[Sca-cooks] *Sigh* That tomato thing - again

Chass Brown chass at allegiance.tv
Mon Oct 2 12:50:49 PDT 2006


Potatoes now that’s one I hear a lot lol (and yes Bear I know you do as
well since we are in the same area). Frankly I have not heard the
tomatoes issue except here on this list.

Chass Brown A.K.A.
Charinthalis Del Sans of the portable chariot. 
Honorable Recruiter of the House of the Red Shark.
Rear Admiral Northern Region Ansteorran Royal Navy -      Ship the
Red  Shark.  Muddeler of Mead


-----Original Message-----
From: sca-cooks-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org
[mailto:sca-cooks-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of Terry Decker
Sent: Monday, October 02, 2006 2:42 PM
To: Cooks within the SCA
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] *Sigh* That tomato thing - again

The problem is not the inclusion of the tomato, but the selective use of

facts.  In terms of historic intrepretation, there is a big difference 
between "tomatoes were eaten in Europe in the 16th Century" and
"tomatoes 
were grown and appear to have been eaten, at least occasionally, in
Spain 
and Italy."  Without modification, the first statement is open to
extreme 
misinterpretation.  In addition, people who do not have a grasp of the
facts 
are likely to spread misinformation, while those who are knowledgeable
are 
likely to question everything else the source says.  I still question
how 
far I can trust the accuracy of an individual who threw an off-hand but 
incorrect remark about potatoes into a paper on furnishings.

When historical fact is claimed, one has an obligation to veracity and 
accuracy.  In a demo, where we are meeting the educational goals of the
SCA, 
we should strive to be correct and transparent in our facts and 
inpretations.

BTW, I don't use "authenticity" in relation to the SCA as everything is 
"authentic" something (I don't necessarily know what).  I choose to use 
gradiations of the terms "historically accurate" and "historically 
inaccurate" in relation to known facts.

Bear




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