Re: Cookery fumbles

From: Jane Williams <jane_at_...>
Date: Mon, 04 Sep 2000 21:45:52 -0000

> Well I did refrain from pointing out that I live here in Finland
where
> one doesn't get prion-proteins from meat and suchlike. ;) But
really,
> at least in Finland, if you bought it from a store, it's very hard
to
> poison yourself with it.

This suggests to me that you *do* have that mastery in cooking: because you obviously can't imagine the daft things some people manage
to do with meat. I hope. (Cook until done on the outside but only warm
on the inside. Leave standing around for 1/2 hour. Serve. Wonder why 40 people have a really bad night, and refuse to eat your cooking thereafter.)

> That too. But I think (by the combat examples and suchlikes) that a
> mastery is just that, you are really good at what you do when you
have
> the mastery. Every orlanthi carl knows how to fight, but they don't
seem
> to have a mastery in it.

It's not their main occupation, is it? That would be, say, herding sheep.

> > > When somebody says fumble, people tend to think of RQ, and
cutting
> > one's
> > > own head off with a poleaxe.
> >
> > One of the sillier examples, it has to be said.
>
> But your examples of cooking fumbles were just as extreme. Food
> poisoning and charred ruins, instead of just getting food with way
too much salt or a funny taste.

No, my examples were possible. Cutting one's own head off is not. Cutting one's own throat, maybe, but even that's a bit OTT.

Cooking fumbles I have witnessed (in some cases committed):

1) Food poisoning, as described above
2) Food left to burn dry, pan ruined
3) Uncontrolled boiling honey splashing cook in the face (this hurts!)
4) Slicing fingers instead of onions
5) Sealed containers proving to have pressurised (fermented) contents.
6) Lift hot pot with insufficient protection, burn hand.
7) Take item from oven with insufficient care, burn arm. 

Only when an unusual difficulty has been previously declared, perhaps,
but...

8) Guest acutely allergic to ingredient: cannot eat any food 9) As above, but they eat the food without realising the problem. Call
ambulance.

Things I've heard of but not witnessed:
10) Ingredient that's poisonous if undercooked, is undercooked. (Rhubarb, kidney beans, probably others). 11) Set kitchen on fire, call fire brigade

None of these are definitely lethal, but they're all quite possible. Yes, people really are that daft. And that's leaving out the fumbles caused by not understanding modern cooking equipment.

I think they'd all class as fumbles, not mere failures? Despite not killing anyone?

Of course, once you're back in pre-modern cookery, I lack direct experience of the extra possibilities. But Alfred burnt the cakes. Any
recipe that starts "first catch your hare" has an obvious option. (So is "first catch your lamb" a potential fumble in Cooking or Herding?)

Craft in RQ:
> Hmm... the rules didn't work all too well like that, did they?

No, they didn't. But they were the only rules we had. I'm hoping HW will be better: it looks like it will be.

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