[Sca-cooks] Feastocrate vs. Head Cook

[kattratt]

Ok first off let me be just silly a second....
I looked at the title and the first thing I thought was
Feastocrate: Noun, Meaning Feast in a box, Early Middle Ages TV Dinner.

Ok ok sorry.
I think I prefer either Head Cook or simply Cook.
I am curious as well, are any of the "Crats" period correct? Since the
person in  charge is calling the shots and overseeing the whole thing
wouldn't they be the "Host"? The whole "crat" thing seems to be a way to
make someone feel like they are super duper important or something and
has always struck me as being very 20th century.
Think about it did Henry VIII decide to hold a tourney and call himself
the Autocrat? Or to drop it a little lower in status, when the Medici's
decided to have a fling did they "Host" it or "Autocrat" it?  I would
think that they "Hosted" the whole shebang, had their "Cook" or "Head
Cook" organize, plan, and prepare the feast.  I bet their "Nurse" or
"Nanny" looked after the kids, and the "Servants" cleaned up and took
care of the trash.  Of course I bet that even back then they woke up
thinking "Ya know I really hate working for this SOB...but that's life!"
My favorite title when I am in Charge is the Little Richard Spud.
(Shorten the first word and Southernize the second...)

The Little Dick Tater!!!
Nichola Buscelli


Decker, Terry D. wrote:

>Historical accuracy and verisimilitude.
>
>This list is about "period" food.  A number of us are pushing the idea of
>preparing feasts from sources originating between the 5th and 17th Centuries
>with an eye to the "Medieval or Renaissance feel" of the event.  In such a
>context, "feastocrat" is jarring and false.  Why not replace "feastocrat"
>with appropriate and correct terminology contemporary to what we are doing?
>
>The Cook (or Head Cook, if you prefer) was an office of the household which
>was often responsible for planning the meals, for purchasing of or
>calculating the use of the provender, and preparing the food.  Rumpolt, for
>example, uses the term Mundkoch.  Kitchener and Cuisinier might also be
>used.  Chef (de cuisine) appears to be out of period.
>
>