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breakfast-msg – 2/22/08

 

What's for breakfast? SCA and period.

 

NOTE: See also the files: eggs-msg, ham-msg, fruits-msg, grains-msg, rice-msg, beer-msg, French-Toast-msg, fried-breads-msg, French-Toast-art, sausages-msg, porridges-msg, French-Toast-art, coffee-msg.

 

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NOTICE -

 

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I  have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

 

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

 

I  have done  a limited amount  of  editing. Messages having to do  with separate topics  were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the  message IDs  were removed to save space and remove clutter.

 

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make  no claims  as  to the accuracy  of  the information  given by the individual authors.

 

Please  respect the time  and  efforts of  those who have written  these messages. The  copyright status  of these messages  is  unclear at this time. If  information  is  published  from  these  messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

 

Thank you,

    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous

                                          Stefan at florilegium.org

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From: jtn at nutter.cs.vt.edu (Terry Nutter)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Dinner we got, but how about breakfast and lunch?

Date: 27 Nov 1993 22:04:27 GMT

 

Greetings, all, from Angharad ver' Rhuawn.

 

Godith Anyon asks,

>The recent thread on feasts has spawned a question in my mind: from

>the feasts I've been to, and from the discussions of cooking I've

>overheard, I have a pretty good idea of what was eaten for dinner.

>What the hell did they eat the rest of the day?

 

When?  Where?  The following is a _very_ general idea, for medieval

(not necessarily renaissance) dining.

 

On rising, bread, cheese, small beer, ale, or mead.  In addition, or

as an alternative, a first meal of porridge, often cold, and sometimes

meats from the previous dinner, especially cold fowl.  The porridge

may also be sliced and fried.

 

In early to mid afternoon, the main meal (what you are thinking of

as the feast comes closer to our lunch time than to our dinner time).

 

In the mid evening, a lighter meal, with much the same sorts of things

as the main meal (indeed, may be leftovers), but usually in much less

quantity and in less diversity.

 

Cheers,

-- Angharad/Terry

 

 

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

From: ARCHER at utkvm1.utk.edu (T. Archer)

Subject: Re: Dinner we got, but how about breakfast and lunch?

Organization: University of Tennessee Division of Continuing Education

Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1993 15:13:15 GMT

 

In article <RVORIS.93Nov27130628 at world.std.com> rvoris at world.std.com (Rebecca A Voris) writes:

>What the hell did they eat the rest of the day?

 

Here in Thor's Mtn we have bring-yer-own breakfasts and we-make-em breakfasts.

Most people who bring their own are mundane about it. Few people here are

early risers, and generally prefer to fire down a pop-tart with some coffee

than make any congnitive effort whatsoever.

 

We-make-em breakfasts vary from period quiche recipies to modern

bacon-and-eggs, depending on who is cooking.  

 

Lunch is bring your own, almost exclusively.  People tend to stick to fruit,

hunks of  break, and smoked meats.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Mail to PA142548 at UTKVM1.UTK.EDU.  Mail to ARCHER at that address will

bounce.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 

 

From: jab2 at stl.stc.co.uk (Jennifer Ann Bray)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Dinner we got, but how about breakfast and lunch?

Date: 29 Nov 93 16:50:21

Organization: STC Technology Ltd., London Road, Harlow, UK.

 

>We-make-em breakfasts vary from period quiche to modern

> bacon-and-eggs, depending on who is cooking

 

What is non-period about bacon and eggs?

Pigs and fowl have been around on these islands (speaking from the

U.K.) for millenia. I know that hens eggs didn't used to be an all

year round food since without modern breeding and husbandry techniques

they didn't lay all seasons, but that doesn't mean that eggs weren't

available some of the time.

 

I'd say bacon and eggs was probably around before quiche?

Does anyone know better?

 

Jennifer

Vanaheim Vikings

 

 

From: jtn at nutter.cs.vt.edu (Terry Nutter)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Dinner we got, but how about breakfast and lunch?

Date: 29 Nov 1993 16:15:37 GMT

 

Greetings, all, from Angharad ver' Rhuawn.

 

Eyrny asks,

 

>>meats from the previous dinner, especially cold fowl.  The porridge

>>may also be sliced and fried.

>

>Wait a second, what I know as porridge is generally a goop that you couldn't

>possible SLICE but might be able to fry if you really wanted to.  Though I

>can't imagine it tasting too good.

>

>Besides boiled oats what do you mean by porridge?

 

Try letting a thickish oatmeal get cold.  You'll get something that can

be sliced and fried.

 

Porridge was often based on other grains than oats -- wheat (whole,

or bread, but generally not flour) being a common version. Basically,

porridge is a boiled dish of grain.  If it is thin, you can't slice

it.  But if it is thick, and you let it cool (as in, keep it several

hours off the heat, or overnight), it will solidify.  Sort of.  Not

"get hard" (at least, one hopes not), but set.

 

Cheers,

-- Angharad/Terry

 

 

From: djheydt at uclink.berkeley.edu (Dorothy J Heydt)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Dinner we got, but how about breakfast and lunch?

Date: 29 Nov 1993 18:43:40 GMT

Organization: University of California, Berkeley

 

In article <KGORMAN.82.2CFA08ED at ARTSPAS.watstar.uwaterloo.ca>,

<KGORMAN at ARTSPAS.watstar.uwaterloo.ca> wrote:

>In article <2d8itb$1ra at server.cs.vt.edu> jtn at nutter.cs.vt.edu (Terry Nutter) writes:

>

>>meats from the previous dinner, especially cold fowl.  The porridge

>>may also be sliced and fried.

>

>Wait a second, what I know as porridge is generally a goop that you couldn't

>possible SLICE but might be able to fry if you really wanted to.  Though I

>can't imagine it tasting too good.

 

Oatmeal porridge congeals to a firm slab.  I have never tried it fried,

but I have eaten fried cornmeal mush.  You cook cornmeal and water (and

a little salt) to a porridge-like consistency and put it in a pan (we

used a square glass cakepan) to congeal.  Then slice it into thin slices

(maybe 3/8 inch), fry it in butter, and serve with maple syrup.  Perfectly

edible.

 

Besides (returning to the what-do-you-eat-for-breakfast threat), there's

that old nursery rhyme:

 

When good King Stephen ruled this land

He was a goodly king;

He stole three pecks of barley-meal

To make a bag-pudding.

 

A bag-pudding the King did make,

And stuffed it well with plums,

And put thereto great lumps of fat,

As big as my two thumbs.

 

The King and Queen did eat thereof,

And courtiers beside,

And what they could not eat that night,

The Queen next morning fried.

 

Not that bag-puddings (invented in the early Tudor period I believe) would

be period for Stephen, who's mid-twelfth century.

 

Dorothea of Caer-Myrddin          Dorothy J. Heydt

Mists/Mists/West                 UC Berkeley

Argent, a cross forme'e sable            djheydt at uclink.berkeley.edu

 

 

From: jeffs at math.bu.EDU (Jeff Suzuki)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: leftovers

Date: 29 Nov 1993 18:46:13 -0500

 

IBM writes:

 

>>The recent thread on feasts has spawned a question in my mind: from

>>the feasts I've been to, and from the discussions of cooking I've

>>overheard, I have a pretty good idea of what was eaten for dinner.

>>What the hell did they eat the rest of the day?

>

>>Godith Anyon

>>Carolingia

>>rvoris at world.std.com

>

>Leftovers ( I'm serious )

 

Hmmmm...I'm trying to recall how the line went in "Fabulous Feasts",

but it was something like this:  dinner would be served on a

truncheon, which was basically a piece of stale bread that could

double as a mace.  It soaked up all the juices and stuff. The next

morning, it was reasonably edible, as long as you kept the dogs away

from it.  

 

Fujimoto

 

 

From: David Schroeder <ds4p+ at andrew.cmu.edu>

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Dinner we got, but how about breakfast and lunch?

Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 00:06:45 -0500

Organization: Doctoral student, Industrial Administration, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

 

Hi folks --

 

Excerpts from netnews.rec.org.sca: 29-Nov-93 Re: Dinner we got, but how

.. by KGORMAN at ARTSPAS.watstar.

> jtn at nutter.cs.vt.edu (Terry Nutter) writes:

> >>>meats from the previous dinner, especially cold fowl.  The porridge

> >>>may also be sliced and fried.

>  

> >Try letting a thickish oatmeal get cold.  You'll get something that can

> >be sliced and fried.

>  

> Okay.  Now is it any good?

>  

> Eyrny

 

  This isn't a demonstrably period technique, as far as I know...

  But I take oatmeal or some other hot cereal which has "set"

  and add 1 c. flour, .5 c. sugar, 2 eggs, and enough milk to

  make it the consistancy of heavy cream.  Tastes great poured

  onto a 380-400 degree griddle and fried like a pancake and

  served with honey...

 

  My best -- Bertram

 

 

From: Gretchen Miller <grm+ at andrew.cmu.edu>

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Dinner we got, but how about breakfast and lunch?

Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1993 12:21:10 -0500

Organization: Computer Operations, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

 

Excerpts from netnews.rec.org.sca: 29-Nov-93 Re: Dinner we got, but how

.. Jennifer Ann Bray at stl.st (559)

 

> What is non-period about bacon and eggs?

> Pigs and fowl have been around on these islands (speaking from the

> U.K.) for millenia. I know that hens eggs didn't used to be an all

> year round food since without modern breeding and husbandry techniques

> they didn't lay all seasons, but that doesn't mean that eggs weren't

> available some of the time.

 

I won't vouch for bacon an eggs, but there's a recipe for ham omelets in

Two Fifteenth C Cokery Bookes (this version of the omelet is called

hanony).  There's also recipes for  French Toast (though I don't

remember the name for that).

 

toodles, margaret

 

 

From: g_duperault at venus.twu.edu

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Dinner we got, but how about breakfast...

Date: 30 Nov 93 13:06:26 +600

Organization: Texas Woman's University

 

David Schroeder <ds4p+ at andrew.cmu.edu> writes:

>   This isn't a demonstrably period technique, as far as I know...

>   But I take oatmeal or some other hot cereal which has "set"

>   and add 1 c. flour, .5 c. sugar, 2 eggs, and enough milk to

>   make it the consistancy of heavy cream.  Tastes great poured

>   onto a 380-400 degree griddle and fried like a pancake and

>   served with honey...

>

>   My best -- Bertram

                             

      Kill the sugar and substitute leftover mashed potatoes for the

cereal. Serve hot with sausages.

                                         

                        Avwye

 

 

From: fnklshtn at axp2.acf.nyu.edu

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Dinner we got, but how about breakfast and lunch?

Date: 30 Nov 93 19:09:38 GMT

Organization: New York University, NY, NY

 

djheydt at uclink.berkeley.edu (Dorothy J Heydt) writes:

>In article <KGORMAN.82.2CFA08ED at ARTSPAS.watstar.uwaterloo.ca>,

> <KGORMAN at ARTSPAS.watstar.uwaterloo.ca> wrote:

>>In article <2d8itb$1ra at server.cs.vt.edu> jtn at nutter.cs.vt.edu (Terry Nutter) writes:

>>

>>

>Oatmeal porridge congeals to a firm slab.  I have never tried it fried,

>but I have eaten fried cornmeal mush.  You cook cornmeal and water (and

>a little salt) to a porridge-like consistency and put it in a pan (we

>used a square glass cakepan) to congeal.  Then slice it into thin slices

>(maybe 3/8 inch), fry it in butter, and serve with maple syrup.  Perfectly

>edible.

 

What a waste! Letting the Mamaliga get cold.

Try it hot. Shred some Feta cheese on top. Over that, pour a mixture of melted

butter and chopped garlic (the garlic cooked in the butter).

Cold, refried mamaliga is passable when there is absolutely nothing else to

eat.

Hot mamaliga (as I have described) is a food of the gods!

 

Nahum

 

 

From: jtn at nutter.cs.vt.edu (Terry Nutter)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Dinner we got, but how about breakfast and lunch?

Date: 30 Nov 1993 20:14:09 GMT

 

Greetings, all, from Angharad ver' Rhuawn.

 

Responding to Jennifer, Margaret writes,

 

>> What is non-period about bacon and eggs?

>> Pigs and fowl have been around on these islands (speaking from the

>> U.K.) for millenia. I know that hens eggs didn't used to be an all

>> year round food since without modern breeding and husbandry techniques

>> they didn't lay all seasons, but that doesn't mean that eggs weren't

>> available some of the time.

>

>I won't vouch for bacon an eggs, but there's a recipe for ham omelets in

>Two Fifteenth C Cokery Bookes (this version of the omelet is called

>hanony).  There's also recipes for  French Toast (though I don't

>remember the name for that).

 

Pain perdue (or some spelling variant; there are several recipes for it).

From the French (actually, more likely from the Anglo-Norman 8^) for "lost

bread".  There's also Pain Fondue ("found bread", Anglo-Norman) for making

a sort of drunken wine-based bread pudding, served with sweet syrup, which

is usually presented next in recipe collections, suggesting that it was

eaten in the same sort of way, at the same sort of time. Hmmmmmm.  Not

something I'd be likely to start the day with, but then, I'm a decadent

modern.

 

Cheers,

-- Angharad/Terry

 

 

From: bhaddad at lunacity.com (Barbara Haddad)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Dinner we got, but how about breakfast and lunch?

Date: Tue, 30 Nov 93 12:58:52 PST

Organization: LunaCity BBS - (Clan Zen Relay Network) Mountain View, CA

 

> Eyrny asks,

>

> >>>>meats from the previous dinner, especially cold fowl.  The porridge

> >>>>may also be sliced and fried.

> >

> >>Try letting a thickish oatmeal get cold. You'll get something that can

> >>be sliced and fried.

> >

> >Okay.  Now is it any good?

>

> Don't know for sure; haven't tried it.  My instinct, having done similar

> sorts of things, is that it could vary anywhere from lovely to godbloodyawful

> depending on how you made the porridge, how you seasoned it, how thick you

> sliced it, and how and in what you fried it.

>

> It is highly documented as a dish _everybody_ ate, top to bottom of the

> social ladder, regularly; so one supposes that it was easily made at least

> edible, since those at the top had many edible alternatives (that much at

> least I _do_ know ;^).

 

      I've had fried oatmeal (done over a campstove on a fishing trip) &

it was very good.  (We fried it in a bit of bacon drippings, each piece

about an inch thick, until the sides were golden [& checked to see if the

interior was hot by sticking our finger inside.)  

      However, I prefer fried cornmeal-mush; fried pancake-style on a

griddle.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just a thought from Barbara Haddad -> (bhaddad at lunacity.com)

LunaCity BBS - Mountain View, CA - 415 968 8140

 

 

From: jtn at nutter.cs.vt.edu (Terry Nutter)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Dinner we got, but how about breakfast and lunch?

Date: 1 Dec 1993 08:00:47 GMT

 

Greetings, all, from Angharad ver' Rhuawn.

 

I posted,

 

>Dorothea says,

>

>>Terry Nutter <jtn at nutter.cs.vt.edu> wrote:

>>>

>>>...There's also Pain Fondue ("found bread", Anglo-Norman) ...

>>

>>Wouldn't it translate "poured" or "melted bread"?  

>

>You'd think so, but that's not what the commentators I've looked

>at said.  I don't really have the resources to look up differences

>between French and Anglo-Norman.  Maybe the commentators are wrong.

 

My curiosity roused, I tried tracing whether there were other relevant

meanings of "fondre" that would help, when my husband suggested that

the secret may lie in the English, not in the French, with some alternative

meaning of "found" like "rendered to fundamentals".  At this point,

"foundary" went through my mind, and I looked up the English verb "found".

Sure enough, it has a meaning (with regard primarily to glass and metal)

of more or less "to melt and cast".  I suspect that the "found" in "found

bread" is not from "find", but a corruption of "founded", in this sense

of the verb "found".  So the commentators are right, and so is Dorothea.

 

Cheers,

-- Angharad/Terry

 

 

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

From: UCCXDEM <UCCXDEM at MVS.UCC.OKSTATE.EDU>

Subject: Re: Dinner we got, but how about breakfast and lunch?

Organization: Oklahoma State University Computer Center, Stillwater OK

Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1993 15:26:00 GMT

 

>Greetings, all, from Angharad ver' Rhuawn.

>Eyrny asks,

>>>>>meats from the previou