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

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Giano wrote:
>I'm not terribly knowledgeable in A&S Competitions (mostly because I think we
>shouldn't be having them).

I'm with you, but, hey, i love getting to eat "period" food. I'm 
Silver Spoon Minister (and i was acting deputy last year, when the 
minister ended up working most Saturdays), so i can choose whether i 
want to judge the food or not, and i'm there...

>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.

 From what i can tell, "presentation" became an issue because people 
were entering food into the competition in plastic containers, and 
the idea behind it was to encourage people to make things look more 
"period". I think the goal was good, but perhaps the implementation 
was faulty.

>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 which 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.

I understand completely. I travel alone. For the past year i have had 
back and foot problems so i can't carry heavy weights (heck, 
sometimes my back won't even handle 5 pounds), so no wooden furniture 
or boxes - in fact, i often no longer bring my Coleman stove. I only 
bring my handmade period feast gear to feasts, which are usually 
close by and not camping events. For camping events which can entail 
longer drives on windy mountain roads, i bring unbreakables.

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

Hmmm, now there's an idea...

(Actually we request that people NOT enter documentation printed in 
"period" style fonts or calligraphed, so that the judges can read 
them more easily.)

May i forward your message to the west-cooks list?

I want to change the judging sheets. Currently, here's how our 
Judging sheets break down:
Documentation - 5
Authenticity - 5
Appearance - 5
Presentation - 5
Taste - 10

Most of us participating in the discussion on our local list think it 
would be ok to roll Appearance and Presentation into one 5 point 
category. We are debating whether to add another 5 point category to 
keep four of them, and if so, what. "Suitability to Theme" has been 
suggested, as has "Difficulty".

The Kingdom of the West Wooden Spoon, Principality of the Mists 
Silver Spoon, and Principality of Cynagua Copper Spoon use the same 
format, so if we change ours, we intend to coordinate with Cynagua 
and the Kingdom. I'm afraid i don't know about our other 
Principality, Oertha (Alaska), but i welcome hearing what Oerthans 
think on this topic.

So, what's on cooking competition judging sheets in other places? How 
different are they from ours?
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita