[Sca-cooks] non-sweet Elizabethan dishes

[Siegfried Heydrich]

    Oddly enough, I am filled with no small degree of comfort in the fact
that members of this culture have the degree of freedom to be such utterly
pretentious snobs. Only those who bask in the comfort of such decadence as
we possess have the freedom to have to not turn over fallen logs, looking
for high protein grubs, or prostitute themselves to UN relief delivery
drivers in order to get enough corn meal to keep their children alive for
another day or two.
    Only those who live where food is found in such abundance that
starvation is not a real and imminent danger have the option of such high
flown ethical standards. A large chunk of the human race would, without a
moment's hesitation, kill you for what you toss in the trash on a daily
basis. I've been there - and it's not a matter of bad weather, a bad
harvest, it's a matter of those in power using food as a weapon, of policy,
of control. I'm sorry, but this is a hot point with me - a good quarter of
the human race would gladly beg abjectly, cry copious tears for your
leftovers, and yet we have people who go 'eew! I'm not eating THAT, it was
produced by a cruel production method!'.
    I think Vegans and other 'ethical' types need to travel a bit; see
swollen bellies and whithered limbs. I think they need to see 60 pound
corpses going into mass graves. I think they need to see what survival is as
opposed to effete snobbery.
    Of course, if we are what we eat, then Vegans are vegetables, and so
therefore we should start processing them for delivery to the starving
masses in outer BoogiBoogistan. That way, we can provide them with high
quality protein (with a high percentage of fat included!) without any silly
moral qualms . . . And hey! those folks are willing to make any sacrifice to
help their fellow man, right? High quality protein without a single animal
being killed, only vegetables!

    Sieggy, who thinks that Jonathan Swift had a GREAT idea, only too early


-----Original Message-----
>Serena wrote:
>> I believe that you might have answered your own question on this one. You
>> need to find an Elizabethean fish/seafood dish to replace one of your
meat
>> dishes so that the vegs are eating the same entree at one of the courses.
>
>Uh, fish is not vegetarian.  One of the people I talked to (who has a
>meat allergy, or something) can eat fish, but that is not the common
>case.  Definitely a good choice for those who can eat it, and it
>provides some very interesting variety, but it doesn't fit the
>"vegetarian" criterion.
>
>Just for reference, for anyone who's interested:
>
>VEGANS eat only vegetable products.  No dairy, eggs, meat, poultry, or
>fish, or honey.
>
>VEGETARIANS (also known as lacto-ovo vegetarians) eat vegetables as well
>as dairy and eggs (and honey).  They may avoid cheese if calf-stomach
>rennet might have been used to make it.  They may only eat free-range
>eggs.
>
>Some vegetarians are even stricter than vegans, and will only eat fruit
>(i.e. no leaf or root vegetables which would harm the plant to eat them)
>or only eat raw vegetables.  These are pretty rare in the SCA though,
>and would seldom try to attend a feast.
>
>Anyone who eats fish, poultry or meat is not vegetarian, though they may
>simplify their description of their food limitations by saying they're
>vegetarian, since that's easier to communicate than a detailed list of
>what they do and don't eat.  My friend is in this category.  I know some
>Jewish people who do the same thing, since they're more likely to get
>the food they want by saying they're vegetarian than by trying to
>explain the rules of kosher food to someone who isn't used to them.
>
>> I am uncertain what sources are "Elizabeathan" but I am always running
>> across recipits for fish, lobster, crab, oysters, eel ...... The Robert
May
>> book (tho late 17th cen) is chock full of interesting things to do to
>> crustaceans. I have served salmon at one feast, & I know that another
gentle
>> here on the list has done the same.
>>
>> If the main thrust of your event is the food & you are going to have a
high
>> feast budget, some of these "luxury" items could be fun.
>
>Absolutely!  I already have one dish with oysters :)  (and a vegetarian
>version of it as well)
>
>Yours,
>
>Katherine