering
information or even websites where you can look them up for free.

Another thing is that most of us hate "period nazis". That's not the way to
win people over. I'm in Anstorra, that's Texas and Oklahoma. People here
tend to like Steak, BBQ, Mexican Food and nothing else. Or at least that's
the perception. But once the good folk on this list brought me to the light
I and several others here, began a campaign to bring the kingdom around.
We didn't do this by being rude to non-period cooks. We did it by finding
period recipes that actually (gasp!) tasted good and feeding folks. We
also would excitedly explain that this was stuff that REAL knights and ladies
ate. We would go into kitchens and help with the chopping and cooking and
then talk to the head cook about how if we did this to that roast beef or
added this sauce to that vegetable then it would be cool period food too.
We let our excitement infect those other cooks. And we showed the general
populace that period food wasn't icky.  I remember sitting at a luncheon for
Peers and Nobles a while ago. The cook said that she wasn't interested in
serving period food and we didn't have a problem with that. But during the
luncheon, out of the cook's hearing so as not to embarass her, I started
pointing
out the stuff on the table that was actually period in one form or the other.
The Peers and Nobles began to realize that even some "real" food is period too.

Now here in Ansteorra a majority of feasts are now at least trying to get
some period dishes involved and the populace is even looking for them. If
a feast has no relation to period dishes some of the non-fanatic diners are
a little disappointed.

I hope that the negative feedback you recieved doesn't scare you off but
that you'll see the cool stuff that we have discovered and start planting them
appleseeds up North too.

> Gyric

Yers,

Gunthar