medieval healthy food was Re: [Sca-cooks] Tiramisu

[a5foil]

<< Would you want to see nutritional values on
>  redactions?
>   >>
>
> This certainly would be  of value if only for one reason alone: It would
show
> medieval food is good for you. :-)

OK. Thanks for the feedback.

> I would also prominently remind people that  olive oil was being
substituted
> for lard if the original does not indicate  such a substitution. While
other

Yes. I note any and all variations from the documented recipe, but since the
original and translation are on the same page as the redaction, cooks are
free to draw their own conclusions, too.

> fats can be substituted for lard in certain recipes such substitutions not
> only change the final flavor of the dish but also takes it from the realms
of
> a period recipe to a modern recipe based on a a period source.
>
> A thought...

I suspect we will have to disagree on your last point, at least to some
degree. IMO, by definition, any recipe you or I attempt from a period source
is a modern recipe based on a period source. Even our best attempts are our
individual concepts and mere approximations of the period aesthetics,
ingredients, techniques, weights and measures, utensils, and cooking terms
for a given time and place. Vague or generic references in the original
recipe will require a judgement call on the part of the modern cook (e.g.,
"some", "a handful", "enough", "plenty", "good", "parboil", "half-roasted",
"oil", "fat", "grease", "lard", "spices").

I suspect that, just like today, even perfect medieval cooks ran out of
olive oil from time to time, used up the bacon grease, or removed the lid
only to discover that the lard had gone rancid, and they still had to do a
dish even if the recipe didn't specifically offer a substitute. They had to
use their judgement regarding substitution, no more and no less. To
acknowledge the preferred fat and offer, as a variation, an alternative
appropriate to the time and place of the original, moves us neither further
from, nor closer to, the original.

I appreciate your thoughts and discussion.

Thomas Longshanks (who is not being formal, but simply attempting to
differentiate from "Thomas" and "Thomas II")