[Sca-cooks] Drachma Weight

[James Prescott]

> Considering that the spices would have been measured for dispensing to the
> Kitchen, why would the cook need to further measure them rather than cook by
> taste?

Two scenarios:

Cook figures they'll need a pound Troy of grains total for the banquet.
Apothecary issues a pound Troy of grains.  All in a bag.  Cook (or a
deputy) needs to dole it out, a specific amount here, another specific 
amount there, perhaps dozens of times during the banquet preparation.

How did an actual cook (or deputy) do that division?  By guesstimate?
By weighing?  And if by weighing, using which weights?


Alternately, the cook already has a carefully prepared sack of, say,
Spice Powder (the mixture could have been prepared by asking the 
Apothecary for the exact quantities needed).  The cook is now asked 
to prepare some Hippocras for some late night arrivals.  The cook's 
recipe calls for, say, five drams of the Spice Powder mixture for 
the requested quantity of wine.

How does the cook measure from the sack into the wine, so as to
get five drams of the Spice Powder mixture?

M'Lord is very fussy about the taste of the Hippocras, so it has
to be pretty exact.

By weight?  Using which weights?


> How much do you actually weigh or measure when you are cooking?

Only when it matters (grin).


Thorvald