OT [Sca-cooks] Japanese (was: What did they..)

[Laura C. Minnick]

At 09:07 AM 5/9/02 -0500, you wrote:
>I have no problem with Far-Eastern personas. My peeve is Romans and the like
>from before the fall of Rome.  Now while our Latest Prince of Northshield
>was Roman and was a very good Prince. I just don't see this era as being
>period.
>
>Thorbjorn

Oddly perhaps, I don't have that much of a problem with the Romans and
such- because A) Corpora etc states no beginning date for our period (look
it up- I did and was surprised!), and B) Medieval Europe was VERY informed
and influenced by the Greeks and Romans, even saying that they were but men
'standing on the shoulders of giants'. (Sorry, can't cite the quote- that
was freshman year and a lifetime ago).  The language of learning and law
was... Latin. The ideals of government were frequently based on Roman
models. The Laws for western Europe (apart from England, which was
different) were based on Roman Law, and still is, to some extent- get a
traffic ticket in France and see what I mean!. The rhetoric and basic forms
of argument for learning and scholarly writing was based on Roman models.
Alcuin taught Latin and Roman rhetoric in Frankish Gaul and in England.

The remnants of the Roman Empire, known to some as teh Byzantines,
continued to influence western Europe. The clothing they wore was for a
long time considered to be the utmost of cultured dress, at least until
about c.1000 or so. For formal occasions, Charlemange wore the latest of
Byzantine dress (as opposed to his everyday Frankish dress)- though it must
be noted that when he went to be crowned Emperor, he wore a Roman toga.

My senior student is 4th c BC Greco-Roman, and while I wish she were later,
she has been doing some serious work that I have great respect for, and I
can see the threads in it that link to what I do even in the 15th century.
(Junior student is crusader-era Norman, to whom it is a little easier to
relate...)

On teh overall subject, as I said to someone last night off-list- I don't
so much much the individuals, like Kiri, with a personal interest, as I
mind the tide of folks who are just following a trend, or who want to do
something that they think will be easier because it is not as well studied-
it is easier to cheat that way and no one could tell them they were wrong
with any certainty (and that was said baldly to my face by Someone Who
Should Know Better).

At any rate, I'm tired of this. I mis-read a guide line last night and
ruined an important project, so now I have to start over and I'm GRUMPY!
And I just realized that while I was agonizing over that, I missed West
Wing again. Urg.

I do have a food question though, and it may be semi-related. What's the
deal with presenting dishes as 'foreign' when they really aren't? Icelandic
chicken, which isn't Icelandic, is the example that immediately comes to
mind. Modernly there are thigns like the 'Spanish' rice that my mother used
to make, which isn't Spanish. Is there some hallmark ingredient or
technique that makes us call them different? Or something else?

And I still feel lousy. Stoopid virus.

'Lainie
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Sometimes Life makes drastic changes without our permission...