SC - La Varenne

[Elaine Koogler]

My Lord,
A lot of people have said some very good things in responding to your post...and
i suspect I'll repeat some of what they have said, but here goes anyway.

For a number of years, I cooked food that was "sort of" period...in other words,
I didn't use anything that was blatantly out of period.  I had had some folks
present food to me that totally lacked in appetizing texture, color and taste
(I'll never forget one porridge-type dish made with peas that greatly resembled
wallpaper paste!).  However, some very good cooks introduced me to period
dishes, and I began to see that period food can truly be delicious.  In fact, I
became so attached to the idea that I was ecstatic to find period Chinese and
Mongol recipes, after years of searching!

I think that the biggest help to me has been to read through various period
recipes, trying to imagine, first of all, how they would taste.  When I run
across something that sounds promising, I try it out...my lord and I both cook
so don't mind being guinea pigs for each other!  I never serve a dish at a feast
that I haven't tried out, one way or another.  That way, I always know that it's
going to be tasty.  Trust me, if you knew me and what I look like, you'd
immediately understand that I LOVE good food!

Kiri

Marcus Antaya wrote:

> > Can you give me an example of the kind of thing you're talking about?
> > Medieval recipes are generally so vague that a _really_ broad range of
> > foods can be produced by following the instructions more or less
> > exactly.
>
> Well, one particularily memorable feast was one a few years ago, with
> friends of mine that are FABULOUS cooks.  Their recipies for the pudding
> tasted like there was rubbing alchohol in it, and the dates in candied sauce
> looked like cockroaches in maple syrop, and didn't move on the plate, even
> when turned upside down. Things like that.
>
> > For a minute it sounded as if you were suggesting you
> > might not be a good enough cook to carry it off.
>
> No, I think I meant more along the lines of "for my first feast I wanted to
> make things I was comfortable with, instead of trying new things of which I
> have no idea what they SHOULD taste like..."
>
> > Except... it also sounds as if your crew of happy diners really were
> > interested to know if your menu was an attempt at historical accuracy,
> > which is why they kept asking if the dishes were documentable.
>
> Actually, it was more with an aprehensive tone for a lot of them, and some
> scathing questioning, but I know the scathers and I could really care less
> about their opinion.
>
> As I said, period feasting is something I'll be working toward, with the
> help of this list.
> Looking forward to the next one, which I believe is going to be in November.
>
> Gyric
>
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