[Sca-cooks] Cooking contest

Sue Clemenger mooncat at in-tch.com
Fri Jul 28 19:37:55 PDT 2006


Papa, that may very well be IKA, or even the view of a subset of
laurels/artists that you've talked to.  I've seen it crop up occasionally in
circles here, whether we were part of Atenveldt or our own kingdom.  It's
rare here, though, so YMMV.  We have several laurels in the kingdom who
don't compete, have never competed, and who don't intend to compete.  They
support the arts in their own ways, and were recognized for such.
In my Very Own Not At All Humble Opinion, competitions are merely one venue
among many for becoming known as an artisan.  Reknown (renown? I can't spell
worth sh!t tonight), as you no doubt know from being a knight and a Count,
is definitely a part of being recognized as a peer.  But there are as many
ways for that to happen.  I happen to really enjoy competitions (both as a
competitor and as a judge), and my art forms lend themselves to that fairly
readily. My arts are pretty static--costuming, needlework, various textile
arts, etc., and not that ephemeral--I cook and do feasts, but on more of a
service level than an art level.  So that works for me.  But one of my
duties as a laurel is to remain open to the work of other artisans who do
things differently than I.  I've seen amazing things on line (web sites,
emails, articles), or in print, or in quiet corners, or in classes, or LPTs,
or feasts, or casual conversations at 2 a.m.  I've used information from any
and all of these other sources to help me evaluate a candidate, or support
someone's candidacy.....
--Maire, Artemisian finding herself on a soapbox, although she may stay up
here...it's cooler! ;o)


----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Gunter" <countgunthar at hotmail.com>
To: <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Sent: Friday, July 28, 2006 5:23 PM
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cooking contest


> >I think  that emphasizing competition as a way to choose Laurels is
> >extremely short-sighted and very biased towards those people who a) enjoy
> >competitions
> >(I  don't); and b)compete well.
>
> >Brangwayna Morgan
>
> That's funny because I was told one of the things that was keeping me
> from becoming a Laurel is because I don't enter A&S. I'm a very good
> A&S cooking judge and can teach others how to do a good A&S entry,
> but I just hate doing it myself. I still feel that my version of A&S is
> to create a period feast with documentation and it be enjoyed by the
> populace.
>
> But I was told that I didn't "jump through the hoops" of entering A&S and
> teaching and putting on at least one major feast a year. Now, I agree that
> I've pretty much retired from cooking so I've hung up my desires for the
> Leaves but I still chafe at the thought that in order for me to be
> considered
> for a Laurel, A&S competitions are more important than feeding people.
>
> And the funny thing is that one of the best cooking Laurels I know became
> one based a lot on her awesome abiity in A&S competitions.
>
> At the same time I have to admit to feeling a little hypocritical in
stating
> that feast cooks should be considered the same as competition cooks and
> yet in the Belted Circle I hold candidates who might be gods of the melee
> field yet mediocre on the tourney field in lesser regard.
>
> So I definately understand the A&S competition mindset.
>
> Gunthar





More information about the Sca-cooks mailing list