[Sca-cooks] Newby to the list

[Mark.S Harris]

AElfwenna of Shrewsbury said:
> I'm new to this list, so a brief introduction. I live in Meridies, in the B=
> arony of Seleone.

Welcome to the SCA-Cooks list!

> This time around, one thing I'd like to do differently=
>  is *make* the fresh baked bread--the last time I was advised by the autocr=
> at and others, to use the purchased frozen bread dough, and just dress it u=
> p. This was not unsuccessful, but I did feel as though I were cheating a bi=
> t.  This time, I'd like to make my own dough to freeze.  This would give me=
>  the convenience of having the dough readily available on the day of the fe=
> ast, yet still feel I did it myself.

I believe we have discussed freezing bread dough and later baking it,
here
before. You might find these files in the FOOD-BREADS section of the
Florilegium to be useful. We have some wonderful bakers here, such as
Bear, who have been quite free and helpful with their knowledge.

There are however, only four(?) actual period bread recipes, so most of
the recipes you see used are 'best guesses' at what that particular
period bread was like. However, I think most (all?) of the period
bread recipes can be found in these files.
bread-msg        (172K) 11/30/00    Medieval breads and grains.
bread-stamps-msg   (9K)  2/ 8/01    Stamps used to leave insignia in
bread.
bread-stuffed-msg (28K)  7/21/99    Period stuffed bread. Rastons.
Recipes.
breadmaking-msg  (218K)  5/23/01    Period bread recipes and
re-creations.
brd-mk-flat-msg   (56K)  2/14/01    Period flat or unleavened bread
recipes.
brd-mk-sour-msg   (58K) 11/13/00    Breadmaking -Period sourdough bread
recipes.

These files in the same area might also be a help:
BNYeast-art       (14K)  4/24/97    "A Brief Note on Yeast" by Katerine
Rountre.
flour-msg         (52K)  4/ 3/01    Types of flour. Sources. Period
flour.
yeasts-msg        (72K)  7/ 6/00    Medieval use of yeast. Using it in
the CMA.

> Ditto the pastry and the noodles.

In the FOOD section:
pasta-msg         (82K)  3/20/01    Period pasta. Period references.
Recipes.
pasta-stufed-msg  (33K)  3/20/01    Period stuffed pasta dishes.
Ravioli.

In the FOOD-SWEETS section:
desserts-msg     (112K)  1/12/01    Medieval and SCA dessert recipes.
Sweets.
Digby-Cakes-art   (12K)  6/30/01    "Excellent Small Cakes Revisited"
                                       by Tirloch of Tallaght.
pastries-msg     (126K)  6/20/01    Medieval pastries. Recipes.
Rosquillas-msg    (15K)  6/20/01    Spanish pastry of biscotti-like
rings.
shortbread-msg    (32K)  1/12/01    Period shortbread. Recipes and
directions.

> I do plan on lots of pre-cook, so I'd like some ideas on organizing that.
> Any advice on these or related matters would be *very* much appreciated.

Take a look through some of the files in the FEASTS section. There are
a lot of comments and suggestions from headcooks who have sometimes
learned things the hard way.

The Florilegium is located at: http://www.florilegium.org

I hope this helps get you started. Please feel free to bring up anything
here
that these files don't address or make clear.

THLord Stefan li Rous
Barony of Bryn Gwlad
Ansteorra
stefan at texas.net