[Sca-cooks] The collection

[Christy]

That just moved me to tears. (Of course, I'm weepy a lot just now, but still.)  I want to do all of those things (well most, I don't want to play with hot sugar so much), and have done quite a bit of it.  Losing my cookbook collection has hurt, no doubt.  I am blessed to be the recipient of some of Devra's collection though, she is downsizing and heard about my fire.  I had several boxes of historic cookbooks to open on Christmas Eve and Day!  Some are old favorites and some are new, so that will be wonderful to delve into. 

It never occurred to me to 'build' a library, I just accumulated books and read them, and either kept them or didn't, and then organized what I had.  I started when I was 6.  I had a yard sale a few years back where a young man wanted all of my books.  He said that he had always wanted to build a personal library but didn't know where to start.  It was late on Sunday and we proceeded to fill his car with as many of my used paperbacks as we could stuff in.  I set him up with a whole lot of great things, and I know he was excited.  

I'm sorry I'm not going to hear your talk at the WCCS.  It was wonderful to meet you at this past one, and get to look at your yummy books :)

Christianna

-----Original Message-----
From: Sca-cooks [mailto:sca-cooks-bounces+chefchristy=kingstaste.com at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of Johnna Holloway
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2019 3:54 PM
To: Cooks within the SCA
Subject: [Sca-cooks] The collection

As a librarian and bibliographer with a serious interest in food history, there are a number of approaches as to building a collection for the average Society cook.


To paraphrase my latest TI article on the topic, 
"my question as to which cookery books and works on food history might be appropriate for a particular reader, would be: What do you the reader want to accomplish? 

By this, I mean what do you want to achieve, or play with, in terms of food and cookery? Are you looking for a few easy standby recipes for suitably historical dishes? Maybe you need suitable recipes for potlucks, luncheons, or bring-a-dish tables of dessert items. 

Are you interested more in the history and foodways of a certain period or place? Are you interested in the role food played in the culture of the medieval period or in the lives of famous Renaissance or Elizabethan personages?  

Do you want to know what dishes or foods your persona might have eaten back when? Or are you interested in cookery of a specific type? Are you interested in baking bread, cakes, spit cooking or roasting over an open fire, making your own cheeses, or even creating sugar subtleties and confections? 

Do you want to throw caution to the wind and become a feast cook responsible for feeding 100-plus diners? Do you need gluten-free or vegan versions?"

What languages do you read? 
What sort of cookbooks do you already own? 
What are your skills? 
What is the budget? 

If you can only afford one or two books a year, then I am going to suggest you develop a list and become friends with your local librarian and interlibrary loan specialist. Research can be done without buying the books or articles. It just becomes more time consuming.


I’ll be speaking on this very subject at the upcoming West Coast Culinary Symposium, Kingdom of Antir.
http://dragonsmist.antir.sca.org/west-coast-culinary-2019/ <http://dragonsmist.antir.sca.org/west-coast-culinary-2019/>
http://windymeads.westkingdom.org/as53/apr/west-coast-culinary-symposium <http://windymeads.westkingdom.org/as53/apr/west-coast-culinary-symposium>


Johnnae
The lady with all the cookbooks
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