[Sca-cooks] Question from a newbie

[Laura C. Minnick]

Vladimir Armbruster wrote:
>
> I would suggest you look in Life in a Medieval City, and Life in a Medieval
> Castle.. Don't remember the authors names, but theres a couple good chunks
> of information there.. The first has it in the section about the merchants
> selling meat, the second, about the kitchen preparing it.

The authors' names are Joseph and Frances Gies. They have a whole series
of sorta-medieval stuff.

*However*- I don't use them and they generally aren't accepted as
reference or source material. Couple reasons- in general, they almost
never cite their own sources! (This should sned up a warning flag in any
book!) They also mix and match places, and more importantly times- you
will find them using an example from 12th C Normandy in nearly the same
breath as a story from the Pastons in 15th c England. They end up
'covering' a large area and time period by homogenizing everything-
medieval is medieval is medieval, right? Well, not really. In trying to
present a broad picture, they end up with a bunch of little pictures,
blurred beyond recognition...

If you _must_ read the Gies, check everything carefully. See a story-
try to find out where they got it and read the text yourself. A little
like looking at a 'costume' book, seeing something you like, and then
looking for the original so you can figure out the seamlines.

the mostly-amateur pedant,
'Lainie