RWA Workshop Research
My friend T has asked that I host a 45 minute workshop for her at the Romance Writers of America, Annual Guild meeting in SF on July 30th. Now T is a brilliant garb researcher with a far greater grasp of the periods in question (medieval and renaissance) than I have. She’d been hosting ‘corsets and underwear’ workshops for RWA events for years now: Needless to say, she hasn’t asked me to do a workshop on clothing.
Nope, she wants me to do one on food.
Having been to some of the crazy 16th C parties that hubby and I host, and having supped at our table at various encampments - I believe she is under the impression that I have done a lot more research on this subject than I really have.
I knew buying all that period cookware and service would get me in trouble some day…
*grin*
So, with the help of
dravon ,
shadowd1and
dragonwoman, I have started coming up with a list of subjects that I think will be of interest to RWA members. Some of this I will cover with ‘static displays’ (ie: I will set up a table with a period place setting - for the 16th C since that I what I have - and have a placard that describes what folks are looking at, same for crockery, cookware and possibly glassware if I can convince myself that it won’t get broken): But I am looking for any source material that may be floating around on the interwebs that I am not already in contact with - or that I may not have seen the depths of.
Research starts for real as of today!
I am currently using
dragonwoman's vegi research folder, NetLibrary, Google Books, JSTOR (thank you SF library card!) and www.godecookery.com. If anyone knows of any articles, books, etc. that they feel are integral to the items below - or if they just want to send me some crib notes on a favorite topic of food that is mentioned in my list - lemme know!
At any rate, I am going to web the crap out of what I am finding so that I can share!
TOPICS:
Feast vs Meal - What was served, who served it & who ate what.
* “Fancy” Food vs daily fare
* Order of meal service and placement of guests.
* Dogs roaming around the floors?
Food and Weddings - What did they serve and what did it mean?
*Who paid for it?
*’Traditional wedding fare’ and its meaning
*’Wedding Feast’ traditions - dancing, drinking and sewing someone into a blanket
Who did the cooking - Cooks as a professional class
*Mama vs The Cast Iron Chef
*Who could afford them, and what were they buying?
What did they eat with - Flatware, Glassware, Pottery, oh my!
*Samples of each, with some information on cost and availability - including samples of table linens.
*When did forks become common use items?
Food as God and Medicine - the role of food in medieval lifestyles
* Medical: ‘The humors’ and how food effects them
* Religious: “Don’t eat *that* today!”
Misplaced foods & food myths - The potato isn’t your friend.
*Spices and their cost and locations
*Food preservation - basics
*’New World’ foods (pumpkins, corn, potatoes, etc.)
*’Old World’ foods (pasta, ‘sandwiches’, etc.)
PS:
shadowd1and I are going to be 'premiering' this workshop at Fort MacArthur on July 12th & 13th. If you are in the LA area and feel like stopping in, we'd love your input! (
dravon, you are already on the list baby!)