[Sca-cooks] how to assess advice

[Philippa Alderton]

--- Cindy <crma at ix.netcom.com> wrote:

> How can one determine whether or not what you are
> being told is
> accurate?  I'd like to get a cookbook of period
> recipes but I want
> to get a good one!  Thanks for your advice!!

Well, it's the same all over, in any field of
endeavor. Determining accuracy of any statement
requires either faith, or intensive research and
experiment ;-) As an example, in period everyone
"knew" the earth was flat, other than a few scholars
here and there, and now everyone "knows" the earth is
round (or at least ovoid). I challenge you to prove to
me that it is either, without relying on the
statements of various self-appointed experts ;-)

As far as your question goes, if you want an accurate
Medieval cookbook, you need to get your hands on an
original manuscript- to this day, we're finding
varying interpretations in even the best studied,
often caused by nothing so much as differing
interpretations of a letter in a word.

If, however, you're willing to make a small leap of
faith, there are a number of transcriptions of
originals available, although many are in the original
languages, which can be problematical, if you don't
happen to read it.

Down another level, are translations of original
manuscripts, and here you need to rely on both the
scholarship of the translator, and his or her cooking
knowledge. Usually, they don't both come in one
package, although several members of this List are
doing their best to fill that gap.

If you want to read other people's reviews of various
cookery books, Stefan's Florilegium is very
informative. He collects and indexes discussions from
various Lists on many Medieval subjects- he'll have
disagreements as well as agreements on any subject
your heart desires. Goto:

http://www.florilegium.org/

and look in the column on the left. He has a file
entitled Food- Books. Click on that, and he has a
bunch of files on the right, and if you click on any
of those subjects, you'll read his collected messages
on the matter. Some will be actual articles written
for the Florilegium, but most are postings of
discussions we've had on the subject.

Now, as to what I'd suggest? Cindy Renfrew's books are
reasonably accurate and beginner friendly. My
preference is Cariadoc's Miscellany and his two
cookbooks, because he includes a lot of translations
from several different cultures- it's a lot of bang
for your buck ;-) There are also various books from
specific cultures out there, but we haven't as many
resources from some cultures and time periods as we do
from others- late period England, France, and Germany
are well covered, for example, but there are few
Viking and sub-saharan african recipes, for example.

Hope this helps ;-)

Phlip

=====
Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....

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