[MR] From a SCA Cook

[logan at ebonwoulfe.com]

my comments are interspersed and preceded by >>>>>LOGAN
Greetings Your Highness,

I am Lady Orla Carey. Many people would recognize me as the other half of
the Tirzah/Orla team since I am Lady Tirzah MacCrudden's chief assistant
cook. I say this in part because this email comes from the same address as
the one she sent earlier and I want to clear up any confusion caused by the
fact I neglected to mention that I was forwarding it for her since she does
not belong to the Merry Rose list.

Thank you for your quick response and the invitation for questions. As it
happens, I have been working on putting together a set of questions that I
hope will clear up the confusion I have. I feel a lot of the issue here is
that the paragraph in the Acorn letter caused some confusion overall as it
could not convey enough information to forstall questions.

>>>>>LOGAN
you are correct in that.  the unfortuante thing though is that a few people were willing to jump to conclusions (always assuming the worst by the way) and then react to those misconceptions without giving those they assumed the worst of the courtesy of open dialog to clear anything up.  this happens far too often in a society populated with seemingly rational people.

1) Are you requesting that "Your Guests" eat free, or be comped for the
whole event? Yes it seems obvious that you are talking about feast but no
where in your letter does it say "comped for feast". It merely says guests
should not have to pay. While I am assuming you mean only for feast I'd like
to have this confirmed.

>>>>>LOGAN
actually what our letter said was "guests at high table".  at no time did we mention, nor suggest, people not pay their event fee.


2) I feel from the letters I have read from you in response to questions
that you are talking more about people who have not pre-registered for feast
but are invited to sit at High Table. How do you propose we deal with people
who have already paid for feast but are then invited to eat with you. Do we
now owe them a refund? How much extra work is this going to require from the
Exchequer of the group running the event?

>>>>>LOGAN
of course not.  if they paid at the gate then its a wash.  they already planned on attending feast.  again, its those that were not planning on, or could not afford, eating feast.


3) You have stated several times that most high tables are only six people.
Yet I can not remember the last time we only served high table for six
people. Events that have a Royal and Highness presence will generally have a
MINIMUM of six, all of whom are usually comped anyway (King, Queen, Prince,
Princess, Baron & Baroness). Most often the event will have eight and we
have even served 12 at High Table at Royal whim. Do you propose to limit
your high tables to a total of six or eight during your reign as to not
cause financial strain on the event?

>>>>>LOGAN
i assumed that the 4 royals, and 2 lesser royals, were already assumed.  the six i refer to would be the guests invited.  2 for each of the sets of royalty.  and again, there is no financial strain imposed, the food is already purchased, its only a matter of portioning.

4) You have stated that "the math breaks down to .043 of a single
tablespoon, barely over one teaspoon from each plate that leaves the
kitchen." To a certain extent you are probably right in this. However this
assumes that High Table is being served the exact same foods as the
populace. In my experience any extra special food that is too expensive to
serve the main populace goes to High Table. This is also the case for foods
that are "showy" or too time consuming to make for 100 people. For example
it is not ununsual for us to talk about serving Cornish Game Hens to High
Table but roast chicken to the rest of the populace. Any sublties go to High
Table, etc. This gives the Head Cook an chance to show off a bit but also
means that the costs of the High Table meal is more expensive. Do you
propose we stop doing this in an effort to save funds? Or that it come
exclusively from the Head Cook's pocket? It just seems wrong to me that the
populace should not only be charged extra so that the High Table should eat,
but also so that they can eat a better meal.

>>>>>LOGAN
personally i dont serve anything different to high table.  i serve the highest quality foods i can to all of those that partake of my cooking.  however, i have on very rare occasion been served something different.  again, this is all worked into the budget.  its no different than non fighters event fees covering the purchase of hay bales for the fighters, hall decorations being covered by those that do not attend feast or visit court, tea and lemonade mixes being paid for by those at feast who, like me, never consume site water, the rental of a dayshade for the royalty or the mol or the waterbears, etc. by those that will neverr use it.  these are all costs at doing business so to speak.  the last feast i did those that worked in the kitchen ate and did not pay (15) plus those at high table (10).  this broke down to .63 from each person who paid for feast to cover the cost of those who worked all day to prepare their food being fed as well as a few honored guests being fed as well.  half the cost of a pack of bubble gum.  if thats too much for people to give for the hard works of others to serve them then perhaps that is a reflection of their personal greed.  ive always thought the sca as a collection of people that give freely and cherish that same nature in our organization.

5) Please note that where I disagree with you on the cost of feeding one
extra table is anything involving meat. Generally we tend to budget between
1/2 lb and 1 lb of meet per person as a total (even if it's split between
different meats such as 1/4 lb chicken, 1/2 lb beef and 1/4 lb pork for
example). Whether you agree that this is a reasonable assumption or not, it
does mean that the cost of an extra table is more significant when it comes
to the meat dishes.

>>>>>LOGAN
no wonder we throw away so much food.  the accepted serving size for meat is 4 oz (1/4 lb).  im a big guy with a big appetite and putting down a full pound of meat is something i could do if i didnt eat anything else.  but when added to two or so vegetables and one or more starches we are talking about gluttony.  im all for that as it means nobody leaves a table hungry.  im not opposed to throwing extra food in the bin (except when cooking professionally, then its a crime).  but its still about portioning, nothing else.  there simply is no difference in cost by that time.


6) While thinking about writing this letter I reviewed Corporate policy
because, as a former exchequer, I remembered the "Pizza rule". Could you
please confirm that neither SCA Gift Policy(found at
http://sca.org/BOD/announcements/gift.html) nor Society Financial Policy
will be an issue when rewriting local group financial policies? The specific
Financial Policy I'm referring to is:

"From the Society Financial Policy
IX. Expense Authorization

E. SCA funds may not be used to reimburse expenses for events or meetings
closed to the general populace unless the events or meetings have a business
agenda which requires limited attendance, such as officer staff meetings,
kingdom councils, and event planning meetings. Kingdom Financial Policies
may have additional requirements for reimbursement of these expenses.

Expenses soley incurred for Royalty-only and order-only meetings are
specifically ineligible for reimbursement. The Society Chancellor of the
Exchequer may grant variances to this policy on a case-by-case basis, based
on written requests received no later than seven days prior to the event or
meeting date."
end quote

While granted Feasts are not "closed to the general populace", High Table
is. I'm concerned that an argument can be made that having a stated
financial policy saying that High Table does not have to pay for feast
violates this rule.

>>>>>LOGAN
high table isnt the same as an order meeting.  high table is a part of feast.  not sure why anyone would think otherwise.  regardless, our letter was reviewed by the society exchequer and the society seneschal (as well as our kingdom counterparts) and found to not violate any aspect of law.  in our meeting with master aaron, the society seneschal, he sat firmly in on our side regarding the idea of charging guests at high table and said the thought never crossed his mind either.  however, he did state that when presented to him he looked at it from an administrative viewpoint and not as a royalist in a monarchist society.  again, he found nothing wrong or improper in our views.  also, no change is needed to any policy that is in line with kingdom.  when the paperwork is turned in you simply mention, under the feast budget, that "6 royalty + 6 guests" were comped.  piece of cake, so to speak.  ;^)

While I have additional reservations on the subject concerning the
additional planning headaches this policy could cause to event staff, I am
hoping that the answers to these questions will help clarify the policy.

>>>>>LOGAN
why?  the event staff has nothing to do with this.  only the head cook who, hopefully, takes into consideration those seats at high table when he/she creates their menu and calculates portioning.  again, these guests typically dont know of their invite until 5 or so in the afternoon.  as long as a little forethought goes into the planning of the feast this wont even cause a hiccup in the service of feast.  even not, we are talking about such a minimal amount of food from each plate as to never even be noticed.

Thanks you for your attention and consideration,

Orla

>>>>>LOGAN
and thank you for asking questions.  if only more people would do so there would be much less tension in the world and much less misunderstandings.  while that is a perfect world and all it would have robbed us from such masterpieces of literature as "chicken little".  i hope that i have cleared up some, or all, of your concerns.  agreement is not required of course.  if there is anything you wish further clarification on, or, anything you think we have not thought about in this please share your thoughts with us.

regards
logan

-- 
Lady Orla Carey
Personal Secretary to Dame Roxanne Greenstreet
Co-Minion to Lady Tirzah McCrudden
orlacarey at gmail.com

Per bend sinister gules and Or, a wolf couchant contourny sable.
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