[Sca-cooks] peacocks
Stefan li Rous
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
Fri Jun 16 21:27:58 PDT 2006
Selene replied to my comments with:
<<<
Stefan li Rous wrote:
> Several weeks ago, Adele de Maisieres commented:
> <<< SilverR0se at aol.com wrote:
>> The only truly edible part of the feast was a roast turkey,
decorated
>> with peacock feathers, which only the high board got to eat.
>
> Oh, do not get me starter on this practice! >>>
>
> Why? Although they used a different faux peacock than a turkey, there
> is period commentary about doing this. Apparently they weren't as
> enthused about the taste of peacock as they were with it's colorful
> plumage.
Speaking as the one who cooked that turkey... even in Los Angeles, land
of a zillion foodstuffs, it was not possible to obtain a food-grade
peacock, with or without plumage. >>>
One possible solution to this is talked about in my peacocks-msg
file. Use a tanned peacock skin, with feathers, and cover a different
bird with it. Probably a higher initial cost, but it would be
reusable if handled with care and precautions were taken to prevent
any food contamination.
<<< Besides, Stefan's right, "adulteration of foods" is hardly
exclusive to
modern times, as we plainly see from various Medieval and Renaissance
sources, telling how to stretch wine with water and colorants, etc. >>>
Thank you, but I think the period commentary is less about food
adulteration and more about the fact that our ancestors considered
the peacock to be nice and showy, but preferred to be eating a
different bird. This taste concern is likely one of the reasons that
the turkey caught on in Europe rather quickly.
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 ****
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