[Sca-cooks] help!

[Johnna Holloway]

I've done these classes off and on for 30 plus years.
I have to admit that I always end up tailoring these classes to the
audience and the facilities.
How experienced an audience is this? Mundane or novice?

One way to approach the class is to think about a subject approach--
What does it mean when you say medieval cooking research?
Are you also covering baking? Confectionary and subtleties? Feast customs?
Are you doing just English sources? English and French?
All Europe?
Are you covering ancient sources like Roman or just medieval sources?
Are you doing Anglo-Saxon? Viking?
Are you doing 16th century?
Is it recipe oriented where you are expected to teach people how to find
historical recipes and also redact them for feasts?

Are you doing a book approach where you bring in volumes and recommend
sources that people should buy and use? Ones with useful bibliographies, 
perhaps.
Cookbooks with reliable recipes and historical material? How many of 
texts can
you lay your hands on? Do you have the most up to date works like the 
new Peter Brears?
Are you using reference sources like the Concordance of English Recipes 
and pointing out its
features? How about the Oxford Companion to Food?

Are you teaching an online approach where you need to show people how to 
search
the web and evaluate sources? Do you have the ability to use Powerpoint 
or even
teach in a computer lab so that the students can follow along? Do you 
have access
to an academic library so that you can show the class how to usethe OED, 
EEBO, or JSTOR?

You may want to take a look at my article on the Essentials Or Culinary 
Texts a Reader
Should know About. It appeared in Tournaments Illuminated #156 Fall 2005.
There are also two articles titled
Online Sources for Recipes & Culinary Texts—A Selective List for Sugar 
and Dessert Sites" contributed by THL Johnnae llyn Lewis, CE
Online Sources for Recipes & Culinary Texts: A Selective List" by THL 
Johnnae llyn Lewis, CE, for the Librarians of St. Catherines
They can be found in the Barony of Cynnabar's newsletter at
http://chronicler.cynnabar.org/citadel/

They might be of help. Lastly, one also has to be well practiced so that
one can adjust as one goes along. I strongly believe in handouts that 
are up to date and accurate
as to correct author, title, dates, etc.

Hope this helps,

Johnnae llyn Lewis


rene chaisson wrote:
> I'm teaching two classes in December on beginning medieval cooking research, one for adults, one for kids. The kids one I'm set on and am looking forward to, but the adults one has me nervous. I'm very new to period cooking and have been asked to teach a class on how I found my research. All of mine has been on-line(Florilegium[thanks Stefan!!], other SCAer's sites,  .edu,   .org,   ect). How can I fill 1 hour with "here's where I found it"?
> Tia
>