[Sca-cooks] Re: Safety (now catering gloves)

[Daniel Myers]

On Wednesday, January 15, 2003, at 10:00 AM, CorwynWdwd at aol.com wrote:

> --
> [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
> In a message dated 1/15/2003 9:47:23 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> mooncat at in-tch.com writes:
>
>> Must be one of those YMMV things, because I don't think I've *ever*
>> seen
>> anyone wear gloves in an SCA kitchen, and I've been doing it for 15
>> years.  AFAIK, only one guy ever got sick (cross-contamination from a
>> dish someone else prepared ahead of time).
>> --Artemisian Maire ;-)
>
> Well, I wasn't going to say anything... But I've NEVER worn or supplied
> gloves, I HAVE encouraged people to wash their hands frequently with
> soap and
> warm water... and SFAIK NOBODY'S gotten sick from one of my feasts.
>
> In fact, the only times I've ever really gotten sick from an SCA feast
> I
> suspect from my physical response somehow soap got into the food both
> times,
> go figure... as they say, YMMV...

When running a kitchen I always bring in antibacterial hand soap and a
case of paper towels, and encourage frequent washing of hands.  I also
bring a box of plastic spoons for tasting, and a bottle of bleach for
cleaning work surfaces and sanitizing.

Being somewhat sensitive to certain bacteria, I most definitely have
gotten sick from an SCA feast (as well as restaurant food).  Most of
the time it seems to have been from foods that were not kept at safe
temperatures before serving.  I've become quite good at predicting what
will cause me trouble in specific restaurants and avoiding it - i.e.
"alfredo" sauce on Sundays (some places apparently make a really big
batch on Saturday and use it all weekend), cole slaws, and anything
from a salad bar.

The most recent SCA related incident was a sauce for chicken.  At that
event I had access to the kitchen and the sauce in question was cooked
and then kept at room temperature for more than half an hour before
serving.  Even though I knew this I still went ahead and had some, and
I paid the price later.

Remember:  keep hot foods at or above 140 degrees F,  and cold foods at
or below 40 degrees F.  Otherwise people like me will have to rush home
right after the feast (or maybe even to the hospital).

- Doc


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  Edouard Halidai  (Daniel Myers)
  http://www.medievalcookery.com/
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