was P Re: [Sca-cooks] Plentyn Delit, now taught to cook

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Elaine Koogler:
>I guess I overstated a bit.  I do follow recipes, especially if I've 
>never cooked the dish before.  I sometimes make adjustments if 
>something seems a little off from my own tastes...but typically I do 
>follow the recipes.  Once I've cooked it a time or two, I then start 
>experimenting with the ingredients.  Maybe.  And there are some 
>recipes where I don't follow the amounts of ingredients, but check 
>out the recipe to make sure I'm adding things in the correct order.
>
>So no, I don't mean to imply that I ignore recipes....but rather 
>that I can "guestimate" amounts of ingredients...and, having learned 
>this so long ago that it is second nature to me, it makes it easier 
>for me to redact the old recipes.

Well, also, I wasn't responding specifically to you, but more or less 
to the entire thread. That's pretty much how I do it, too. Basically, 
if you are a very experienced and knowledgeable cook, it's probably 
always going to be easier, and there may be logical steps which are 
sort of accordioned in your head, or reasoned out in such a way that 
may not be easily explained to others.

It's just that so often I hear people make this kind of claim to 
justify a sort of intellectual laziness. I'm not accusing you, or 
anyone here, of that, but it does happen, and it can do a disservice 
to the body of our knowledge of period cookery. And sometimes, our 
stomachs ;-).

Adamantius