Why do Without a Cooler or Coleman Stove? Towards the end of another thread the question came up, so I thought I would start a new thread on the subject. Some posters seemed concerned that functioning without a cooler was hazardous. That might be true if we tried to do the same things without a cooler as with one, such as bringing raw meat to an event and cooking it a day or two later, but we dont. There are plenty of foods that keep for considerably longer than an event without refrigeration. They include sausages, cheese, crackers, bread, fruit, ... . What are the advantages? The first and most obvious is that we do not have to worry about providing ice for a cooler, dealing with the melt water, concealing the cooler so as to maintain a medieval ambiance. The second and, I think, more important, is that the lack of a cooler puts us in something closer to the situation of period people and thus gives us an incentive to look for period solutions to the problems they faced. What are the results? I found a 10th century cracker recipe that keeps for weeks. From the same cookbook, a flat bread that can be made on a frying pan over the fire. From another source a pickled meat that keeps for weeks without refrigeration. From a variety of sources, period recipes using dried beans, a meat substitute that does not require refrigeration. Three different period Islamic drinks, two syrups, one a powder—and the powder can also be used as a period equivalent of instant oatmeal. We sometimes cook with fresh meat if someone is coming into camp and can bring it for that evening, but we can manage, if necessary for all of Pennsic, without it. Cooking over a fire, ground fires being permitted at Pennsic, has similar advantages. It puts us in something closer to the circumstances of some, although not all, period people, and so presents us with problems whose solutions give us a better feel for their life. In our case, there is a further advantage to both choices. We are trying to maintain an in persona encampment, a place within which it is possible to imagine that you are a medieval person at some indefinite time in period. You do nor have to ignore or explain away modern devices if they are not there. And it is easier to imagine you are a medieval person if you are doing something at least closer to what a medieval person would have done. Some people try to contrast fun mavens and authenticity mavens. What is wrong with that way of looking at the question is that authenticity is fun.
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 06:21:12 +0000
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