[Sca-cooks] Using redactions at feasts

[Stefan li Rous]

Anahita commented:
> Second, when cooking for 80 or 90, i can't just add a dollop of this
> or that, as i go noodling along, as i might at home. The event is not
> *just* a feast. We have a schedule to fit into, and i have to know
> how much to buy well ahead of time. I am not criticizing or
> denigrating your method. It works fine when one is cooking at home or
> for a small group or responsible only for a few dishes at a feast.
>
> I have to write down my "redaction", so i can repeat it, and multiply
> up the ingredients so i have enough at the feast. Of course, with
> this kind of "creative straitjacket" you may choose not to be a Head
> Cook, and i respect whatever decision you make for yourself. We have
> many freedoms in our approach to historical cultures in the SCA.
>
> I've chosen to "feed the masses", so i have to have written recipes
> for my cooks. When i cook a feast entirely on site, i generally have
> 10 or 12 helpers, many of whom have never cooked "period" food (some
> are college students with little cooking experience of any sort). I
> cannot just turn them loose to experiment in the feast kitchen, i
> can't just give them guidance, i have to give them clear directions.
When cooking for a feast, I think there is another very important 
reason to have your redactions written down and at the feast. Anahita 
comes close in her last paragraph above, but not quite there.

What happens if for some reason, and there can be many reasons, you 
aren't there as headcook at that feast?

Who cooks the meal? Yes, you probably have assistant cooks or maybe 
even other experienced cooks in your group. But are they familiar with 
the dishes you planned to cook? Can they simply pick up that period 
recipe and cook from it? Maybe they can. Maybe they can't. But having 
your redaction written out, the way *you* planned to have it cooked is 
much better. It would be easier on everyone. And while that experienced 
cook might be able to wing it on the fly, having the redactions you had 
in mind using, probably already tested with one or more test cookings, 
would be one less thing they would have to worry about. They probably 
already have enough headaches having to take over at the last minute. 
And wouldn't it be nice to know that even though something came up and 
you couldn't attend, that the feast did get done the way you had in 
mind?
Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****