[Sca-cooks] SCA Slaughtering

[John Kemker]

On Thu, 2 Jan 2003 jenne at fiedlerfamily.net wrote:

> > Well, again, I'm basing my comments on modern practices, but in areas where
> > we're less affected by supermarket culture, everyone participates in a major
> > slaughter- a pig sticking, for example, or a cattle slaughter, but an
> > individual animal, for your dinner, might be done by just one or two people.
>
> However, that's a modern, eglatarian, American model. When you realize
> that even in the early 20th century, the operation of 'choosing fresh
> fruit for the kitchen' in an English country house involved no less that
> 5 separate staff, each with clearly defined and socially segregated
> duties, it's certainly possible that the elaborate job distinctions that
> we see in period records and manners books might divide up the jobs of
> getting from dead animal to cut of meat.
>


I'm afraid I have to disagree with the "modern, eglatarian(sic), American
model" statement.

Having recently watched an episode on Food Network where a professional
chef was visiting Portugal and participated in a pig slaughter, it is
evident that it is not just an American model, but a European one, as
well.  The discussions surrounding the slaughter indicated that this was
not a modern practice, either.  It was something that the family had been
doing the same way for hundreds of years.

Conceding the point that there might have been a separate group of people
tasked with the slaughter, it is still a reasonable avenue to explore for
an SCA cook to find out how the slaughtering process was handled.  A head
cook for His Lordship would be risking much if he did not know exactly how
fresh a particular animal was and that it was properly slaughtered.
Therefore, while he might not be directly involved with the slaughter, he
would at the very least be able to supervise it, if necessary.

Also, remember that the hunt was a large part of Medieval gentle society.
The lord of the manor might very well have been directly involved in the
capturing/death of the venison (generic term meaning any game animal in
period) that graced his table that evening.  He might not gut/cape the
animal himself, but he would very likely be present during the process.
He certainly wouldn't be squeamish about it, as he was expected to see
death much more often and more grisly than he'd see on a hunt.

--Cian O'Madadhain