[Sca-cooks] SCA Slaughtering

[jenne at fiedlerfamily.net]

> 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.

?When we hear someone say that a recipe is period because 'my family [or
ethnic group] has been cooking it this way for hundreds of years', don't
we immediately snort with disbelief?

> 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.

I don't think it's _unreasonable_ but on the other hand, is it absolutely
necessary? One thing about extending a butchering class to include
slaughtering is that it makes the class longer, and limits the places in
which it can occur even more. As someone interested in how a period cook
would have worked, it's much more important to me to know how to butcher
an animal.

However, it seems to me that the butcher in question feels that
there is some necessity for those who wish to learn how to butcher to
learn how to slaughter as well, even though they may well never have an
occasion to use the knowledge.

This is apparently some kind of moral test: in order for me to teach you
how to butcher, you have to work through the process of killing an animal
your self (or at least seeing it killed) so that you can prove to me that
you are non-squeamish enough to be worthy of my time.

A friend of mine, many years ago, offered to teach me how to butcher a
deer. I never got a chance to take him up on it, but someday I will--
probably when he has more chances to hunt because his daughter is older.
He didn't tell me that in order to learn to butcher a deer I had to
spend a couple of days hunting first.

> 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.

*shrug* and that has what to do with the position of a cook (or for that
manner a lady?)



-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa   jenne at fiedlerfamily.net
"The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken
places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and
the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these
you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry."
-- E. Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms