[Sca-cooks] Honey-Roasted Beets

[Tom Vincent]

As I said, I'm not interested in arguing with you nor am I interested in 
having people write lies about me, so I will simply state my position.

1.  If I had found the recipe in a Med/Renn document, I certainly would 
have provided it.  I very much enjoy researching and redacting period 
recipes.  I also enjoy recipes that are 'Medievalish':  Clearly filled 
with period ingredients openly available and even with aspects easily 
found in period recipes but without direct documentation.  If a person 
is in a SCA region that requires period documentation for all feast 
dishes, the recipe I shared clearly would not do.  Not all regions 
require that.  Some people may feel comfortable with the recipe, some 
may not.  Your Mileage May Vary applies.

2.  I'm *demanding* that you NOT attribute words to me that I did not 
say.  I have said NOTHING like what you claimed nor have I been 
'testing' or 'tricking' anyone.  I'm quite comfortable with my knowledge 
of Medieval, Renaissance, Colonial & Early Republic cooking, music & 
dance and have no interest in trying to fool anyone.  I specifically 
asked you NOT to take a phrase out of context and you pretty much did 
-precisely- that.

3.  I am not in any way calling for the elimination of 
non-period/non-SCA food-talk.  It isn't my right, my place, my intent, 
my interest.  I respect the right of people to discuss whatever they 
feel interested in or motivated by.  I simply suggested that if the 
recipe I shared isn't your cup of tea, simply ignore it or delete it.

4.  I have absolutely no way of knowing what people are interested in, 
let alone what they are *more* interested in, but I strongly suspect 
that period recipes are of more interest than Medievalish ones.

5.  I enjoy putting related Med/Renn recipes today.  I know that the 
surviving recipes only represent the tip of the iceberg in terms of 
actual Med/Renn recipes.  A period veal custard pie with currants & 
raisins and a period chicken & fruit pie strongly implies, to me, the 
existence of a fruit & chicken custard pie.  Maybe that's just me.  Your 
Mileage May Vary.


Here's a period recipe with beets, sugar and currants:

*Lumdardy Tartes*
(John Partridge, _The good Huswife's Handmaide for the Kitchin_, 1594)

/Take Beets, chop them small, and put to them grated bread and cheese, 
and mingle them wel in the chopping, take a few Corrans, and a dish of 
sweet Butter, & melt it then stir al these in the Butter, together with 
three yolks of Eggs, Synamon, ginger, and sugar, and make your Tart as 
large as you will, and fill it with the stuff, bake it and serve it in. /


Here's a period recipe that's similar (walnuts, vinegar, onion), with 
eggplant instead of beets.


    Badinjan Muhassa

Ibn al-Mahdi's cookbook in 10th c. collection,

/Cook eggplants until soft by baking, boiling or grilling over the fire, 
leaving them whole. When they are cool, remove the loose skin, drain the 
bitter liquor and chop the flesh fine. It should be coarser than a true 
purée. Grind walnuts fine and make into a dough with vinegar and salt. 
Form into a patty and fry on both sides until the taste of raw walnut is 
gone; the vinegar is to delay scorching of the nuts. Mix the cooked 
walnuts into the chopped eggplant and season to taste with vinegar and 
ground caraway seed, salt and pepper. Serve with a topping of chopped 
raw or fried onion./


Here are beets with vinegar and a sweet option.  Sounds like honey or 
sugar would do that.

*Red beets (*Ein New Kochbuch (1581)*) */
Red beet salad/ when they are cooked/ so cut them small/ long or diced/ 
season it with oil/ vinegar and salt/ may make it sweet or sour./


Also, 'Pie in a Pipkin' is quite similar, with beef instead of beets and 
a variety of spices instead of honey and no walnuts

Now, combining English, German, Italian & Arab recipes should count for 
*something*. :)  Anyway, the beet recipe wasn't exactly earth-shattering 
in its ingredients or combination.  Not even close.  It wasn't like I 
was suggesting Medieval burgers & fries.

So, since others can go on for days about marshmallows, 
angioplasty-requiring fried monstrosities or whatever with no 
complaints, I posted a healthy recipe with very clear Medieval roots and 
get challenged.  'WTF' gets a screechy reaction, but the actual F word 
posted a day later is met with crickets.  Go figure.

I saw enough 'Medievalism' in the beet recipe that I felt comfortable 
sharing it and see enough Medievalism in it that I would feel 
comfortable preparing it for a feast.  It had been sent to me and I 
found it interesting, appealing & applicable, so I shared it.  Again, 
Your Mileage May Vary.

Duriel

Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius wrote:
> 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.
>
>
>
> 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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>
>   
>

-- 
***********
Tom Vincent
***********
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and
carrying the cross" - Sinclair Lewis