[Sca-cooks] Cookery book at Longleat House?

[Judith Epstein]

> On Sun, Nov 8, 2009 at 8:16 AM, Judith Epstein <judith at ipstenu.org>  
> wrote:
>
>> I don't think it's at all a good thing that the price is so high,  
>> but if there are a lot of interested cooks in your kingdom, might  
>> the kingdom spring for a copy, then allow individual cooks to get  
>> copies of various recipes at, say, $0.05 per page plus postage?  
>> They'd recoup that, I suspect, in fairly short order, as long as  
>> the cooks who got those recipes didn't then post them online where  
>> people could snag them for free.
>>
>> Judith / no SCA name yet
>> Master Albrecht Waldfurster's Egg
>> Middle Kingdom, Midlands, Ayreton, Tree-Girt-Sea (Chicago, IL)

On 8 Nov 2009, at 7:20 AM, Elaine Koogler wrote:

> It's an idea but, with current expenses what they are...and in some
> kingdoms, the reluctance to spend money on things for cooks (even  
> though
> they provide a major presence at most of our events), this is really  
> not
> likely to happen.  In our Barony, typically we have had to really  
> fight for
> what we have spent on kitchen equipment.  It's getting better, but  
> we're not
> there yet.
>
> Kiri

There's a lovely parable that sort of applies here. A king has three  
daughters, and on his birthday he calls them all to his throne room to  
visit him and share a little birthday cake. Because it's his birthday,  
he feels he deserves to be pampered a bit, and also he's getting a bit  
old and wants to know whom he should designate as his heir, so he asks  
them how much they love him.

One daughter says, "Daddy, I love you more than gold." The king is  
pleased and gives her a hugs and thinks to himself, "Maybe this one.  
She clearly values me highly."

Another daughter says, "I love you more than pearls and jewels, Papa."  
The king is pleased once again, and he gives this daughter a kiss,  
thinking, "This one clearly sees me as rare and precious."

The third daughter thinks about it and finally decides, "I love you  
more than salt." The king is not pleased. He pats the daughter on the  
head, but he hurts a little inside because this daughter feels that he  
is so commonplace, so ordinary, so prosaic.

The daughter senses her father the king's displeasure, and so she goes  
out of his presence, leaving him to play with her sisters. She runs  
off to the kitchen to console herself with a nibble of something  
sweet, a habit of hers.

The next day at dinner, the king is served a beautiful repast among  
his family, rather than among his own court. He takes a bite, however,  
and the food doesn't taste nearly as lovely as it looks or smells. In  
fact, it is bland, tasteless, and even a little disgusting. He demands  
the cook brought before him to explain himself.

The cook smiles and says, "I was in the hall yesterday while you were  
speaking to your daughters. One praised you as gold and the other as  
jewels, and you were very pleased. The third praised you as salt, and  
I could see disappointment marring your majesty's countenance. When I  
realized how little you appreciated salt, I decided to leave it out of  
today's meal, so that you would understand its true importance."

The king beckoned to his daughter and gave her a hug and a kiss. "Now  
I understand that you love and value me," he told the girl, "but more  
than that, you have taught me to love and value the commonplace and  
the ordinary, the things that I have taken for granted." Though he did  
not tell her at the time, he marked her in his mind to become his heir  
to the kingdom, knowing that she would administer the kingdom to  
prosperity and peace.

Maybe a couple of events without feasts would clarify the issue of the  
relative importance of cooks for them.

Judith / no SCA name yet
Master Albrecht Waldfurster's Egg
Middle Kingdom, Midlands, Ayreton, Tree-Girt-Sea (Chicago, IL)