How Authentic are our Feasts?

Welcome back to the kitchen. Next month we’ll probably get back to actual cooking, but this month we’ll continue with the discussion I started last month. Last month I talked about two types of cooks I tend to see at events, calling them “Laurel Cooks” and “Pelican Cooks”.
I also talked about my basic philosophy when cooking at events breaking down into the following concepts:

1) food should be plentiful (no one should go hungry)

2) food should be enjoyable (people should like what they’re eating, not just eat because it’s all that’s available)

3) food should be reasonably period (don’t break the medieval illusion)

4) food should be available when people need it (within reason).

A section of last month’s article focused on having food available when people need it. This month, I want to talk about the middle two ideas above - food should be enjoyable, and reasonably period.

Let’s start with the idea of our food being “reasonably period”. Depending on what period you are aiming for when cooking, it is very possible that there are few or any cookbooks available. As far as I know, for example, there are no surviving cookbooks from the Anglo-Saxon period, or from the early Celts. The cookbooks that do survive, generally from later periods, do not read the way modern cookbooks do. Where modern cookbooks will tell you to “take a cup of this” and “a pound of that” and “bake at 180C for an hour”, a period cookbook will tell you instead to “take some of this, add enough of that, and set on the coals until done.” This is because where modern cookbooks are intended for the amateur household cook, cookbooks in period were written by professionals and for professionals, who were expected to have an idea of what the dish was supposed to be in the first place.

There are recipes missing, as well, from the available cookbooks. Some basic recipes, which it was expected that everyone knew, weren’t always written down. For example, while there are not always a lot of vegetable recipes available, there are sources which talk about the vegetables which should be grown in a kitchen garden. If these items were in the kitchen garden, it can be reasonably expected that they were also cooked and eaten. Preparation for these vegetables seems to have been simple, however, and not worth spending expensive writing materials on. Breads, too, seem to have been so commonly known that few recipes survive.

So, what do you do when the recipes are vague? There are often several modern redactions (interpretations for the modern cook) available. This is where the internet can actually be fairly handy for a new feast cook. Looking at online recipes, you will often find the original recipe available with the redaction. You can then look up other similar recipes...and will often find that they come from the same original.

What about when the recipes are unavailable? Well, there are a few different viewpoints here. Some people will say that if there is no available recipe, you can’t reliably consider it period, and therefore they won’t cook it. My opinion, though, is that if the ingredients were available, edible, and used in other dishes, it’s alright to make some assumptions. Is it entirely accurate? Probably not, but who’s to say that cooks didn’t try things like that in the past? As long as the basic character of the food and the meal fits what you’re trying to convey, you’re probably alright. After all, modern cotton and synthetic fibers aren’t entirely accurate for our garb, either, and yet they’re often used because they’re what is available. Likewise, modern garment patterns aren’t the same as using period construction techniques for clothing - and yet the general “medieval” feeling can still be conveyed using them.

Now, I have heard it expressed many times, from many people, that they don’t like medieval food. It’s true that the combinations of flavors in Period foods tend to be different than in modern foods. I would never have considered cinnamon a basic spice to use when cooking chicken before I started cooking period dishes. Neither would I have added currants and sugar to an onion quiche. However, a well planned and executed menu can be reasonably period and not shock our modern palates too much.

I use a rule of thumb that I won’t serve something at a feast that I wouldn’t serve to my neighbors. Often, this means serving mostly dishes that are relatively simple, and introducing one or two items which are a little more “exotic” for people to try. Remember that most of the people eating at feasts are not necessarily in the SCA for the food, and there are varying levels of experimentation and exploration that people are willing to do when it comes to what they eat.. Attending feasts at events may not be compulsory ... but it’s often included in the site fee, and there may not be other food easily available. Personally, I want to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to get enough to eat.

Last month, I asked you to look at yourself when it comes to cooking and see where you fit on the scale between “Pelican Cook” and “Laurel Cook”. This month, I ask you to look again at your style of cooking. Determine how authentic your cooking is and how authentic you want it to be. Determine, likewise, how your cooking suits a modern palate. Look at what may need to be adjusted on either scale to get yourself to where you want to be.