[Sca-cooks] Dayboards

[Philip & Susan Troy]

DeeWolff at aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 10/15/01 7:21:47 PM, tsersen at nni.com writes:
>
> << For fighting events, people often try to go a little heavier on
> protein, salt and water content foods.  For more genteel indoor events,
> people may try for a very period spread with many neat things. >>
>
> I do both at the same time. People should get what they pay for (Sir Edward
> Gendy <Meat eater extraordinaire>taught me this), and I should enjoy giving
> them period food (learned from shadowing Master A). Each menu, dayboard or
> feast, should be a medieval lesson to the SCA public.

I agree. I don't necessarily adopt a holistic approach, though; I prefer
to think of different levels of preferred accomplishment or task definition:

1) Feed the people. If they go away hungry, you have not only failed in
your primary purpose, but have missed an opportunity to --

2) Educate them, and considering the scads of possibilities in which
period research can be applied to the dayboard or feast menu, there's no
reason why you can't, or shouldn't --

3) Do both.

In other words, consider the first task of a cook to be what cooks do,
which is to feed people. The second task is to do what all SCAdians
should do, which is educate people. It's okay to be in it for the beer
once in a while, but let's not deny the primary, stated purpose of the
SCA. And performing the first is such a perfect oppportunity to perform
the second (c'mon, I mean, you have a captive audience!!!) that it would
be foolish to fail to capitalize on the opportunity.

Adamantius
--
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com

"It was so blatant that Roger threw at him.  Clemens gets away with
things that get other people thrown out of games.  As long as they
let him get away with it, it's going  to continue." -- Joe Torre, 9/98