[Sca-cooks] Menu-matic (was: Onion-riffic)

Elaine Koogler kiridono at gmail.com
Thu Sep 17 05:25:08 PDT 2009


I think it depends on whether you are setting out to exactly recreate a
period meal from a menu that comes from a period source or whether you're
using it as a guideline.  If the former, then I think it goes without saying
that you probably shouldn't add anything...though that will probably
shortchange any vegetarians in your audience as most period menus I've seen
are long on meat and short on veggies.

I try to create feast menus that are balanced between meat and veggies...and
color/texture.  That was, I think, why the "onion feast" caused me such a
problem.   Sometimes this can cause a problem because there are not a lot of
veggie recipes tha are period...but they can be found and can add interest
to a feast.  I do believe that one eats with the eye before the mouth.

Kiri

On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 8:01 AM, Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com> wrote:

> I think this is an odd question; if one is starting with an authentic menu,
> one is working with an established set of parameters.
> If the original menu wasn't balanced as to modern tastes, how much does one
> add?
> It comes down in many cases to the audience, the site, the event,
> etc. Does one have the money to add the extra dishes or does one
> add more of a certain dish instead?
> I was always the one who added more meat and then desserts.
>
> Johnnae
>
>
>  OK, another question-- what makes a menu balanced?   I personally tend to
>>> put a lot of emphasis on having a variety of textures, and I tend to
>>> mentally divide dishes into several groups, and  try to gain balance by
>>> getting a good spread across the groups.
>>>
>>> Antonia di Benedetto Calvo
>>>
>>
>



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