[Sca-cooks] kitchen tips

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Aug 19, 2008, at 4:19 PM, Gaylin Walli wrote:

> Not too long ago, I published a question on the Middle Kingdom Cooks  
> list
> asking what kind of tips people had come up with for working in SCA
> kitchens. I wasn't interested in the "Make sure you have a plan"  
> sort of
> suggestions, or "Use Excel" kind of tips, but things a bit more  
> practical,
> such as "If you run out of pasty bags, try using a zippered plastic  
> bag with
> the corner cut off" and "When shopping in bulk for some of your feast
> supplies, wear a modern chef's jacket."
>
> I received a few responses, but I'm sure there are more that other  
> people
> have garnered over the years. What are they? I'd love to hear them.


Post your menu on the wall. Post your recipes to the right of that,  
with quantities and instructions.

Sideboards are a wonderful, wonderful invention. Put cold course on  
sideboard before feast, serve a hot course first, then the cold  
course, which leaves you more time to cook and assemble the third, hot  
course (or some variation on this if you have a lot of courses).

Always buy a box of Kosher Salt (or be sure you have one). Season with  
it, throw handfuls of it on the floor when someone spills grease on  
the floor in the middle of service and there's no time to stop and  
clean properly. Later, scour pots with it.

Sometimes it's cheaper to buy more expensive cuts of meat, if you can  
cook them quickly and minimize shrinkage, rather than buying the  
cheaper cuts that require boning, trimming, skinning, etc. You may  
find that after you throw away half of the meat's weight, it was more  
expensive.

Time _is_ money. Sometimes it's worth it to take the extra time to  
save money, and sometimes it's not.

Adamantius




"Most men worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls,  
when we all ought to worry about our own souls, and other people's  
bellies."
			-- Rabbi Israel Salanter