[Sca-cooks] Zakuskas

Stefan li Rous StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
Wed Jul 19 21:29:09 PDT 2006


~Aislinn Columba of Carlisle~ aka Nadezhda Petrova Stoianova wrote:
<<< I am unsure why you think The Domostroi is OOP, especially WAY  
OOP. Its
translator and the text itself puts it firmly within the 1500's,  
during the
time of Elizabeth and when she sent envoys to Russia in hopes of  
becoming
the first European country to trade with them. "It was not printed until
1849 - partly because printing did not become established until the  
1630's,
at least 50 years after the Domostroi, partly because when printing was
introduced, the chuch controlled the presses for its own use. By the  
time
private printing presses became established (after 1775) public interest
had passed the Domostroi by..." Pouncy, p. 38. Basically, by that  
time the
book was too quaint for the masses to care about mass-producing it.   
There
are 42 hand-written editions of The Domostroi, and while the sections in
the back on feast days and wedding info were probably not written by the
original author, there is nothing in it to suggest they were from the
1800's. The wedding sections state that furs were being used as  
currency,
the architecture of the houses mentioned in passing was firmly 16  
century,
and the structure of the wedding feast was common only during the Middle
Ages. This book is definitely period, in all its parts.>>>

I would love to see a general article for the Florilegium about The  
Domostroi, meant for a general audience. I know a lot of this is  
likely in the Domestroi book which was published a few years ago.  
However, many folks are not going to buy the book until they know  
more about it. And some of us who have it, have just not had the time  
to read it yet.

<<< I need to write a paper/article
about how things didn't change to educate my European friends. >>>

Please do. For a long time I remember being told that Middle Eastern  
food hadn't changed since the Middle Ages. Counter-examples of this  
have been posted here.

<<< The Laurels
in my kingdom think that all peasant clothes are 19 century, and it just
isn't so. >>>

Huh? We have lots of medieval illustrations of peasants. I'm sure  
there are numerous differences. Among others that I can think of is  
the 19th century use of cotton. A rather expensive and rare fabric in  
the Middle Ages.

<<< As far as the concept of the "zakuska table" being period, I'm  
really not
sure it isn't. A lot of cultures put out a variety of dishes for feast
days, especially Christmas when people came visiting. The Russians
commercialized the zakuska table during the 1800's, selling a set  
number of
dishes for a set price, but the idea is far older. >>>

Thanks, but I'm not sure that either you or Huette have answered my  
original question. What is a "zakuska table". What makes this  
"zakuska" different from a different style of meal? Just having a  
multitude of different dishes o the table at once? It was a  
collection of specific foods, ie meat or fish, or all stews or  
something else? I do see that you listed your menu for your zakuska  
table in a later message, but glancing at it, I don't remember any  
indication of what makes it unique.

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 ****





More information about the Sca-cooks mailing list