SC - RE: [SCA-AE] Pictures

[Elaine Koogler]

I think I missed something.  Solveig, are you on the verge of publishing a
translation of period Japanese recipes?  If so, please keep me posted.  I've
been looking for such a book for about the last 20-some years!  Also, if there
is any way I can be of assistance (test-cooking, etc.), let me know as well.

Thanks for doing this...it's something that's been needed for a very long time.

Kiri

"Adler, Chris" wrote:

>  > Baron Fridrikr suggested that I should include  pictures of the raw
> ingredients so that people can go  to the  store and identify them.
>
> 1) Do you think this is a good idea?
>
>  Yes. I looked through your "beta" version pamphlet last weekend at
> AEthelmearc Academy and, although I found it fascinating and I do recognize
> a number of the ingredients, the raw list of ingredients is kind of unwieldy
> to plow through. Graphics, even small b&w ones, would be very useful in
> helping cooks and researchers differentiate between the types of mushrooms,
> for instance, or the seaweed varieties. This is a really spiffy book,
> Solveig!
>
> 2) How extensive should this practice be?
>
> I'd suggest, if possible, graphics of each Japanese ingredient. (You don't
> need to do anything that's common to American cooking, such as flour or
> vinegar.) I think most people would find the graphics useful, depending upon
> their familiarity with Japanese cuisine.
>
>  3) Should the pictures be in the main text or in a glossary?
>
> Main Text. It's always a massive pain to flip back and forth between recipe
> and glossary. Plus, it means you wouldn't have one section of artwork and
> another section with a solid wall of text. (The book editor in me cries out
> to "break up the page"! <smile>)
>
>  4) Should whole fish be depicted or fish filets?
>
> Definitely Whole. I think most cooks know what an anonymous filet looks
> like, whereas many couldn't differentiate between different kinds of fish
> and that's where depictions of whole fish would be helpful.
>
> 5) What about processed ingredients sold in packages?
>
>  Sure. It would help to identify them in markets where people don't speak a
> lot of English and the packaging isn't in English either!
>
> 6) What about game animals?
>
> Are you asking whether you should depict them as whole or parts? I doubt
> many of them come in standard processed packages, so I guess it would better
> help to depict the live animal.
>
> 7) What about plants?
>
>  Yes, absolutely. I know that I find my Asian herbals that contain graphics
> a WHOLE lot more useful than the ones that simply contain text. It's because
> of graphics, for instance, that I quickly determined years ago that the
> Asian medicinal Ma Huang is the same plant as what we call Ephedra in
> America and Europe. It was because I knew the Asian name that I was able to
> go into a San Francisco apothecary 10 years ago and ask for and buy the
> correct plant when I couldn't speak a word of Cantonese and no one in the
> shop spoke English. One pound of dried Ephedra for $5. And psuedoephedrine
> costs how much? $6 for 24 tablets? Heh heh. I brewed tea for *years* from
> that and my sinuses were blessedly clear...
>
> 8) Should there be period illustrations of ingredients, plants, or  animals?
>
>
> Wow. If you could get period illustrations, that would be extremely cool. I
> think most period plant and animal illustrations look pretty darn accurate,
> so it would be helpful AND appropriate for the audience. Sure, why not?
>
> Katja
>
>
>
>
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