[Sca-cooks] Contests was Definition of "Period Cooking" was Re: Substitute for Potatoes?

Gretchen Beck grm at andrew.cmu.edu
Tue Aug 25 07:39:14 PDT 2009



--On Tuesday, August 25, 2009 6:53 AM -0500 Judith Epstein
<judith at ipstenu.org> wrote:

> Yes, I know all of this. When entering into a contest, I intend to
> document. When COOKING (rather than just sous-cheffing for someone who
> died 500 years ago) for MY ENCAMPMENT... Never mind, I've said it a dozen
> times before now.
> 

Heck, I don't use cookbooks for my encampment either. However, I think I
have a different view of cookbooks than you. To me a cookbook is the way
for someone far away who can't stand and look over my shoulder to pass on
their tips and tricks and kitchen tricks to me -- just like a relative or
friend in the kitchen. I use them as much for ideas (the "ooo, I would
never have thought to combine those two things, but that's really good", or
"that's an interesting use of such and such an implement, I wonder if I do
that with this twist what would happen") as anything else.  What I'm having
a hard time with is why you feel passing down a tradition or knowledge in
writing (and accepting such a tradition is so inferior intellectually and
emotionally than person to person -- it's an extremely foreign idea (I can
accept you feel that way, but I can't imagine feeling that way myself or
how or why you got to that place).

toodles, margaret



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