[Sca-cooks] Speaking of Lent....

[Sue Clemenger]

Hi, Christianna! I've been wondering what other folks are planning on doing
for Lent, as well, this year, but keep forgetting to post something about
it! ;o)
Last year, it being my first try at such a thing, I just did a Medieval
Lenten Diet during Holy Week, which got fairly interesting, because I was
horribly ill with the flu, and wanting things like chicken soup. ;o) It was
a great learning experience, though, and one that I'm going to repeat this
year, with some additions.  So, this year Maire is:
Keeping a dairy/meat free Lent the whole 40 days, but only during Holy Week
will I be using Medieval recipes.  The rest of the season, I'm going to feel
free to experiment with modern recipes that contain fish, grains, fruit,
etc.  I'm hoping that next year, I'll be able to do the whole 40 days
medievally.  Right now, I can't afford all the fish, which is inordinately
expensive in my part of the world (not near any seaports, etc.).  I'm using
my experiences from last year, and this year, to build a base of workable
recipes. ;o)
My persona is 14th century Irish (from Dublin), so I'm using recipes from
English texts of the same time period (there being no Irish recipes from
that time, that I'm aware of).
What will make this extra-interesting this year is that our barony's annual
Spring Feast (and A&S Competition) falls within the Lenten season, so I'll
have to bring my own food. <g>
--Maire, in sub-zero Artemisia [it's frickin' *cold* out there!],looking
forward to the challenge

----- Original Message -----
From: "King's Taste Productions" <kingstaste at comcast.net>
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2006 9:10 AM
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Speaking of Lent....


 Who's up for the Lenten
> Food Challenge this year?  I have been on a cleanse for the last month,
> so going to a Lenten fast will be fairly easy.  I just have to do
> something else besides all that fish!  It was a real learning experience
> for me last year.  I teach persona-building classes, and I was able to
> say that after one week on a Lenten diet, I was incredibly tired of
> fish, and I love fish!  It gave me a glimpse of what my persona must
> have felt like after 40 days!
> As I recall, we had folks approach it from different aspects
> last year.  Some did the whole time period (bless them), some like me
> did the week right before Easter.  Some did completely period menus,
> some avoided obvious new world foods but didn't do all period foods, and
> some simply avoided prohibited foods and ate sushi and Mexican etc.  (I
> think I fell somewhere between the last two.)  I seem to recall Urtatim
> even managed to follow a Christian Lenten diet from the Middle East, and
> run a food competition at an event!  I did like the whitefish blancmange
> I made, I will probably do that again this year.
> So, who's up for walking a mile in our ancestor's shoes?  (Or
> should that be eating for a week with our ancestor's stomachs?)
>   Christianna