[Sca-cooks] Honey-Roasted Beets

[Sue Clemenger]

Actually, I'm interested in *both* versions, since my limited cookbook
library does not yet include a copy of Platina, and I *adore* beets.  In
almost any form, any time, even cold, out of a can and over the kitchen sink
(the beets, not me).
I would not, however, serve Tom's recipe at an SCA feast, where my chosen
emphasis is on recipes and techniques known to have existed within the SCA's
time period.  Dinner at home? Sure! (maybe with a nice pork roast this Fall,
when I start cooking with the oven again), but not in an SCA context.
There are too many unexplored and tasty medieval dishes out there to taste
and cook, to serve to friends....If I were planning on cooking a feast, and
had a jones to serve beets, I'd be heading for those sources that others
have mentioned waaaay before I'd concede defeat and default to something
modern.
To me, it's all about the context.  Late silly-season threads about s'mores
and marshmallows, or discussions about cooking shows or modern ethnic
cuisines are as much a part of "life" on this list as the shorts and tee
shirt I'm wearing, the bagel I had for breakfast, and the Classic Coke with
lime that I'm drinking this afternoon while I take care of some SCA clothing
for next weekend (Artemisian Coronation) are a part of my everyday life in
the flesh.  I am not, however, promoting the consumption of said bagel or
coke, or s'mores as appropriate for an SCA feast, and I certainly won't be
wearing mundanes, let alone casual ones, at Coronation in a week.  Not that
bagels and cokes and tee-shirts aren't valuable in their own space, just
that their use is not appropriate in a group that's dedicated to studying
and recreating the European Middle Ages and Renaissance.
--Maire's two pence worth, despite her attempts to stay *out* of this one
;o)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius.magister at verizon.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Sent: Monday, September 04, 2006 11:44 AM
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Honey-Roasted Beets


>
> On Sep 4, 2006, at 12:35 PM, Tom Vincent wrote:
>
> > There were no presumptions to begin with, so no assumptions should be
> > made.
> >
> > I simply found what I thought to be a nice beet recipe suitable for a
> > feast and, like other posts I've made, it was met with accusations,
> > insults, undermining, usurpation, self-promotion and, of course, no
> > thanks.  I didn't make any claims about it, just presented it to be
> > helpful and sharing.
>
> I'm sorry. Didn't you say:
>
> "Usually aren't too many beet recipes that could be served at a feast" ?
>
> ...before posting the other recipe?
>
> And did I not say that the recipe you posted was a good one, and
> indicate that the only issue I had with it was that there are, in
> fact, plenty of period beet recipes that aren't inherently more
> difficult to do for feasts or inherently less popular at them than
> the modern one?
>
> I am not proceeding from a confrontatory position here; I'm taking my
> time to let you in on some info you may be unaware of, but have, in
> the past, expressed interest in. So was Johnna.
>
> > May I suggest that if you don't care for it, simply
> > do what I did with the recent dozens and dozens of frivolous
> > marshmallow
> > posts and delete them. Speaking only for myself, if I wanted to
> > present
> > a Med/Renn recipe and my redaction for it, that's exactly what I would
> > have done.
> >
> > I'm not interested in arguing with you or anyone else. I just disagree
> > with your claims and conclusions.
>
> Well, like what? Help me out, here. Everything I've ever said?
> Something in particular that I've said that you ain't buying? Can you
> give me a hint? Disagreeing often involves some effort to make a
> case, but it doesn't have to be unfriendly or unpleasant. It's also
> perfectly possible to note that Position A and Position B exist on a
> given issue without having it become a referendum or an argument.
>
> >   Please don't, as others have done,
> > take one word or phrase out of context and bitch about it or blow
> > it out
> > of proportion.
>
> I don't believe I'm doing that. I would think it was fairly obvious
> that over the last few months I've put a fair amount of effort into
> understanding your position(s), and am not on any kind of pogrom. If
> I have disagreed with you, I don't think I've been been unfair,
> closed-minded or rude.
>
> On the other hand, it does seem like you've frequently posted
> statements or questions inviting comment, and immediately responded
> to those comments with the equivalent of, "Well, that's where you're
> wrong, me bucko..." Like it's some sort of test and we all flubbed
> the trick question.
>
> As for the marshmallow posts, it should be noted that marshmallow
> lozenges, as in candies made from the mucilaginous juice of the marsh
> mallow, do appear in late period and early post-period, and they do
> have some historical significance. As for all the s'more crap, well,
> we're SCA Cooks, not Period Cooks. This doesn't mean we're interested
> in period food only, by any means (obviously), but we do tend to try
> to draw the line between the period and non-period stuff we discuss.
> We're interested in all kinds of junk. Twinkies. S'mores. Mario
> Nebbits. Leche lombard in its 14th versus 15th century incarnations.
> The trick is to be sure we're not suggesting Mario Nebbits lived in
> the 15th century, or that s'mores are a period dish.
>
> If you had simply said, "I haven't yet found any period beet recipes
> I like, but I did find this modern peri-oid recipe that looks good.
> Here it is, I hope you like it, and I'm wondering if anyone has a
> reasonably close period equivalent..." Or whatever, something along
> those lines, I'm sure nobody would have batted an eye, and many
> people would simply have said to themselves, "Oh, cool, that looks
> like a nice recipe."
>
> In fact (and here's where I get myself in trouble), I can't easily
> explain, but why am I left with the suspicion that there are lots of
> people here on this list who are _more_ interested in your modern
> beet recipe than you are in seeing, for example, Platina's warm
> roasted root vegetable salad recipe -- which is pretty much the polar
> opposite of what you appear to be a little miffed at? Perhaps I'm
> misreading the signs and doing you an injustice, in which case I
> apologize.
>
> I think there's an underlying philosophical difference at work here
> -- it's unclear to me just what it is, but what I'm certain of is
> that it isn't just a bunch of list old-timers enjoying Being Mean To
> Duriel Week.
>
> Adamantius, distressed at what is going on here, unsure of the solution
>
>
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