[Sca-cooks] Documentation

[Terry Decker]

I would say that food should always taste good, it just may not be to the 
individual taste.

I gave up competing many years ago when I decided that the uneven quality of 
the judging made the evaluations worthless.  In one instance, a judge graded 
the product down because I had used refined sugar, and "everyone knows they 
didn't have sugar."  In another, I won because the judge liked the product 
despite skimpy documentation.  Now, I do research, teach, occasionally 
display and sometimes prepare feasts.

I'm leery of being a judge because there are many things in which I have 
little interest or knowledge and I would not like to stunt a potential 
master with erroneous pronouncements.

Bear

----- Original Message ----- 

See...this is part of why I'm always afraid to enter any kind of 
competetion. A competition is where you should be able to try the more "out 
there" dishes, as they are often not appropriate to serve at a feast. (Feast 
is where the food should taste good to the majority of people...competition 
is where you should be able to display specific period dishes that might 
not.)

Ceara

________________________________

I recently did a Rumpbolt cooking entry, which included head cheese. I love 
head cheese. Two of my judges did not. The documentation warned them it was 
made with toes and tails and snouts and doubts (with some pork loin thrown 
in).

One basically said "I don't like it and food should taste good so I have to 
dock you on it". The other basically said "Well, I will be honest, I would 
not eat this again, but I am glad I got to try it. Based on what I am 
reading it looks like it turned out the way it should have, so good work."

Go figure. At least the one (who does not consider herself a cook) could see 
what I was getting at with it. The other (who fancies herself a cook) was 
very close minded.

Documentation should not be so scholarly that it confuses the judge who is 
not so "into" that area as the presenter is. You never know when someone was 
swooped off the street (so to speak) to fill in a judging area. I remember 
being grabbed for map-making once just because I was a calligrapher and 
illuminator!
Side note: The hunters at the event who tasted it loved it. ;)

Cailte