[Sca-cooks] Funges Follies-

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Also sprach Barbara Benson:
>The upshot of what I am saying is that sometimes the circumstances
>under which we function cause us to make choices that we know are not quite
>technically exact, but still in keeping with the heart of the concept. I
>believe it is the "creative" part of the anachronism.
>I mean, how many of us actually cook entire feasts over an open fire as we
>well know we are supposed to be doing? How many of us actually spit roast
>meats instead of chucking it into an oven or roaster? All of these things
>will have significant effects on the flavor of what we are preparing, but
due to restrictions we make compromises.

And sometimes in compromising, we make choices that _may_ be bringing
us back to the effect intended by the original recipe authors. For
all that we talk about the flavor of meats cooked over an open fire,
for example, there are a fair number of late-period recipes that seem
intended to teach us to avoid cooking the meat in the smoke (using
drip pans and roasting before or alongside, rather than above, the
fire), cooking things on pieces of parchment or paper to keep them
from burning, cooking in the ashes and embers rather than over
flames, etc.

The trick is to be aware of the difference between out techniques and
those of period cooks in a given setting, and act accordingly for the
effect we're trying to achieve. Choices should probably be, as much
as possible, informed choices rather than simply not thinking there
was another way to do something.

Adamantius