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

[david friedman]

>Brangwayna wrote:
>>
>>  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???
>
>Hrm, I feel the same way about this as you do, and I agree entirely that
>documentation isn't *just* for competitions.


I think there is a tendency in the SCA, and perhaps in this thread,
to confuse "documentation" with "authenticity." If I'm cooking a
feast, or handing out nibbles, I don't "document" it in the sense of
providing other people with documents showing that what I am doing is
period. But I do try to make sure that it in fact is period before
doing it.

I am in favor of authenticity. I have mixed feelings about
"documentation" in the sense in which the term is applied to A&S
contests and the like. On the one hand, it is one way of encouraging
people to do research. On the other hand, requiring that every work
of art be accompanied by a term paper seems like a good way of
discouraging the arts. In the best of all possible worlds, judges
would know enough to tell for themselves whether the work was period,
hence documentation in the sense of paperwork would be unnecessary.
--
David/Cariadoc
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/