[Sca-cooks] Re: period cooking questions

[Patrick McKinnion]

on 5/9/02 9:45 AM, Philippa Alderton at phlip_u at yahoo.com wrote:

> Every time we get an active
> new member of the List, they seem to want to improvise
> Mediecal cuisines before they have really learned how
> to cook them. Maybe a well set-up generic, "Why we
> don't improvise until we do it their way" post might
> save some of our fingers.....

    If I may throw in my three cents.......

    I have been cooking, as a hobby, for many years now.   I admit, my
specialty is sweets, (I have been told my Dark Chocolate Brownies are
borderline addictive), though I do very well in soups and stews and pastas
as well.   I've taken and enjoyed classes in Chinese cooking, and have been
debating experimenting with Thai and Vietnamese, (For example, I've actually
attempted Pho a couple of times.)

    However, after (mumblemubmle)-teen years in the SCA, I'm just now
exploring an interest in period cooking.   Maybe it's contamination from the
other cooks in my household.....  ;-)

    I know, when I'm looking at period recipes, I tend to try and relate
them to things I know and I'm familiar with.   This is understandable, since
there are "reference points" one learns anytime they start to learn a new
cuisine, and I don't have all the reference points yet on period cooking.

    So, to a certain extent, I can see why there is the tendency to make the
assumptions about "well, they had A, B, and C back then, so I can use them
to make dish Zed."    It's because the newbie is trying to relate those
items to points of familiarity they may already have.   The trick I'm still
learning, is to figure out how those items may have been combined in period,
as opposed to how they are combined now.

    The other trick, which I'm also still learning, and will take a while to
learn, is how to make dishes that, while they may not be documentable, are
made in a style that would be accepted or normal in period.

    Just my three cents.

    And on a side note, been kicking around the idea of experimenting with
making a cinnamon spiced chicken.   Anyone have any ideas on what other
ingredients would complement the cinnamon ?

    - Padraig o Connell

"You know your leftovers have been in the fridge too long when they apply
for canton status."
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