[Sca-cooks] roast turkey

[Chris Stanifer]

--- Bill Fisher <liamfisher at gmail.com> wrote:

> 
> 
>  I, personally, am of
> > the opinion that those foods which were relegated to 'curiosities', or very difficult to find,
> > should be excluded from the mainstream SCA gastronomique.  Potatoes, Corn, Turkey, Artichokes,
> > Chocolate, etc...
> 
> I would say if you are doing a strictly documentable feast (I know
> there are recipes in
> period for the above items, but I don't have them) then yeah, don't
> cook with them.


To further exacerbate the issue (grin), it would be difficult to document a date-specific feast
containing all of the above mentioned items, because of the time frame difference between their
respective arrivals on the culinary scene in Western Europe.  Perhaps a very late (like the last
day) period feast may be able to  incorporate all of them.

> 
> If you were to do a feast featuring foods available in period, sure. 
> It would be a fun
> feast to take these ingredients and use them in a period context. "A
> pottage of maize"
> "a fry of turkey"   or even "Arytichoke Pye".


I absolutely agree with this.  A one-off 'Fabulous Feast' using very late period ingredients or
period oddities, but incorporating them using commonly available and documentable techniques and
methods would be a real joy for the cook, and possibly the guests as well :)  Putting yourself (as
the modern cook) in the mindframe of a 10th or 11th century cook, being given the order from your
master to "use these new ingredients", but limiting yourself to the techniques, spices and methods
of the day would be very fun.  How would an 11th century cook use fresh corn, if he had never seen
it before?  Probably a soup or stew, but maybe even making 'corn milk' out of it, and pushing it
into a tart??? What about dried corn?  Would he have managed to make Polenta or Cornmeal Mush? 
Probably, I would think.  Potatoes are pretty obvious, I think.  There are other roots and tubers
from period which are similar in texture and flavor, and the early cook would probably have been
savvy enough to realize this.

Great idea, Bill, and one worth looking into I think.


William de Grandfort


=====
Every heart to love will come... but like a refugee.


		
__________________________________ 
Do you Yahoo!? 
Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. 
www.yahoo.com