[Sca-cooks] Musing on Mongol

[Susan Fox]

I think you should go for option 3, sorry, this is a meat-heavy feast, 
and write a paragraph about the cuisine.  You will have enough on your 
plate [so to speak] without having to cook a whole second meal  in an 
entirely different style.  Or, maybe draft a deputy to do up some 
vegetarian stuffs if you decide it is really necessary. 

My opinion, your mileage may vary, etc.
Selene

Lilinah wrote:
> I'm one of those who believe in serving historical food at SCA events. 
> I'm working up a Mongol feast, based largely, of course, on the 14th 
> C. book, "A Soup for the Qan", for late next year.
>
> I'm in California and i think the biggest problem i face is finding 
> offerings for our local vegetarians. They've always been more than 
> gracious, no whiners or grand-standers. In all my previous feasts 
> except one, i've always made sure that the vegetarians could eat just 
> about everything but the meat.
>
> But Mongol dishes are either meat, meat plus grains, or meat plus 
> grains plus vegetables. Not big on dishes without meat. The recipes 
> reflect Chinese, Turkish (i.e., Central Asian), and Southwest Asian 
> (i.e., 'Abbasid Arabic) influences, strongest on the Turkic and 
> Chinese - the Southwest Asian tends to be in spices used in a 
> basically Mongol dish.
>
> So i'm trying to decide:
> -- Should i adapt some Mongolian recipes and make one table's worth of 
> dishes using non-meat substitutes?
> -- Should i make some Southwest Asian (i.e., Arabic) dishes for the 
> vegetarians? They're also not big on proteinaceous vegetarian 
> offerings, but there are some...
> -- Should i just just apologize and say, sorry, this is a meat-heavy 
> feast?
> -- Or are there other options?
>
> I'm not asking for folks to decide for me :-) but i'm looking for 
> suggestions, especially anyone who has worked with those Mongol recipes.
>
> And please, no rants about vegetarians. The ones around here are fine 
> folks who do not expect exceptional treatment, and have always been 
> appreciative that i've given them consideration.