[Sca-cooks] Re: [Sca-cooks]Was Funges Follies- Now Cooking techniques-longish

Mon Mar 25 18:09:15 PST 2002

I have always thought that amount of ingredients people redact with is based
on their own modern palates and modern concepts of food chemistry. However,
despite being called different things on occasions, food chemistry is the
same now as it always was. We just may apply chemistry differently in many
situations as compared to period cooking, but not neccessarily in as few as
one might think. I also think that despite the influx of new ingredients and
spices (and removal of some more toxic ones), spicing tastes, if one has an
open mind, isn't really all that different. Of course, as previously said,
we have no way of knowing what true spicing was like, but we can come up
with reasonable facsimiles, and I think we can learn to rely on and trust
our "modernly medieval" palates as we cook more and more with period
recipes.

For example, we "know" that roux based sauces didn't really come into
serious consideration until much later than 1600, but I have found several
references, including one in Sabrina Welserin's cookbook (I will look up the
exact recipe) that calls for cooking flour in a fat and then adding broth.
Now if that "ain't" roux for you, it is for me. It just wasn't a widely used
technique nor was it called "roux".

I am currently surveying the period sources we have readily available for
"modern" cooking techniques and the period names for them. I am creating a
database for the the recipes of the techniques, the manuscripts in which
they appear, and what seems to be the period for the wide use of said
technique. I am also surverying the ingredients for any significant
country/culture and time bias and changes.

This all grew out of an argument I had with my Chef/teacher at the CIA who
was adamant that roux based sauces were prevalent in the 1500's and that
chutneys came to England prior to 1600. I later sent some references to him,
and he was somewhat contrite. The party line at the CIA on sauces comes from
some commercial books that have some incorrect historical info regarding
sauce techniques. I thought it would be interesting to put together a survey
of historical cooking in a modern format to really see if we are so
different in techniques.

Certainly we different are in the usage of some if not many ingredients, but
the current Pro Chef cookbook has a Pork Rissole recipe that looks like one
out of Platina and a "quatre epice" spice mix that could be any period
cook's "powder fort".

Anyone who may wish to correspond with me on things they find unusual or
otherwise interesting in their own expereinces regarding research and
cooking, I 'd love to hear from you. I'm thinking of proposing this a a
possible Compleat Anchronist when I am done.

Current topics under research and survey:

Sauce techniques
Coffin making (pie dough)
Pastry dough