[Sca-cooks] To Garnish and Present Med/Ren Food

[Volker Bach]

Am Donnerstag, 19. Mai 2005 11:03 schrieb lilinah at earthlink.net:

> But this is exactly my point. A few individual recipes have
> directions for dressing the dish.
>
> But most recipes do not. When i plan the themes for the competitions
> i think of seasonal foods. I cannot guarantee that entrants will want
> to do only recipes that include garnishing directions.
>
> What i'm looking for is more general. Was there a standard way to
> garnish a dish of meat in 15th c. England? early 16th c. Spain?
> etc....
>
> Should i, as Minister of the Silver Spoon, start *requiring*
> documentation for garnishing and presentation? I am so tired of
> parsley.
>
> And i'd like to break through the modern mind set, but i cannot
> guarantee that the other judges i have at competitions will actually
> be clueful about period garnishing - take Vittoria's story of the
> judge who recommended colorful napkins and gave her lower marks, when
> white was period accurate!!!

I'm not terribly knowledgeable in A&S Competitions (mostly because I think we 
shouldn't be having them). However, when it comes to food presentation I 
would argue that unless it is documentable period and intentionally set up as 
such (with documentation), it should count for zilch. People should put the 
effort into research and documentation and be rewarded for that. I'd rather 
taste a properly made 'Pagan Cake' with Sallse von Weichselen from a 
tupperware freeze container than traditional Irish stew from a lathe-turned 
wooden bowl. 

Also (and this is a concern in a kingdom with lots of travel time between 
events), it adds another level of difficulty for the entrants. Now I not only 
need to think whioch ingredients I have to transport to the site and where I 
can prepare my entry, I also need to transport what may well be my only, 
expensive period tableware. When you're car-sharing for a 600 kilometer drive 
to the nearest friendly war that's probably still OK, but not on a budget 
carrier's luggage allowance. 

Sheesh. Next we'll be judging the typeface and paper quality on research 
essays...

EUR .02

Giano