[Sca-cooks] what's wierd-ish, what isn't

[Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise]

> > I'm pretty sure that the following are
> > definitely 'not wierd' to
> > feastgoers: 
> > - rice 
> 
> Rice in the "not wierd" list, but blancmange is?
> Why would a chicken and rice dish be considered
> odd?

*grin* you're right. White dish of chicken and rice _isn't_ odd. There 
you see the oddity of having grown up in a non-chicken-eating household, 
I forget dishes like that.

> > - beef rolls 
> 
> Roladen would be very appropriate for a
> landsknecht dinner.  While I haven't [yet] found
> a period recipe for it in German, it is very
> similar to Olives of Beef [or one the various
> other spellings of this dish] in the English
> corpus.  I can make them in my sleep.  They
> also do well in a crockpot.

*nod*

> > - meatballs
> 
> Kl?pse would be appropriate for an landsknecht
> dinner.

Though, admittedly, if I was going to process meat, I'd do sausages. My 
local group loves sausages. 

> > - seafood plain with a sauce on the side 
> How about Rollmops?

Is that the herring dish? Herring might be a bit too unusual for them... 
crustaceans, white fish and/or salmon are probably the most usual. My 
group will tolerate the inclusion of non-crustacean fish when I serve 
it, but going with a fishy fish is more than I feel up to. 

> > - pickled vegetables
> Very German, especially Saurkraut.  Although I
> have noticed that the average American likes
> the milder red cabbage version more than the
> stronger green cabbage version.

Yes. Of course the more Yankee crowd has sauerkraut issues. 

> > 
> > Some things I think they might consider odd:
> > - pea or lentil dishes
> Really?  With all the pea and lentil soups
> available from Campbells and Progresso, would
> they really consider these odd?

Well, ok, maybe not odd, but not mainstream for them. Now, admittedly, 
if I serve dried peas or lentils there will be lots of animal product 
involved-- eggs/cheese and/or bacon (I'll make a small pot of the 
vegetarian version on the side).

> > - green pies
> If you are talking spinach pies, these are also
> available in your grocery store in the frozen
> food section under the term "Florentine".  Would
> the average mundane person consider these odd?

I don't know. There's something about bright green food that spooks some 
people.

> > - carrot/cheese pie
> 
> I have never had this but I wouldn't consider it
> odd at all.  Please give me your recipe?

Actually, it's Brighid ni Charain's recipe... Brighid? Pretty please?

-- 
-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net 
"In the clearing stands a boxer, A fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders Of every blow that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out, In his anger and his shame,
'I am leaving, I am leaving' But the fighter still remains."