[Sca-cooks] Re: Potatoes Revisited

[Mark.S Harris]

Ras replied to me with:
> stefan at texas.net writes:
> << So while I don't have good evidence that these weren't white potatos,
>  I thought maybe someone else would.  >>
>
> The best way of determining whether  white or  sweet potatoes are meant in
> any given recipes is not through the means of questioning folks but rather
> getting thee hence to the kitvhen and testing the recipe. If one tastes much
> better than the other, you have the answer. It is really that simple.

And what is your basis for saying that the period cook would have used
the one that tasted better?

He probably would if he had them both available. But whether the cook
writing this particular manuscript had both available or even was
aware of both is uncertain. That is the information I was asking
for.

While I think which one tasted better is something to consider, after
all I think I did suggest that using sweet potatos would taste better
as a sweetened item than the white ones, I don't think that is a good,
overriding test by itself.

Horses and cattle were both available in medieval Europe. If I
cook a version of a dish with each meat and decide I like the
one with horse meat better, how can I then decide that they must
have used horsemeat, when there is other evidence that the idea
of eaten horsemeat was reviled in medieval Europe.

For another instance, just because I happen to like pizza
with tomatos and peppers on them, doesn't mean they were made
that way in 16th century Italy.

So I don't think that "It is really that simple".

Stefan li Rous, the cantankerous one
stefan at texas.net