[Steppes] Something totally different period vs modern food.

[Michael Gunter]

Firstly, Unca Gunthar is going to tell y'all a story. Gather 'round
young'uns and don't you pull her ponytail Billy-Bob!

A long time ago during the SCA's 25th Year Celebration I was in
Duke Cariadoc of the Bow's "Enchanted Ground" encampment.
This is an experiment by His Grace in which the 20th Century ends
at the gate and everything there is as period as humanly possible.
We were sitting around telling stories, singing period songs and
attempting to BE 1000 years ago.

At one point during the evening a young lady said she had a song
she wanted to sing. Seeing that she was pretty new to the Society,
Cariadoc reminded her just what the camp stood for and the rules
of it. She avowed she understood and this was a period song.
Then she started singing "Listen children to a story, that was
written long ago...." and continued with "One Tin Soldier".

>You are over-generalizing in your complaint in this case. There were no
>big macs or fried chicken served. It was beef, veggies, salad, bread...
>not documentable I am sure, but not so blatantly mundane.

And I did over generalize. But I've also attended feasts featuring
chili dogs, hamburgers (this was bad because they tried to justify
it by saying they found an old Roman recipe for hamburger. True,
but the dish was totally different), spaghetti, etc....

And I don't really mind an attempt at peri-oid food.
Roasted chickens, slabs of beef or ribs (no bbq sauce), salads with
vinegarette and no tomatoes, veggies of carrots/gourds/greens/
parsnips/etc..../ desserts of small fruit tarts, custards, compotes,
small cakes.

But brisket slathered in barbecue sauce, salad with Ranch dressing
and tomatoes, roasted potatoes, et al....is too much like just
going over to Dickey's and having dinner. How does that make me
feel like I've stepped back in time?

>No offense or attack was intended in my comments.

And please don't feel that I was attacking you or if I seemed harsh
please don't think it was directed at you. It's just that I've fought
the general attitude of "period food sucks" for a couple of decades
now. And when a group goes all out to make an event as totally
period as possible and then ignore the food when it can be easily
changed to not only match the event but also diners' palates it
seems crazy.

>Duncan

Not really ranting, just adding to discussion and thought.

Yers,

Gunthar

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