[Sca-cooks] sources and cookery was pickled meat

[Kirrily Robert]

Generys wrote:
> Could you elaborate a bit more on this? I've only really entered one
> competition in the past, and well, my documentation sucked.  Right now I'm
> planning on entering some food in two upcoming competitions and I'm not
> really sure what to do about the documentation.  For instance, I'm planning
> on entering a chicken dish from Taillevent.  I have the original recipe and
> the translation (from Scully), and I have my redaction of it, how it varied
> from the original, etc) but I'm not sure what else I should really include.

Generally speaking, what you want to aim for in documentation is:

1) explain what you're doing so a layman can understand
2) explain where you got your ideas, techniques, etc

The first step usually means giving a description of the item and its
cultural context and how it's made, in normal English aimed at someone
who isn't entirely familiar with the subject.

The second step involves documenting your sources.  You should say what
books you read, or websites, or whatever.  If they are closer to being
the original source from the medieval period, so much the better - this
is what's called a "primary" source.  An actual piece of parchment from
1400 is a primary source.  A book that translates and redacts it already
is a secondary source.  A book called "Medieval feasts" which mentions
the sort of foods in that secondary source is a tertiary source.  As you
progress in your research you'll want to get closer and closer to
primary sources if you can.

When documenting your sources, don't just give a bibliography (though
you should do that too), but talk a little about why you chose them and
your thought processes when you read them.  For instance:

"I used the sekanjabin recipe from Cariadoc's Miscellany, which is a
redaction of a period recipe from the such-and-such manuscript.  I chose
to use Cariadoc's version because I don't speak Arabic."

or, another made-up example:

"There were three different versions of this recipe in manuscripts A, B
and C, but I chose to use the one in A because it uses a herb I to which
I have easy access."

Yours,

Katherine

--
Lady Katherine Rowberd (mka Kirrily "Skud" Robert)
katherine at infotrope.net  http://infotrope.net/sca/
Caldrithig, Skraeling Althing, Ealdormere
"The rose is red, the leaves are grene, God save Elizabeth our Queene"