[Sca-cooks] The Menu

[Suey]

  Euriol wrote
> When you speak of the "Spanish tradition" how far back does that tradition go?
> Many traditions that I grew up sprouted from Colonial or Victorian times. Many
> food traditions that I am aware of, also sprouted from the classical cooking
> techniques that were post period.
I thought we were talking medieval or Renaissance. Colonial or Victorian 
times hardly enter into this.
> As to the fruit... Melons are cold&  wet by the humoral theory. I thought this
> would be very appropriate to the conditions expected at Pennsic (which were,
> since the heat index was 100F-110F most days I was there). The berries also
> played a role for providing someone with fruit that could not have melon. I
> believe that Strawberries are considered cold&  dry.
> I don't have any of my notes handy here at work, and I won't be able to access
> them until I get home on Friday. So what I say below is based on what I remember
> of my decisions.
Here I ask when were fresh fruits admitted into dinners? And were they 
served before or at the the meal? My info is that stewed fruits were 
served at the end of the meal as desserts.
> The dishes for the main course was served altogether. When I was looking at a
> couple of menus from that time period the meat was paired with a side dish. So I
> chose side dishes that I thought went well together as well as with the meats
> (mix&  match if you will).
> As to the onion pottage, it was handled with just enough liquid to ensure the
> onions were cooked through and infuse the flavor... it was not my intent to make
> a soup with it. It came out looking much more like sauteed onions with a glaze,
> just not caramelized since I wanted to highlight the color of the red onions I
> used.
>
Pottage was a side course in your case but according to Ziryab in the 
8th Century Cordoba pottage was a first course. Taking into account that 
you were serving one course, I think it would have been more appropriate 
put the pottage first in line and as I said previously that gave you 
time should grilling meat/fish be delayed.
> The Barons&  Baronesses that I served have no particular passion for period
> cookery.
That is where I would sign off. If your public is so naive than they 
should go to fast food, I would never, never have done what you did for 
them. When I prepared my first American stuffed turkey in Spain, a 
friend of my husbands arrived late. He demanded to be served in minutes. 
I threw him out telling him to go to MacDonalds.
> My goal was to provide them with food that was inspired by the recipes
> yet would still be comfortable to people who are not familiar with period
> cookery.
Understood but we are back to the merrygoround. Are you going to change 
food history to accommodate your customers or are you going to teach 
your pupils something about medieval cooking? If it is about Victorian 
cooking then that is a different story. THAT IS NOT MEDIEVAL!!!!
     Now you say something about omlettes - not accepted by pure 
vegetarians.  Eggs are an animal product, por amor de dios!
     Furthermore, I do not bargain with vegetarians especially after my 
daughter's wedding. The night before I, a relative on the groom's side 
and a friend of ours all organized a buffet dinner in my daughter's 
garden. We, being over 50 invites, were very careful to present 
vegetarian dishes. We found that there was only *one* "vegetarian," - a 
Jew who loves pork!!!! This colleague of daughter is very funny but we 
three organizers died totally exhausted when she told us that. We would 
have grilled more pork sausages for her instead of making so many 
vegetarian dips >:o !!!
     Give the cook a break - please!
Suey