[Sca-cooks] Preserved Foods

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Olwen wrote:
>  >One - in the fall - will be for Preserved Foods.
>  >
>  >I'm thinking of mustards, compost, pickles, jams, and such.
>  >
>  >I am not looking for specific recipes or sources, although those are nice,
>  >but i would like to know what other sorts of preserved foods are period.
>  >I'm sure the above only scratches the surface...
>  >
>  >Thanks,
>  >Anahita
>
>Beets.  Somewhere or other I found a really nice period recipe for pickled
>beets which called for also adding caraway seeds.

Actually, i made a whole mess of pickled vegetable for the German 
Boar Hunt Feast i prepared in 2001

-- Beets marinated with horseradish, red wine, cider vinegar, 
coriander, caraway, anise - Marx Rumpolt
-- Cucumbers fresh pickled in white vinegar, honey, anise, caraway, 
pepper, saffron, mustard - Ein Buch von Guter Spise, 14th c.
-- Red Cabbage marinated in red wine vinegar, honey, caraway, anise, 
pepper - Ein Buch von Guter Spise
-- Button Mushrooms pickled in white wine vinegar, whole peppercorns, 
cloves, nutmeg, mace, bay leaves, fresh ginger - Lady Elinor 
Fettiplace and Sir Kenelm Digbie, because I couldn't find a German 
recipe for pickled mushrooms.

All the recipes i used, plus the original sources are on my website - 
i don't remember if i posted them to this list.
http://witch.drak.net/lilinah/2001Menu.html

>I have made this and it
>has been very well recieved, except for our current Baron who hates beets.
>Now how often do you have to be told you don't like something?  Chirhart and
>I made up some really nice sliced "beets" and Hans made up a wonderful
>sauce....needless to say, he ate some and shared with the hall.

I have made several different eggplant dishes for SCA feasts. Many 
people who insist they hate eggplants ate three helpings - at least 
here in the West, most folks will taste stuff, even if it's something 
they don't like - sometimes they are pleasantly surprised by what 
they taste :-) Of course there's the issue of the cook.

A month after my feast, at our Twelfth Night (which is BYO food and 
beverage), friends invited me to dine with them. They had a dish of 
eggplant that to me tasted awful. I didn't say that, i just asked 
where they got their recipe. They said it was mine... However they 
had not prepared it as i had, but had taken short cuts to save time 
and reduce the amount of oil in the dish. Also they didn't use the 
seasonings i had either, just salt and cinnamon. And then they had 
added yogurt... etc. So much for modern "redactions". Sure wasn't my 
recipe anymore.

Anahita