[Sca-cooks] Intent or Interpretation

[Johnna Holloway]

What is the dish being created for in today's world? An entry for a  
Strict Arts and Sciences Fair? An entry for a 100 % authentic feast? A  
potluck where a number of people
are vegan and would greatly enjoy it?

Would it be 100% authentic if changed to use a vegan approved oil? Of  
course not!
But on the same note it might be perfectly appropriate to change to an  
acceptable oil
so as to create a dish suitable for a wider modern audience which  
includes a number of people who are diet conscious.
(If it's a problem of frying with lard, you may find that expense  
dictates that you'll fry in oil anyway due to the expense and trouble  
of finding a local source for lard. It's not as common as it once was.)

You could of course make two versions also. Make one with animal fat  
and one with a modern oil.

Johnnae

On Mar 3, 2011, at 11:39 PM, Deborah Hammons wrote:

> I have been researching some recipes for my next two cooking  
> endeavors.  In
> a private discussion, I experienced a very heated exchange on period  
> intent,
> and interpretation.  The dilemma is:  A vegetable dish calls for  
> animal fat
> frying as the method.  If you substitute oil for a vegan version, or  
> butter
> for those a who don't care...can you still represent it as a period  
> dish?
> Fire away.