[Sca-cooks] An article for my local newsletter

[Stefan li Rous]

Greetings,

Here is a copy of an article I just sent to my local group's newsletter to
help encourage folks to try some period recipes. Admittedly, this article
is a bit heavy on referances to the Florilegium, but then that is the
set of online recipes I'm most familar with.

Just thought some might find it useful, or be willing to give useful
feedback.

Stefan
--
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
   Mark S. Harris            Austin, Texas          stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****

> Easy Period Recipe Sources
> By Stefan li Rous
>
> Want to try cooking a period food item for the upcoming Baronial Yule Revel?
>
> However, you don’t know where to find such recipes? Or you say that when you
> try to cook oatmeal, all you end up with is glue? Or the period food you’ve
> had was yucky? Or your idea of food, is macaroni and cheese?
>
> Well, perhaps some of the following information will help all of you who
> answered yes to the above questions. Yes, even that last question.
>
> There are various online sources which will present you with easy period
> recipes that have been translated to modern recipe notation with measurements
> and modern food names.
>
> One of these is Master Cariadoc’s Miscellany, which is now online at:
>    http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/miscellany.html
>
> Another is this one done by the Barony of Ostgardr (New York city):
>    http://www.ostgardr.org/cooking/
>
> The “Boke of Gode Cookery” webpage has a lot of nice recipes:
>    http://www.godecookery.com/godeboke/godeboke.htm
>
> My Florilegium also has a number of files on period cooking, some files
> are specifically oriented towards easily cooked period foods for when
> normal kitchen facilities just aren’t available, like at many of our
> Ansteorran event sites. The Florilegium is at:
>    http://www.florilegium.org
>
> Here are a few of the files that I recommend for those new to period
> cooking, and even those new to cooking, period:
>
> Camp-Cooking-art   (8K) 12/ 4/00    "Camp Cooking" by Lady Caointiarn.
>    http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/Camp-Cooking-art.html
> M-Camp-Cookng-art (11K) 10/ 2/01    "More Camp Cooking" by Lady Caointiarn.
>                                        Some simple one-pot meals.
>    http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/M-Camp-Cookng-art.html
> Mrdonas-Ktchn-art (16K)  7/ 3/00    Mordonna's Kitchen. A series of articles
>                                        on period cooking by Mordonna DuBois.
>    http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/Mrdonas-Ktchn-art.html
>
> Despite what some folks might tell you, fruit, when it was in season was
> often eaten fresh and uncooked. To get an idea of which fruits were eaten
> in period and when and where they were, take a look at this file:
> fruits-msg       (103K)  7/30/01    Medieval fruits and fruit dishes. Recipes.
>    http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-FRUITS/fruits-msg.html
>
> Many of the cheeses that you can buy off the shelf today originally date
> back to the Middle Ages. One cooked cheese dish that has often been well
> recieved here in this barony is Savory Tosted Cheese, often called
> "Cheese Goo". Various recipes for this dish can be found in this file:
> cheese-msg       (152K)  1/ 8/01    Medieval cheese. Recipes.
>    http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/cheese-msg.html
>
> If you prefer tossing salads to cooking, by leaving out some ingredients
> such as Iceburg lettuce and adding others such as various fresh herbs,
> you can create a period salad.
> Summer-Salad-art  (17K) 11/28/00    "A Summer Salad" by Lady Jehanne de Huguenin
>    http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/Summer-Salad-art.html
>
> Many meat and fruit pies are fairly simple, particularly if you use
> the frozen pie crusts that you can buy at the grocery.
> meat-pies-msg    (130K)  5/ 7/01    Period meat pies. Recipes.
>    http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-MEATS/meat-pies-msg.html
> fruit-pies-msg    (45K)  1/ 5/01    Period fruit pies. Recipes. Baking pies.
>    http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/fruit-pies-msg.html
>
> Many stews and soups can also be quite simple to cook. Most of your time is
> spend chopping up the ingredients.
> stews-bruets-msg  (65K)  5/24/00    Period stews and bruets. Recipes.
>    http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-MEATS/stews-bruets-msg.html
> soup-msg         (101K)  1/31/01    Medieval soups. Cooking soups at events.
>    http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/soup-msg.html
>
> For those wanting to bring a dessert to Yule Revel, here are some recipes:
> cookies-msg       (96K)  9/ 7/01    Period cookies. Recipes.
>    http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-SWEETS/cookies-msg.html
> desserts-msg     (112K)  1/12/01    Medieval and SCA dessert recipes. Sweets.
>    http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-SWEETS/desserts-msg.html
>
> And for those who are still wanting to bring Macaroni and Cheese to Yule
> Revel, you can. It is period, although not done with the bright yellow,
> often artificial cheese of today. See this file:
> pasta-msg         (82K)  3/20/01    Period pasta. Period references. Recipes.
>
> Another modern dish, which dates to the Middle Ages is "French Toast".
> French-Toast-art  (27K)  3/31/00    "From Lost Bread to French Toast" by
>                                        Christianna MacGrain.
>    http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-BREADS/French-Toast-art.html
>
> I hope this gives you some ideas for period food that you might like to make
> and some sources to get the recipes from.