[Sca-cooks] Funges Follies-

[Elaine Koogler]

----- Original Message -----
 There probably should not be alarm bells
> going off at the exact point at which we diverge from a period
> recipe. Whoop-whoop, non-period alert! Man the battle stations and
> check for tomatoes!

I agree...and I do agree that we should strive to get as close to what we
interpret to be the period process as possible...note that the important
words here are "we interpret".  I have a good friend who recently received
his Laurel for cooking who has redacted and cooked several of the same
recipes I have.  In at least one, Cormarye, his redaction is so different
from mine as to be questionable as to whether it is the same original
recipe.  Whatever we do is an interpretation...and, as I said, that's why
it's an art rather than a science!
>
> On the other hand, the simple fact of knowing when, and why, we
> diverge from what we know to be a period process because it is
> documented very specifically, and when, and why, we are speculating,
> is a good teaching and reasoning device.

I agree here totally.  and whenever I do digress from what I perceive to be
the ingredients and/or processes in a recipe, I try to indicate such when I
share my interpretation.

 >I really don't think anybody
> ever really suggested more than that. (All right, I'll be blunt; I
> don't think Cariadoc, or I, or various other people who've been
> involved in this ongoing debate, ever suggested an approach more
> conservative than that. If I'm wrong those people can correct me.)
>
Actually, not so much from you, but from His Grace and several others, I've
gotten the impression that if we digress from the exact information in a
recipe, we no longer have a "period" dish, but rather a "periodoid" dish.  I
got the impression that the argument was not so much against doing a
substitution or omission, but rather indicating that it was still a period
dish/recipe.

> An example: a week or so ago I was involved in a small feast
> consisting largely of Eastern European foods, mostly those recipes in
> Marx Rumpolt which he specifically identifies as Hungarian. Among
> them was a dried plum tart filling which we put in pastry cases
> (commercial, phooey!) and baked. _Talk_ about an aroma filling an
> entire site with perfume! Anyway, a few minutes before service, I
> noted that we had a lot of sour cream left over from the dayboard. We
> decided to beat it a bit, and put a healthy dollop in the middle of
> each tart as a garnish. The recipe doesn't call for it. We just
> decided to use it because we thought it would be good. Technically, I
> know I should be on the lam with the authenticity police in hot
> pursuit. On the other hand, I'm still in a position to state, quite
> truthfully, that Rumpolt's comments on Hungarian plum tart filling
> remain unchanged by the decision to put some sour cream on the
> finished tarts, even though Rumpolt doesn't mention it. The filling
> was as close to Rumpolt's instructions as I could make it, and its
> consistency, with or without sour cream dolloped on top, to modern
> Eastern European fruit tart traditions also remains unchanged. Has
> that somehow transformed my modern creation based on a period recipe
> into something less "period" than it would otherwise have been?
> Probably not really.  Does it show that there is an ongoing link
> between late medieval/early modern and current traditions regarding
> fruit tarts in that part of the world? Sure it does. The only way in
> which the educational process suffered (and in this it was probably
> made up for by people's enjoyment factor) was in that people might
> assume that the sour cream dollop is called for in Rumpolt's recipe.
> And if anyone asks, I can easily point out that that was a snap
> decision.

Yes, I've done similar things...like adding a fruit garnish to a custard
pie, or, actually changing the ingredients in the Rysshews of fruyt (Forme
of Curye) by adding egg whites to the mixture.  I tried them without the egg
whites (not specified in the original recipe), and they fell apart when I
tried to fry them.  Adding the egg whites (colorless, tasteless...couldn't
really be detected so I doubt they changed the taste or appearance) made
them hold together when being fried.
>
> And there's the rub. We do our best, even though we know we cannot
> attain perfection. The trick is to not allow the fact that we cannot
> attain perfection to prevent us from doing our best. (Not letting the
> best be the enemy of the good, etc., etc.)

I agree....
>
> Well, as I said, I was addressing more a widespread attitude, rather
> than you or your remarks, which make more sense than a lot of what is
> said on this subject. Even though you are in danger of falling into
> the Classic Trap connected with this reasoning ;-)...

You're probably right, though I do try the best I can to stick to what the
recipe specifies as far as I can.  But, I really believe that there is no
way I can know what a period cook would have thought tasted correct...or
good.  And I won't avoid cooking something that I believe would be enjoyed
by those eating my feast just because I can't get a specific ingredient.  I
love doing the research and sorting out how it probably would have been done
in period...but when I'm actually cooking a feast, I often have to temper
what I know to be period with what practically can be done.  And when I do
modify a recipe one way or the other, I include that modification in my
documentation for the feast...which I make available to anyone at the event
who wishes to see it.
>
> Adamantius, who thinks Kiri is _worth_ the effort of being a pain in
> the arse to

I'm glad you feel that way...I really enjoy discussing things with you.  I
always learn so much.

Kiri