[Sca-cooks] Interesting, OOP NY Times Food History article...

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Jan 31, 2008, at 11:36 AM, Susan Fox wrote:

> Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius wrote:
>>
>> One could probably argue the no cutlery aspect as being part of an
>> eating contest mentality; Damon Runyon specifically mentions this in
>> his classic story "A Piece of Pie", but it may also simply be some
>> sort of historical throwback.
>>
> Aw, nuts!  I haven't read Runyon in decades.  Is that public domain  
> now,
> can I find it online or do I need to re-buy the books?

Not sure. That particular story keeps not being in collections I keep  
buying to replace my old 60's pocket book paperback (which I think is  
"The World Of Damon Runyon") before it crumbles into dust.

"On Boylston Street, in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, there is a  
joint where you can get as tasty a broiled lobster as anybody ever  
smacks a lip over, and who should be in there on the occasion of which  
I speak but a character by the name of Horse Thief, and me.

"Now, this Horse Thief is not called Horse Thief because he ever  
actually steals a horse, but because it is the consensus of public  
opinion that he may steal one, if the opportunity presents itself"...

Heh. Miss Violette Schumburger...

>> I've often thought that if I weren't in the SCA, the hobby for me
>> might be to research and recreate nineteenth-century New York City
>> gang culture. After fighting events you go out for steaks, beer, and
>> oysters...

> That sounds like gargantuan heaps of fun!  Why can't we do that now?
> No, wait, we do, often as not.  Sadly, short on oysters, except for  
> the
> excursions to sushi bars, which tend to be short on steak.

Yeah. But imagine the peerage meetings. "Hellcat Maggie tried to block  
my apprentice's Laurel, so I bit her nose off... that'll learn her!"

>> Just make sure there's no gratuitous pasta or antipasto. I'd be
> embarrassed...
>
> Please.  The authenticity maven in me is on duty for all the various  
> genres.  Italian bread dripping with dripping is carbohydrate enough  
> for anybody.
>
> Speaking of non-SCA authenticity... Renata and I are catering the  
> after-reception for a talk on 50's Coffee Houses.  I got my black  
> clothes and beret in order, what do we serve with the strong black  
> coffee?  Charles Perry has suggested baklava, which was a fabulous  
> new discovery at the time, usually over-syruped as all get-out.  Oh,  
> and carrot cake.  Any other notions?

Cream cheese and olive sandwiches on whole wheat? If these people  
weren't beatniks I'd just look at the stuff in the Gallery of  
Regrettable Foods, but it seems to me that would be exactly the  
culture they were so counter to...

Adamantus