[Sca-cooks] Newspaper story on SCA feast is out

[Martin G. Diehl]

Patrick ODonnell wrote:

> Greetings. 

 > This is Patrick O'Donnell/Mael Patraic mac Domnaill,
 > the Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter who sought advice
 > for a story on an SCA feast. Links to the story and
 > accompanying fact boxes are below

> http://www.cleveland.com/cooking/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living/1115199000294380.xml 

I found this statement ...

	a sauce called galyntyne (made with ginger, cinnamon
	and galingale, a sweet ground spice)

Patrick, If you send me your mailing address off-list, I would
be happy to send you a tablespoon or more of galingale.  Perhaps
a recipe as well.

> http://www.cleveland.com/cooking/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living/1115199232294380.xml 

I would have said "food choices were different ...

Did people eat enough in the Renaissance and Medieval periods? ...
Probably far more than just one answer.

These 2 references have some good detail about agriculture
methods -- especially changes in methods and yields; and
also some statistical data on food consumption.

Jean Gimpel; "The Medieval Machine: The Industrial Revolution
of the Middle Ages"; ISBN: 0140045147;
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140045147/ref=pd_sbs_b_2/102-3483475-4458511

Lynn Townsend White; "Medieval Technology & Social Change";
ISBN: 0195002660;
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195002660/ref=pd_sbs_b_1/102-3483475-4458511

The Gimpel reference cites records from the Studium Papale
of Trets (1364-65) that show the students (teen aged boys)
got ~ 2600 calories per day.

... and also these statements ...

	The higher standard of living was also reflected in
	the food eaten, and some historians are quite prepared
	to attribute the dynamism of the Middle Ages in large
	measure to the relatively well-balanced diets of the time.

	The new technique of medieval plowing [deep enough to kill
	the weeds, but not so deep as to turn the field to mud or
	disturb the subsoil] brought about a substantial increase
	in grain yield.  It has been calculated that between the
	eleventh and thirteenth centuries the average yield
	increased from approximately 2.5 to approximately 4.  That
	is, for every measure of grain sown, the harvest yielded
	4 measures ... [available for sale] doubled from 1.5 to 3.

	Introduction of the 3 field system of crop rotation allowed
	more vegetables to be planted in the spring.

(Patrick, I don't know if you saw my earlier messages (about a week
ago) on agricultural productivity, change -- I could send you copies
if you are interested.)

> http://www.cleveland.com/cooking/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living/1115199333294383.xml

Medieval thinking ... very good except for this unexplained and rather
cryptic line

	http:%%cat%%cleft%%endcat%%lands.cwru.edu/NOWM9.html.

... which appears to be some form of secret writing.

Thank you for pointing out that Cryptography of the Medieval and
Renaissance periods is studied in the SCA ... at Pennsic, I have
taught the class "Secrets in Messages" to about 150 students.
My class focuses not on the specific codes, but more on the
consequences of strong versus weak crypto along with strong versus
weak code breakers ... with some unpredictable and not-so-amusing
results ... should be required reading for present day politicians.

> Thanks for the help. If anything strikes you as "off," please speak 
 > up.  I need to learn and the group might also use any errors I made
> as a lesson to head off any future errors.

I will also enjoy hearing about how useful and effective my comments
were to you.

> Thanks,
>  
> Patrick/Mael Patraic

Thanks to you Patrick ... most enjoyable.

> Author of The Knights Next Door: Everyday People Living Middle Ages Dreams
> A "behind-the-shield" look at the world of Middle Ages re-enactors
>  
> Available in hardcover and paperback, October 2004
> www.knightsnextdoor.com

I am,
Lord Vincenzo Martino Mazza,
In Service to the Dream

-- 
Martin G. Diehl

Visit my online gallery: Renderosity, a 3D Artist's Community
http://www.renderosity.com/gallery.ez?ByArtist=Yes&Artist=MGD

So much wisdom and knowledge -- so little time and bandwidth.
--MGD

"Thou plenty hast, yet me dost scant"
--John Dowland (1562-1626); "The First Booke of Songs"; 1597.

Reality: That which remains after you stop thinking about it.
--inspired by P. K. Dick