[Sca-cooks] Out of the food topic altogether rantAuthenticitypolice

[Huette von Ahrens]

I have a problem with your message as you seem
to think that it is okay to have a modern food
banquet for a group that is supposed to be
espousing historical research.

In my humble opinion, a new cook should not
be cooking a whole banquet by his or her self.
An experienced banquetting cook should be the
head cook, while the new cook should be his/her
helper.  The experienced cook should teach the
new cook by setting example and by giving the
new cook research assignments.  This way the
new cook will understand that SCA banquets
should be more about historical food and less
about just shoving cooked food down the diners
throats.

You are doing your new cooks a great disservice
by not showing them how things should be done.
In the Middle Ages, the Master Cook took on
apprentices so that they would learn how to cook
and put on feasts for their employer. The Master
Cook would never allow a new apprentice to run a
feast without ever being given the foundational
knowledge that is needed to do so.  This is
how your message comes across.  You are throwing
your new cooks into the pool and expecting the
to know how to swim.

If Wolfgang Puck joined the SCA tomorrow and
asked to put on a banquet, would I let him do
so without giving him guidance as to what kind
of foods were used during SCA period?  No,
absolutely not.  I would give him books to
use and research and tell him to go read them
and come back to me with his menu.  If he didn't
want to do research, then I would give him a
menu to work with.  If he didn't want to use
that, then I would say to him, "I am sorry, but
the whole point of our group is to study and
research the Middle Ages and Renaissance.  If
you aren't interested in doing that, why are
you in this group?"

The problem with your statement "it's better to
have period-oid food than no food at all" is
that you will get stuck in the mode.  You have
allowed your cooks to think that period-oid
foods are okay and they won't progress because
they have found their comfort zone.  I have
watched whole baronies do this for years.  I
have seen people move into those baronies with
great knowledge and a desire to share it and
then get shut out because "This is not the way
we do things or like it."

In my opinion, it would be better not to have
a banquet than to have one that doesn't even
try to be as correct as possible.

Huette


--- patrick.levesque at elf.mcgill.ca wrote:

> The thing that saddens me the most with the
> so-called 'authenticity police' is
> the facts that eventually, has as been
> mentioned, it will only discourage
> people from involving themselves further, for
> fear of negative criticism.
> 
> We have few budding cooks over here, we're
> tending to them very attentively, in
> a way, but I am not forcing the authentic stuff
> on them just yet... tackling on
> a feast is such an ordeal to begin with,
> newcomers should have some slack at
> first to get used to the kitchen rhythm and
> stuff...
> 
> I am helping them as much as I can when they do
> decide to go in for period
> dishes and stuff, and I offer possible
> substitutions for blatantly non-period
> dishes. But sometimes it's better to have
> period-oid food than no food at all.
> I personally will try as much as I can to
> provide documented, period dishes
> (when possible). But my standards are mine, and
> I don't believe they have any
> use if I force them on others. The only result
> I'll get is, I'll be the only
> one left to cook.
> 
> Petru
> 
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>
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> 


=====
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they 
shall never cease to be amused.

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