[Sca-cooks] Period cooking and camping

[david friedman]

>  > At Pennsic, we only cook period things with period technology. No
>>  cooler.
>
>How do you keep cheese?

We get small eight ounce cheeses in wax. They keep unrefrigerated
until we open them.

>Do you make fresh bread each day?

Elizabeth bakes before Pennsic and the bread lasts about four days.
I've also make the Ain i Akbari pan bread at Pennsic. And I'll
probably do some of my conjectural oatcakes this time. We haven't
built an oven, although we know people who have.

>We are actually
>planning on doing this since we are going to use mostly flatbread recipes.
>Modern yeast this year, yeast from Sourdo International next year!
>
>>We do use cast iron pans, which are at best late period.
>
>What type?  Dutch oven? or more period?

Dutch oven and frying pan.

>We are planning on bringing matches but one of us is also a Mountain Man and
>has promised to show us how to make fire!!!

One year Aelfwine and family camped with us, long ago, and made
proper fire. And we sometimes use a candle to borrow fire from our
neighbors, which is presumably one period solution.

>Hmmm.... if I can wean the fighters from eggs and sausage for breakfast
>we'll be two meals a day period....  what kinds of things do you do for
>lunch?

I like bread, apple, cheese and sausage. Regular sausage (beef for
me, since my persona is Muslim) for a day or so, and harder sausage
later since it keeps.

>
>>  The Caliph Muawiya ate dinner leftovers for breakfast, so I don't see
>  > why I shouldn't.
>
>Do you deliberately cook enough to make sure there are leftovers?

No. But it tends to happen.

We arrive at Pennsic with a lot of premade period
nibbles--khushkananaj, hais, currant cakes (strictly speaking 17th
c.--Digby) and the like. So those are always available, as are fruit,
cheese, etc.

Elizabeth has two articles in the Miscellany that are relevant,
incidentally. One is on camping without a cooler, the other a dinner
at Pennsic. Webbed on my site at:

http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/miscellany_pdf/Miscellany.htm
--
David/Cariadoc
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/