[Sca-cooks] Redaction? Definitions and commentary

[Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach david friedman:
>>Also sprach Phlip:
>>>Adaptation has the implication of deliberately making changes to the recipe
>>>(more salt and sugar, for "modern" tastes, maybe?)
>>
>>Certainly adaptation is change. But are we changing the dish or the 
>>recipe? Certainly the intent is the latter, and the former, in 
>>theory, is what we're _not_ after.
>>
>>So I have no problem with "adaptation". If you look at recipes in 
>>cookbooks that come from famous chefs, often there'll be a little 
>>fine-print credit saying "adapted by" so-and-so; what that means is 
>>that the 60-serving recipe meant to be cooked in the convection 
>>oven has been altered to produce a dish similar to that chef's 
>>signature dish, but which can easily be prepared at home for 4 
>>people. Whether that constitutes changing the actual dish, 
>>substantially, is open to debate.
>>
>>Adamantius
>
>But that  isn't what we are doing. What we call a redaction is an 
>original recipe plus additional information--"if you do it this way 
>it comes out tasty." It's a conjectural reconstruction, not an 
>adaptation.
>
>An adaptation would be if you had the recipe for cooking over an 
>open fire and converted it into "so many minutes on the stove at 
>medium" and the like.

Perhaps you're confusing "the best way to do" something with 
"universal practice"?

Too often what is known as a redaction in the SCA is a modern recipe 
which produces a dish similar in content and structure (to some 
varying extent) to the original dish. Unfortunately, it's probably 
more often than not; it's probably a function of the way moderns 
learn to cook. The better versions will also include the original, 
but frequently include nothing more than an attribution.

Now, bearing in mind that "redact" is essentially synonymous with 
"edit", how is providing the original recipe with notes a redaction? 
Has the text been changed (transcription changes notwithstanding) or 
merely added to in a way that makes the distinction between text and 
addition obvious? I would say it's more a period recipe in annotated 
form.

Adamantius (my apologies if the new Eudora is doing something weird 
with inconsistent, automatic snipping)