[Sca-cooks] More ...thoughts on period-style food? (long)

[Bethra Spicewell]

Phlip responded:
>OK, Bethra, I'm one who gets very irritated when
>people start in on "for Modern tastes" because it
>frequently is a phrase used by the ignorant....
  Yes. But if we can help to lead them out of ignorance, isn't that a
'good thing' ?
As I said before, I -don't- really know what it means; it was said by
someone else, to me,  about my food.
  In my opinion, humble or not, there's 'my taste', their taste',
'good' and 'bad'.  Any or all of these may apply to certain foods.
There's no one correct TASTE' - medieval or modern.
YMMV <s>

>In my opinion, much modern food sucks.
    No arguement there.  But it does fill the empty spaces in times of
'no time to cook.'
    I grew up having a mom (80 next week) who grew up on a farm in VT,
so she certainly knew how to cook with food as it occured.  We, for
years, had a big garden, until the owner sold it off for a house lot;
and our neighbor up the street raised sheep, rabbits and chickens.  I
learned to cook as soon as I could reach the countertop and stove.
I shudder at some of today's packaged things masquerading as "Real
Homestyle..."  Not MY home, thank you very much.
But I do like canned macaroni & beef in red sauce as a quickie lunch
;-)

>As a general rule, it tends to be highly over sugared and salted...
  That's what I think is being meant by "modern taste"  -- an
over-familiarity with the taste of  the processed 20+st century, and
not with the taste of food as it might be without 'help' <g?>
 I use much less salt than I used to, and my mom is a diabetic, so I've
been using alternative sweeteners - not artificial - when I can, when I
cook for her.

> where we pick things while they're still unripe, so they'll travel
better.
   As witness the 908 tomato - a red rubber ball that passes for food
:-).

>That said, the Medieval folks did have a slightly
>different take on spicing and cooking than we do.
   That's how it looks to me, too, and I'm trying to learn the
different uses. I'm growing some of my own herbs, and I've got new and
exciting spices in my cabinet. And, I'm blessed with a husband who
doesn't mind if I put fruit in with the meat, or add saffron or pepper
to pudding.  He'll let me know if he doesn't like it, and trys to tell
me why.

>Cooking itself had to be a bit different- they basicly used
>fire in its many forms and stages- they didn't have
>the luxury of electric or gas ranges and ovens as we do- ....
   That's what I meant by "I DON'T cook medievally"  I don't because I
can't - not because I won't, or don't want to. I'd like to be able to,
but..
   I don't have access to cooking with open fire - our fireplace is far
too small for anything other than marshmallows : -)  The electric range
is a built in. It won't change easily or cheaply.  The neighbor is a
*%$# who calls the FD when she sees a puff of smoke that isn't coming
from the gas grill. "Burning trash" is what she calls it when she
complains. <shrug>

>Where they were very different is that they used
>spices and herbs we tend to catagorize as "sweet" in
>savory dishes, and "savory" in sweet dishes.
 I'd like to work more on learning how the "Medieval Taste" differs
from "Modern Taste". It's for sure -not- throwing spices around with
reckless abandon to "disguise the rotten meat" - another phrase of the
ignorant. If it's rotten, don't serve it. Spice is/was expensive - a
trip to the hospital is moreso.

>Now, I'll tell you what I did, to learn about these
>spicings. Very simply, I started making modern dishes
>with which I was quite familiar, but instead of using
>my usual blends, I used ingredients as described in
>some of my Medieval cookbooks.....
  That's what I've been doing, too. I like the results, so much so that
I use them more than I used to use pre-packaged salt/sugar/stuff
blends.
>But, I didn't fool with calling things "perioid" or
>"period- like", I just called them "stew with
>cinnamon" or "cornbread with almond milk" and left it at that.
   It's not a distinction which I make, either. At least not unless
asked.  I KNOW it's not period, but it's flavored/created in a period
manner, according to the translator/redactor of the cookbook from which
I'm working.  I wouldn't try to pass off  a dish as 'period' BUT I
would designate it 'peri-oid' or 'period style' if I had based it on
period information.  I like Bear's take on it - it's a historic
re-creation, based on what we know about cooking during this time.
For household consumption, or the dreaded pot-luck, I just say what it
is. Meat X with Y, Z and whatever; or as simple as X stew. The only
time it gets a name and a "period-style" designation, would be if I was
entering it as part of an A&S. Documentation included, what someone
else wants to do with it is now out of my hands.   If others choose to
ignore my designation, I can't force them to use it, but it didn't come
from me as 'authentic' or 'period', and I'll try to correct anyone who
gets the wrong impression.

>Shortly thereafter, I discovered Pennsic and Cook's
>List, and I've been driving folks crazy at or on both.....
  We can't afford the time for Pennsic - yet, and this list is a
wonderful learning tool.
Crazy is a state of someone eles's mind - I'm ALWAYS perfectly calm and
rational - the chef's jacket with the nice shiny arm buckles is just
for display <G>

Bethra



=====
Christina Elisabeth de la Griffon Riant
   Barony of Stonemarche        EK

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