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

[Bronwynmgn at aol.com]

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In a message dated 1/6/2002 5:07:59 PM Eastern Standard Time,
christina_elisabeth at yahoo.com writes:


> 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.

See, this is one of the reasons I don't like A&S competitions.  You are the
second or third person to say this recently - that the only reason to provide
documentation with anything (or to stick precisely to period instructions or
techniques for something) is if you are entering it in a competition.  What
about those of us who don't enter or usually even go to competitions?  I
might eat your recipe at a potluck and like to know what culture and source
it came from.  I would certainly like to know whether it is from a period
source or whather it's in a period style or if you just threw together what
you had on hand.  People who know nothing about period cookery may well
assume that it is period if you don't tell them otherwise.
Also, my personal reason for being in the society, and the thing that makes
it fun for me, is trying to get everything as close to accurate as I possibly
can.  I know I'll never get to total accuracy; it's impossible.  But my
ultimate goal is to be able to spend an event doing the kind of things
Brangwayna would have done, in as close as possible to the manner she would
have done them.  Having something documented is the way I do things for
everyday life.  Making a new gown that I intend to use when working in the
kitchen, setting up camp, or even cleaning? Yes, it's going to be as close to
a period style as I can document, and in period fabrics.  Making a quick
lunch to take to an event?  It's more likely to be a sturdy pie than a
sandwich, and I won't even consider bringing fast food into an event hall.

I realize that everyone has a different take on this, and that not everyone
is interested in trying to be authentic all the time.  I just don't
understand why :-)   And it really irks me when people think, and say, that
documentation doesn't matter unless you're doing it for a competition.  You
see, that has a corollary to me - that because it's the SCA, you should never
even have to think about authenticity unless you want to win awards.  I think
people should always think about authenticity and do it the authentic way (or
at least know the authentic way, even if you have to make substitutions for
good reasons) because the SCA is all about learning about the middle ages and
renaissance.  How can you learn about anything if you blow off the authentic
manner totally unless you are doing it for competition???

Brangwayna Morgan