[Sca-cooks] mmmm... movie......

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Aug 4, 2006, at 7:54 PM, Daniel Myers wrote:

>
> On Aug 4, 2006, at 1:06 PM, Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius wrote:
>>
>> The movie is excellent, and adds quite a lot of depth to the
>> relatively bare historical accounts, but to me, the be-all and end-
>> all is the simple account of the death of Vatel in a contemporary
>> letter by Madame de Sevigny:
>
>
> Zowie!  Where did you find the text of that letter?
>
> - Doc

It's webbed here:

http://history.hanover.edu/texts/louisxiv.html

I believe I originally read it in one of Richard Barber's books, and  
I'm pretty sure it appears in the Larousse Gastronomique, as well, in  
their entry on Vatel (who is famous for more than his death, although  
unfortunately this letter seems to be the most 3D and colorful  
contemporary snapshot we have of the man).

I STR bringing the subject up years and years ago on the East Kingdom  
e-list during [what I thought was] a rather unseemly blame-fest after  
some kingdom event or other had been deemed substandard for some  
reason. My message was basically, it's tough on cooks and event  
stewards, because if you perform miracles, most won't know it or  
care. If you screw up, most won't know it or will forget quickly, so  
pay attention to your own standards -- it's better to improve than to  
die, and suicide, literal or figurative, as a gesture, is often  
misinterpreted.

Adamantius