[Sca-cooks] Substitute for Potatoes?

[Judith Epstein]

On Aug 24, 2009, at 4:19 PM, Saint Phlip wrote:

> On Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 4:47 PM, Judith Epstein<judith at ipstenu.org>  
> wrote:
>>
>> On Aug 24, 2009, at 3:37 PM, Saint Phlip wrote:
>>
>>> You're thinking yourself into a box, again, Judith. The reason that
>>> Medieval people didn't need books to cook from is because they had
>>> traditions handed down to them from the cooks who taught them.
>>
>> After all the discussion of "something isn't traditional just  
>> because your
>> grandmother taught it to you," this statement needs a wee bit more  
>> detail to
>> make it really, strictly correct.
>
> When was your grndmother born? 20th century some time? And, how do the
> traditions youyr grandmother used relate to the traditions a person
> in, say, 14th century Constantinople might use? There's a lot of years
> there, Judith.

If you reread the above, you'll see that Saint Phlip (that's you) is  
saying that cooking traditions are handed down from the cooks who  
taught them (which I happen to agree with), and that what I'm saying  
is that OTHER PEOPLE (who are also correct, mind you) have said on  
this list in recent days, over and over, that just because one's  
grandmother taught something doesn't make it traditional, or Period. I  
never said my grandmother cooks exactly the way I do. She gave me a  
small part of my handed-down traditions, but so does Iron Chef Cat  
Cora. ;)

> The answer to both questions is the same- both are completely
> legitimate ways of doing things, given the materials at hand. They
> didn't have microwaves, and unless most of us go to a great deal of
> trouble, we generally don't have hearth fires to simmer things by.

Ahem. Speak for yourself. My fuel is gas rather than wood, but at  
least once every week I simmer something from about three hours before  
sunset until the following sunset (or remove it from the fire around  
3pm, depending on how much gets eaten and what time sunset arrives on  
Saturday).