[Sca-cooks] Introduction and a Request

[Stefan li Rous]

Irene leNoir asked:

  =====
* As I'm not really experienced with working with period recipes or
cookbooks (or whatever they called them), if you make mention of a
particular manuscript, I'd much appreciate it if you could point me to
where I might find it online (if available).  Otherwise I'm not sure
when or how I'll have a chance to try to hunt it down.
=====

If you have the name of a dish, you might go to the search engine on  
the Florilegium and type it in there. While I don't have much  
specifically in files on French or Provencale cooking (I wasn't even  
sure where Provencale er, Provence was until someone later clarified  
this), I might well have the recipe and a redaction of two for it in  
other files.

There is this file in the FOOD-BY-CULTURES section though:
fd-France-msg     (12K)  7/ 2/05    Food of medieval France. References.

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* A couple of people have mentioned fish dishes.  I appreciate you
thinking of them, but I think I'm going to have to pass on all fish.
(First, much as I love seafood, I'm just not sure how well it will fly
with my household of mostly fighter types.  Second, being from
practically the coast of Massachusetts, I'm not too keen on the idea of
what the quality of fish in oh-so-very landlocked Pennsylvania will be
like.)
======

Pennsylvania is not that far from the coast. It's a lot closer than  
Montana. :-)
Fish, or the non-eating of fish, seems to have a bigger rep than  
deserved in the SCA.
In the FEAST section:
feasts-fish-msg   (24K)  2/19/04    Serving fish at SCA feasts.
fish-feast-art     (6K)  3/29/00    Details and recipes for a mid-Lent
                                        "fish feast" by Rudd Rayfield.

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* I have plans for a soteltie dessert that will require a cake of some
sort.  If necessary, I can go with a recipe that isn't really
Provencale.  But if anyone has any cake recipe ideas I'd love to hear
them.  (Otherwise I'll probably just do some sort of orange flavored
cake, maybe with bits of candied orange peel in the batter.)
=====

In the FOOD-SWEET-DECORATED section:
feasts-fish-msg   (24K)  2/19/04    Serving fish at SCA feasts.

But more period sotelties are also possible:
Sgr-a-Cnftns-art  (20K) 12/26/00    "Of Sugar and Confections" by Alys
                                        Katharine, O.L., O.P. (Elise  
Fleming).
sotelties-msg    (201K)  3/29/05    Sotelties and Warners - decorated  
food.

Lots of other dessert ideas in this section, as well as ones that  
could be decorated and presented nicely.

====
* In addition to the soteltie, I'd like to offer some sort of fruit
plate or fruit salad.  Any ideas?
  ====

I'm not sure. Lots of info on period fruit in the FOOD-FRUITS  
section, but I don't remember much specifically on fruit salads.  
However, it is also possible that I might have placed such items in  
this file in the FOOD section:
salads-msg       (151K)  9/12/04    Period salads. lettuce, greens.
Summer-Salad-art  (17K) 11/28/00    "A Summer Salad" by Lady Jehanne  
de Huguenin

There has been some argument that medieval folks didn't eat raw  
fruit. Not quite true and I think there are some examples that might  
work for you in this file:
raw-fruit-vg-msg  (14K) 12/21/04    Evidence that raw fruits and  
vegetables were
                                        eaten in period.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****