stockfish-msg - 10/15/04
Period preserved fish. Stockfish. Salted, dried and smoked fish. Lutefisk. Gravlax.
NOTE: See also the files: fish-msg, seafood-msg, meat-smoked-msg, salt-msg, salt-comm-art, drying-foods-msg, pickled-foods-msg, vinegar-msg, salmon-msg.
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Stefan at florilegium.org
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Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: destry at netcom.com (Fellwalker)
Subject: Re: Period Vegetarian Cooking - help
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 06:59:55 GMT
Mark S. Harris (markh at risc.sps.mot.com) wrote:
: wmarquand at aol.com (WMarquand) wrote:
: > Im my not so humble opinion, fish is the food of the gods. I gladly eat
: > it with dee-light. Maybe I could go to the market and get some kippered
: > herrings (how period is that?).
: I've wondered about this myself. I know that salted herring and other
: fish were staples at least in some cultures and times in the Middle
: Ages. Just how close are the kippered herrings you can buy off the
: grocery store shelf today to medieval preserved fish?
: I know they didn't have the can, but perhaps they did something close
: using other containers. What exactly is "kippering"? The can doesn't
: tell you much. Would they have preserved fish in oil?
: Can you get dried fish today? Where? Oriental markets?
: Fish is not served at feasts in this kingdom. But I Like fish. I'd
: like to try some medieval versions on my own. I've not done much
: cooking of fish mundanely and since I'd like to find a way to do
: fish at an outdoor event, maybe someone can give some ideas on
: preserving/treating it for such events.
Smoked fish, especially salmon, goes over big at our Viking events (and
smoking fish is period). Vikings dried a lot of fish for storage (but they
had very dry cold wind to help them out with that) thus was born lutefisk
- which is dried cod rehydrated by soaking in a lye solution. Gravalax is
salmon preserved in a dill/brine solution...herring can be preserved in a
number of ways and pickled herring you can get in the store may be
suitable. Try some good Scandinavian cookbooks for ideas
--Morgan (Max)
--
Sleepy Cat Graphis http://emporium.turnpike.net/Z/zen/index.html
P.O. Box 608048 - The Church of Zen Fatalism -
San Diego, CA 92160 Artful Things Gallery
From: mjbr at tdk.dk (Michael Bradford)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period Vegetarian Cooking - help
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 07:37:20 GMT
Organization: Tele Denmark
It was written:
>> Fish is not served at feasts in this kingdom. But I Like fish. I'd
>> like to try some medieval versions on my own. I've not done much
>> cooking of fish mundanely and since I'd like to find a way to do
>> fish at an outdoor event, maybe someone can give some ideas on
>> preserving/treating it for such events.
> If you can't find it anywhere else, New England certainly
>still sells wood-boxed Salt Cod. It even shows up as far south as
>Pittsburg... (Ooh, is some hapless Ansteorran pennsicer going to
>hate me now...)
We discovered a medieval recipe for salt cod whilst doing a revel
based on the medieval rules of Lent (details available on request)
which went down very well with those who attended.
Take the salt cod and place in water for about 24 hours (we changed
the water about every 8 hours). Place in a fresh saucepan/cauldron of
water and boil to soften. Take chopped walnuts, garlic, and
breadcrumbs, mix with a little of the water from the cooking fish and
heat. This sauce adds an interesting counter point to the fish.
I believe that medieval man was vegetarian only by necessity. The
upper classes and nobility (which most medievalists are, even when
portraying those of lowlier origins) certainly used meat whenever they
could.
We, as modern medieval cooks, must take account for the mundanely
vegetarian folk who share our interests. It just takes thought to
produce a feast that they can eat and enjoy (i.e. not producing boring
dishes for them), while not creating extra work in the kitchen. It can
be a real challenge :)
Michael Bradford
Viking Group Wunjo
Aarhus
Denmark
formerly Master in the Cooks Guild, Principality of the Far Isles
mjbr at tdk.dk
From: mjbr at tdk.dk (Michael Bradford)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period Vegetarian Cooking - help
Date: Tue, 04 Feb 1997 07:37:15 GMT
Organization: Tele Denmark
DDFr at Best.com (David Friedman) wrote:
> mjbr at tdk.dk (Michael Bradford) wrote:
>> We discovered a medieval recipe for salt cod whilst doing a revel
>> based on the medieval rules of Lent (details available on request)
>> which went down very well with those who attended.
>Source? Sounds like an interesting recipe. I've been wanting to find a good
>stockfish recipe to add to my collection of "Pennsic without a cooler"
>recipes.
First the recipe (translated into modern english as I haven´t got the
source, which I borrowed from a friend) and then the source.
Sauce for stokfysshe in an-other maner
Take walnuts and cloves of garlic and pepper, bread and salt and grind
in a mortar. Temper it with broth and serve it.
The source document is Ashmole MS 1439, which can be found in "Two
Fifteenth Century Cookery Books" edited by Thomas Austin. It is
published by Oxford University Press for the Early English Text
Society. It came out in the early 60's (1964?).
Note: the publishers also printed "Curye on Inglysh" edited by
Constance B. Hieatt and Sharon Bulter (1981?) which contains five
cookbooks from the 14th century.
Michael Bradford
Viking Group Wunjo
Denmark
From: Mark Schuldenfrei <schuldy at abel.MATH.HARVARD.EDU>
To: sca-cooks at eden.com
Date: Fri, 11 Apr 1997 11:21:33 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: sca-cooks fish
>Anyone have any good recipes using salted fish? I've never had any and
> since that was a staple in parts of medieval europe, I'd like to try
> some.
Alianor Llanfres (of Newfoundland) had done some wonderful research into
this area. I wonder what happened to her? Would anyone here know?
Tibor
From: ateno at panix.com (Eric A. Rhude)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: lutefisk
Date: 30 Apr 1997 17:37:31 -0400
Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC
morphis at niuhep.physics.niu.edu writes:
>rmorrisson at aol.com (RMorrisson) writes:
>>Greetings from Myfanwy,When I was on the Debateable Lands, we used to have
>>a baron who ate anything resembling food put in front of him. Baron Len
>>apparently requested blood sausage once, and not even pig's feet grossed
>>him out. (The Culinary Guild tried repeatedly!).
>>Len's persona is Viking and I always wanted to find a recipe for
>>lutefisk....
>Can't be too difficult, take some ?Cod? soak it in lye for 6 months....
Well not exactaly, when you soak lutefisk in lye and dry it
It is for preservation, not taste enhancement.
It is Cod, but when you preserve it, you take it and store it in
the rafters until some cold february night, when there is
no fish cause the river has 10'of ice on it. and it is
twice soaked in fresh water to eliminate all the lye,
then boiled and served with salt, pepper and butter (and various
other spices) or rolled in lefsa.
I have had it many times and enjoy it, but, I eat blood sasuage
and pigs feet too....
Eric Rhude
Ld Ateno of Annun Ridge, OM, Seahorse
Panix.com staff
From: "Mark Harris" <mark_harris at quickmail.sps.mot.com>
Date: 1 May 1997 16:47:13 -0500
Subject: SC - lutefish
This message was on the Rialto recently:
>>>Len's persona is Viking and I always wanted to find a recipe for
>>>lutefisk....
>>Can't be too difficult, take some ?Cod? soak it in lye for 6 months....
>Well not exactaly, when you soak lutefisk in lye and dry it
>Its is for preservation, not taste enhancement.
>It is Cod, but when you preserve it, you take it and store it in
>the rafters until some cold february night, when there is
>no fish cause the river has 10'of ice on it. and it is
>twice soaked in fresh water to eliminate all the lye,
>then boiled and served with salt, pepper and butter (and various
>other spices) or rolled in lefsa.
>I have had it many times and enjoy it, but, I eat blood sasuage
>and pigs feet too....
>Eric Rhude
>Ld Ateno of Annun Ridge, OM, Seahorse
Ok. So does anyone have any recipes for lutefish? Or more details on
lutefish?
What's "lefsa"?
Thanks.
Stefan li Rous
markh at risc.sps.mot.com
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 23:19:07 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: SC - lutefish
At 4:47 PM -0500 5/1/97, Mark Harris wrote:
>What's "lefsa"?
Flex Mazoh. Eaten with butter and sugar.
David/Cariadoc
David Friedman
Professor of Law
Santa Clara University
ddfr at best.com
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Date: Mon, 05 May 1997 17:19:17 -0400
Subject: Re: SC - lutefish
gypsy1 wrote:
Lefse is an unleavened pancake made from a soft dough, rather than from
a batter. Depending on what grain or other starch they are made from
(nowadays they are sometimes made from potatoes, which makes them more
properly lompe rather than lefse) they are either eaten fresh, and quite
flexible they are, too, or dried to a matzoh-like consistency, and then
reconstituted by wrapping in a damp towel for a couple of hours before
eating (HINT, HINT: are you getting this, Joshua?)
>
> Ok...but what's Flex Mazoh???
> Rita the Ignorant 8-) (=large goofy grin)
>
> On Thu, 1 May 1997, david friedman wrote:
>
> > At 4:47 PM -0500 5/1/97, Mark Harris wrote:
> >
> > >What's "lefsa"?
> >
> > Flex Mazoh. Eaten with butter and sugar.
> >
> > David/Cariadoc
Also eaten with butter and cloudberry or lingonberry jam. Some eat them
with butter and cranberry sauce, in a pinch.
Adamantius
From: Uduido at aol.com
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 1997 20:36:44 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: SC - Salted meat
<< Other possibilities include beating the meat with a mallet to tease some
of the fibers apart, which would not only tenderize but serve to
increase the exposed surface area and make the desalting easier. >>
Egads! Reminds me of those dried stockfish that you can find in Jewish
markets in N.Y. I have one (or rather half a one) hanging in my kitchen that
is at least 13 years old. I just cut off a piece whenever I am in need of
emergency fish stock. Pound it to death. Soak it. Pound it some more, Soak
it. etc. Makes great stock but I wish I could justify getting a new one. :-0
Lord Ras
Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 16:40:47 -0500 (CDT)
From: nweders at mail.utexas.edu (ND Wederstrandt)
Subject: Re: SC - lutefisk
The late Master Ragnar hosted a lutefisk party at one of Lyonnesse one
year. It was truly a feast. He invited all his friends who had never
tried this delicacy from his home country and we all gethered around and
tried it. It isn't bad when prepared well so perhaps those who don't like
it didn't get it prepared correctly. More closely one of the older stores
near my house has a strong Scandinavian populace since every once in while
they get huge quantities of lutefisk (an entire freezer full, the funny
cheese (whose name escapes me) and wheels of flatbread. Considering we have
a normally small Scand. population, I'm not sure where it goes.
Clare St. John
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 08:58:28 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - re: lutefisk!
kat wrote:
> First of all, is lutefisk period?
Lutefisk, in its primal form, is as period as all get-out.
Or...well...yes, it's period. It is air-dried (as opposed to salt) cod,
a.k.a. (m.k.a.?) stockfish, probably the single most common medieval
food staple for Lent, if you go by the recipes. We really don't know how
period Scandinavians would have eaten it, though. As with many bland
foods (my favorite example being bean curd) it needs to be seasoned when
cooked. For those cultures whose only seasonings extend to salt and
pepper, that shouldn't be a problem. (I made a batch of haggis some
months ago which brought tears to the eyes. The only spices in it were
salt and pepper, but we seasoned them every step of the way, figuring
they were sausages, for Heaven's sake, and could NOT, as Jerry Seinfeld
says, not be spicy.)
I'm reasonably familiar with Lutefisk being served with melted butter
(sometimes drawn butter, but not always) and potato-dough pancakes that
the Norse call lefse, but the Swedes lompe. Hot dogs are also eaten in
lefse/lompe, BTW. Makes 'em almost tolerable.
> Seriously, now; I'm truly interested. It would make one heckuva interesting feast....
Hmmmm. It would, wouldn't it? Welcome to Lars' Viking Buffet!
I suspect that the long lines would form for the mutton prosciutto
(fennlaer, IIRC), but there would likely be some diehard Scandamaniacs
(a non-derogatory technical term describing people like my friend Ateno)
who would feel quite at home with lutefisk and lefse, which, in this
case, would be made with barley, rye, and whole wheat flour. It's kind
of expensive and not always easy to find real torsk, though. Might have
to make do with really well soaked salt cod or fresh cod. Don't forget
the lingonberries and cloudberries!
Adamantius
Date: Sat, 20 Sep 1997 10:18:04 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - re: lutefisk!
Griff41520 at aol.com wrote:
> What is lutefisk? I understand the dried cod part, but what is it cooked
> in/served with........I am familiar with the Italian Bakala-salted dried cod
> fish and the traditions surrounding it but know next to nothing about
> lutefisk or Scandinavian foods. It looks interesting tho.
>
> Ivy~
Lutefisk is air-dried cod that is, as part of the reconstituting
process, soaked in a powerful alkalai solution like potash or lye, which
changes the texture of the fish.
When properly prepared, it is rich, a little bland (copious melted
butter, salt and pepper come in REALLY handy) and so tender it is almost
quivery. You either love it or you hate it.
Adamantius
Date: Sat, 20 Sep 1997 20:06:10 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - re: lutefisk!
Uduido at aol.com wrote:
> By the way, is a 'stockfish' the nsame as a 'lutefisk'? I have a
> 'stockfich' which I bought in N.Y. City at a wonderful Jewish place that is
> half used and still hanging around in the kitchen after 10 yrs. (perfectly
> edible yet!).
>
> Lord Ras
Stockfish is the English term for air-dried cod, which would have been
reconstituted in period with repeated and lengthy soaking, after having
first beaten it for a long time with a wooden mallet, to tease the
fibers apart, and make them more receptive to water penetration.
Scandinavian terms for this that I'm familar with are Stokfisk and/or
Torsk(i).
Torski becomes lutefisk only when it is soaked in running water for a
while, further soaked in potash or lye solution, and then soaked again
to remove the alkalai. I wonder if the term "lute" means lye?
Some people cheat, by the way, and poach fresh cod fillets, calling it
lutefisk. Can you remember the name of the store you bought the
stockfish in? Wasn't by any chance Russ and Daughters, was it? Still the
best smoked fish place in Manhattan. The best in the city is in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I'm not even certain there's a sign above the
place, so while I could take you there, I don't know its name.
Adamantius
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997 07:07:03 +0200 (METDST)
From: Par Leijonhufvud <parlei at ki.se>
Subject: Sw. 'lut' == Eng. 'lye' (was: SC - re: lutefisk!)
On Sat, 20 Sep 1997, Philip & Susan Troy wrote:
> Torski becomes lutefisk only when it is soaked in running water for a
> while, further soaked in potash or lye solution, and then soaked again
> to remove the alkalai. I wonder if the term "lute" means lye?
At least in modern Swedish 'lut' means lye. I would presume that the term
'lute' is Norwegian, but I _could_ be wrong.
/UlfR
- --
Par Leijonhufvud par.leijonhufvud at labtek.ki.se
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997 10:22:55 -0400 (EDT)
From: Mark Schuldenfrei <schuldy at abel.MATH.HARVARD.EDU>
Subject: Re: SC - re: lutefisk!
What is lutefisk?
lutefisk - noun
A traditional Scandinavian dish prepared by soaking air-dried cod
in a lye solution for several weeks before skinning, boning, and
boiling it, a process that gives the dish its characteristic
gelatinous consistency.
[Norwegian : lut, lye + fisk, fish (from Old Norse fiskr).]
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 10:03:13 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: Re- SC - pickled herring
Par Leijonhufvud wrote:
> Haven't seen any dried in the stores, but the salted stuff (for the
> do-it-yourself enthusiast) is available in virtually all supermarkets
> over here.
Obviously, if dried herring, as opposed to salted, exists, then it
exists, but I'd be inclined to think that dried herring would go rancid
VERY quickly, with its high fat content. Salt herring I am familiar
with, and also the herring that is salted and then smoked till it
resembles a chunk of wood...what the official "herring terminology" for
that product is, I don't know. "Smoked herring" doesn't seem enough to
distinguish it from things like kippers, bloaters, etc.
> The question is *what* they did with it once upon a time. I seriously
> doubt they all either ate it raw, or looked at it and decied to call out
> for pizza.
FWIW, I remember reading that the concept of salting herrings on board
ship, to preserve them both on the trip back to port, and also beyond
that, dates back to some time in the 14th century. One of the problems
that you'll encounter with trying to find ways that salt fish and meats
were used, as that they appear often to have been used interchangeably
with fresh fish and meats. You obviously would desalt them, which every
decent cook would know how to do, and then often you would proceed as
for the fresh equivalent item. There are some recipes that call for
things like stockfish, which give pretty detailed instructions on how to
reconstitute and/or desalt it (speaking generally since stockfish is
normally just air-dried), but I'm not aware of any recipes for herring
that specify salt herring be used. There are one or two in which the
proviso that the herring be fresh is pretty clearly implicit, such as
one which calls for frying the herring and making a sauce by squeezing
the juice from the head. I believe there are some late-period recipes
for pies calling for herring and fruit, but, again, I'm not sure offhand
whether they are for fresh, salt, or pickled herring.
Adamantius
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 16:25:14 +1100 (EST)
From: Charles McCN <charlesn at sunrise.srl.rmit.edu.au>
Subject: Re: SC - dried fish and names
Buying smoked trout in Australia means a gutted, but very lightly smoked
thing (it is usually nearly fresh and doesn't keep long. But it tastes
like fresh fish). Buying smoked mackerel, on the other hand, means you
get the insides too. The stuff keeps for ages, and doesn't taste anything
like fresh fish. The innards actually end up a lot like anchovy paste (I
always wondered what went into that).
Charles
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 19:01:30 +0100 (MET)
From: Par Leijonhufvud <pkl at absaroka.obgyn.ks.se>
Subject: SC - OOP: mustard herring (finally!)
Once uppon a time, long long ago I promised to dig up a recipie for
this. This is straight out of a book, untried by me, and for all I know
it will turn out horrid. But...
metric units:
1 dl = 0.1 L = 3.4 fl.oz.
1 kg = 2.2 lb
Mustard Herring (Skania style)
1 kg fresh herring
1.5 dl 12.5% acetic acid
5 dl water
Sauce:
2 egg yolks
4 T prepared mustard (half sweet, half less sweet)
2 T white wine vinegar
1 t salt
pepper
1 dl oil
3-5 T water
1 bunch dill
1-3 T sugar
1. Clean the fish, remove the spine and cut off the back fin with a pair
of scissors.
2. Mix the acetic acid with the water. Place the fish in this and let
stand 3-6 hours.
3. Remove the skin from the filets. Replace in the liquid and let stand
over night.
4. Drain the fish in a coleander.
5. Place the egg-yolks in a bowl, add mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper.
Stir down the oil while pouring it in gradually, as when making
mayonaise. When the sauce begins to thicken increase the rate. Thin the
sauce with water until it has a suitable consitency.
6. Rinse and chop the dill. Crush in a mortar together with 1-3 T sugar.
The flavour of the dill is brouhgt out better this way than if the
suf'gar is added directly to the sauce.
7. Mix the dill with the sauce and add the fish.
Store cool, should keep for 4-6 days.
/UlfR
- --
Par Leijonhufvud par.leijonhufvud at labtek.ki.se
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 13:51:34 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - OOP: mustard herring (finally!)
Par Leijonhufvud wrote:
> Once uppon a time, long long ago I promised to dig up a recipie for
> this. This is straight out of a book, untried by me, and for all I know
> it wil turn out horrid. But...
Sounds good to me. It is essentially skinless, boneless herring,
pickled, with a sauce that is more or less what is traditionally eaten
with gravlax. Yum!
Adamantius
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 14:53:10 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: SC - FW: MMMM, good holiday food!
Here's a little something off the New Mexico Tech list.
Bear
>From: Steven L. Anderson[SMTP:steveo at nmt.edu]
>Sent: Friday, December 19, 1997 2:11 PM
>To: sca at mauve.nmt.edu
>Subject: MMMM, good holiday food!
>
>From CNN:
>
>Norwegian seasonal delicacies include
> fermented fish and
> fried sheep's head
>
> December 19, 1997
> Web posted at: 11:14 a.m. EST (1614 GMT)
>
> OSLO, Norway (Reuters) -- Forget the haute cuisine of France, the
> rich pasta sauces of Italy and Japan's delicate sushi.
>
> If cod soaked in caustic soda, half-rotten trout or fried sheep's head
> excite your gastric juices, then maybe you should consider a gourmet
> trip to Norway in December. Not only is the twelfth month a time for
> skiing, Christmas and scenery of snow-decked fir trees and wooden
> cabins, it marks what Norwegians consider the height of the culinary
> calender.
>
> Most specialties are still prepared by methods dating back six or
> seven hundred years, when long winters and freezing temperatures
> between November and March left the ground ice-packed and all
> supplies had to be conserved and stored.
>
> Beer flows freely as restaurants fill with Norwegians clamoring for
> their annual dose of seasonal fare. Such is the tradition that
> long-time emigrants as far afield as the United States and Singapore
> still join in the feasting.
>
> But, even with the most romantic, candle-lit surroundings, many
> Norwegian winter dishes are likely to present a challenge to a
> non-native palate.
>
> Most specialties are still prepared by methods dating back six or
> seven hundred years, when long winters and freezing temperatures
> between November and March left the ground ice-packed and all
> supplies had to be conserved and stored.
>
> "Most traditional dishes are based on three months of production and
> nine months of consumption," Astri Riddervold, a food writer and
> retired doctor of ethnology, told Reuters. "All basic foods had to be
> preserved, and the type of food and method were very dependent on
> geographical factors."
>
> Topping the menu of December delights is "lutefisk" or lye fish,
> which any self-respecting Norwegian will have at least once before
> Christmas. Lutefisk is rehydrated dried cod soaked in a strong
> alkaline solution for several days until the fish is soft enough for
> a finger to be pressed through without meeting resistance.
>
> Nowadays the alkali is usually caustic soda, but documents dating
> back to the Middle Ages tell that the solution was made from the
> ashes of birch tree. Some folklore says the dish originated when
> people scavenging for food after a wooden house burned down found cod
> lying sodden in ashes.
>
> After soaking, the cod is rinsed for several days in running cold
> water before cooking is completed by either steaming or poaching. The
> result is a translucent golden color fillet with a stiff-jelly
> consistency. Lovers of lutefisk say that, if cooked to perfection,
> each layer of fish meat should stand apart from the next.
>
> "Lutefisk is unique, the taste is very weak but the consistency is
> very important," Riddervold said. "It is an art to be a lutefisk
> cook, it mustn't be too jelly."
>
> Lutefisk tastes surprisingly bland and is usually enhanced by sauces,
> which differ depending on region. In the east, where pigs were
> traditionally farmed, molten pork fat with crispy bacon shavings is
> poured lavishly over the fish.
>
> In the western part of Norway white sauce with mustard seeds is more
> common, and in the north Norway's famous brown goat's cheese with
> syrup is the accompaniment.
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 1997 02:41:44 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: SC - Semi-Rant Re: MMMM, good holiday food!
> From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
> Subject: SC - FW: MMMM, good holiday food!
> >From CNN:
> >
> >Norwegian seasonal delicacies include
> > fermented fish and
> > fried sheep's head
> >
> > December 19, 1997
> > Web posted at: 11:14 a.m. EST (1614 GMT)
> >
> > OSLO, Norway (Reuters) -- Forget the haute cuisine of France, the
> > rich pasta sauces of Italy and Japan's delicate sushi.
Once again, some irresponsible moron [and I'm not referring to the Noble
Lord Bear!] seeks to amuse, enlighten, and perpetuate and spread
prejudices, as if that weren't already quite adequate in this world.
> >
> > If cod soaked in caustic soda, half-rotten trout or fried sheep's head
> > excite your gastric juices, then maybe you should consider a gourmet
> > trip to Norway in December. Not only is the twelfth month a time for
> > skiing, Christmas and scenery of snow-decked fir trees and wooden
> > cabins, it marks what Norwegians consider the height of the culinary
> > calender.
The "cod soaked in caustic soda" is presumably a reference to lutefisk:
the extremely hard, dried fish is soaked to reconstitute and tenderize
in a weak solution of lye or potash, which would be somewhat caustic in
their undilute form. Since they are, however, dilute, this is
irrelevant. Overall, the process (and the anticipated reaction) is kind
of like watching an American housewife sprinkling meat tenderizer on a
chuck steak, and running to the nearest latrine to upchuck. Now, there's
no law that says you have to like the dish, especially if you've never
tasted it, or even if you have, but there's a big difference between
something being intrinsically awful, and being not to your taste.
As for the "half-rotten trout", this is just nonsense. It's not clear
whether the dish referred to is one of the dishes stored for a long time
in a cold cellar (originally a sort of box dug in the gravel beach),
which would result either in gravlax, which is cured and not by any
remote stretch of the imagination rotten, or something like hakarl,
which is similarly stored until it begins to break down under the action
of enzymes found in the muscle tissue. It's too darned cold for any
bacteria to grow, and the process is essentially the same as what is
used to turn a recently-killed side of beef in rigor mortis into
well-aged, butter-tender prime steaks. I'm not quite sure which half of
"rotten" this is referring to. Again, even though it admittedly might
not be your cup of tea.
There are also dishes made from herring cured with half-quantities of
salt, and stored in sealed cans, but not pasteurized or sterilized
(surstromming?). There's some lacto-baccilic action there (the cans get
kinda puffy, I understand). This is a variant of what we would call
pickled herring. Most of the pickled herring we encounter (those of us
who do, anyway) is pickled in vinegar, but anyone who has eaten a
half-sour dill pickle and lived to tell the tale has survived the worst
and most dangerous aspects of the surstromming experience.
> > Most specialties are still prepared by methods dating back six or
> > seven hundred years, when long winters and freezing temperatures
> > between November and March left the ground ice-packed and all
> > supplies had to be conserved and stored.
Most cuisines are are based on the day-to-day, tangible needs of the
people that created them. This is no different.
> > Beer flows freely as restaurants fill with Norwegians clamoring for
> > their annual dose of seasonal fare. Such is the tradition that
> > long-time emigrants as far afield as the United States and Singapore
> > still join in the feasting.
Well, d**n! They're eating sheep's head and rotten fish, fer heaven's
sake. Of course they're gonna need a stiff drink! ; ) And once you've
gotten used to the cuisine of Singapore, you are, of course, ready for
anything ; ) !!! (The previous statements are intended to amuse, and do
not reflect the opinions of management.)
> >
> > But, even with the most romantic, candle-lit surroundings, many
> > Norwegian winter dishes are likely to present a challenge to a
> > non-native palate.
Exactly. Likely to present a challenge to non-Norwegians (but to
increasing numbers of Norwegians, as well) but really for no better
reason than that some people don't like to eat things they aren't
accustomed to eating regularly.
> > After soaking, the cod is rinsed for several days in running cold
> > water before cooking is completed by either steaming or poaching. The
> > result is a translucent golden color fillet with a stiff-jelly
> > consistency. Lovers of lutefisk say that, if cooked to perfection,
> > each layer of fish meat should stand apart from the next.
> >
> > "Lutefisk is unique, the taste is very weak but the consistency is
> > very important," Riddervold said. "It is an art to be a lutefisk
> > cook, it mustn't be too jelly."
> >
> > Lutefisk tastes surprisingly bland and is usually enhanced by sauces,
> > which differ depending on region. In the east, where pigs were
> > traditionally farmed, molten pork fat with crispy bacon shavings is
> > poured lavishly over the fish.
To whom, exactly, is it a surprise that cod, air-dried, soaked in an
alkalai solution, and then rinsed for several days until the pH is
neutral again, and then cooked with fairly minimalistic seasonings and
served with fairly minimalistic sauces, is bland? Not me!
> > In the western part of Norway white sauce with mustard seeds is more
> > common, and in the north Norway's famous brown goat's cheese with
> > syrup is the accompaniment.
Ah, gjetost. I'd say that saying lutefisk is a standard accompaniment to
gjetost cheese in any particular place is akin to saying pigs in
blankets traditionally accompany canapes, little fried meatballs on
toothpicks, and miniature spring rolls. Possibly true, but not exactly
the whole story, if you know what I mean.
One thing I found fascinating was the fact that among the ordinary,
well-known foods of France, Italy, and Japan mentioned in contrast to
the the exotic Norwegian festival foods, was sushi, which even ten years
ago, would probably not have appeared in a context similar to the one
used. This suggests that tastes do change, and that you can't keep a
good fish down, so to speak, even if it is half-rotten. Of course, if it
was rotten, you might not want to keep it down--well, you get the idea,
I'm sure ; ).
Adamantius
Date: 26 Jan 1998 02:04:27 GMT
From: jack at purr.demon.co.uk (Jack Campin) (by way of renfrow at skylands.net)
Subject: SC - FWD: Re: salt cod
Saw this on rec.food.historic & thought you might be interested:
"Roots" <!!muldrew at !!nbnet.nb.ca> writes:
> Jack Campin wrote in message <3158 at purr.demon.co.uk>...
>>"Roots" <!!muldrew at !!nbnet.nb.ca> writes:
>>> Salt Cod originates in Newfoundland.
>> According to Alan Davidson salted and dried cod, known as "klippfisk" in
>> Scandinavia, was an innovation of mediaeval Europe and the economic base
>> of the Hanseatic League, which puts it a few centuries before Europe was
>> exploiting the Newfoundland fisheries.
> **Sigh** Read the thread. We are discussing Salt COD. The process of
> drying and salting fish was indeed around before the European discovery of
> the Grand Banks. The Bay of Biscayne in Northern Spain is usually
> credited. But Cod is not native to the area and they couldn't have dried
> what they didn't have.
Cod is an oceanic fish and doesn't need an EC work permit to leave Canadian
waters. There are (or were) undoubtedly *more* of them near Newfoundland,
but they occur all over the North Atlantic.
Maria Dembinska, "Method of meat and fish preservation in the light of
archaeological and historical sources", in _Food Conservation: ethnological
studies_, ed. Astri Riddervold & Andreas Ropeid, (Department of Ethnology,
University of Oslo), Prospect Books, London, 1988:
... palaeolithic drawings indicate that marine species of fish were
eaten in regions distant from the sea; which testifies to their
preservation before transportation.
More proof of the necessity to preserve fish comes from the neolithic
period (about 5000-2000 BC). Large quantities of fishbones and scales
of cod found in neolithic excavations indicate that periodical fishing
activities took place, probably in winter, along the Irish and Norwegian
coasts... Similar fish remains have been found in neolithic excavations
in Poland, for example in Pomerania.
The whole article is fascinating; it includes a ham-smoking recipe from
Cato the Elder's _DeRe Rustica_ of the 2nd century BC and a description
of a reconstructed fish smoking process from early mediaeval Poland, and,
in what has to be the least useful recipe ever mentioned on this group,
an account of how to salt an aurochs. (Now where did I put that dodo
liver pate recipe?...)
> I quote from the Norweigan Fisheries website:
> "The art of drying fish was passed on by a long and tortuous path before
> it came to Norway. The method was known in both Newfoundland and Scotland
> before it was taken up on the northwest coast of Norway. The first
> indications of klipfish production here are dated 1640.
Northwest Norway is rather a long way from Hansa territory. Dembinska
describes a continuous tradition of cod preservation further south; maybe
this region of Norway forgot it and had to recreate it? (hard to imagine
how this could have happened). Or is this describing some highly specific
modern process?
In the same collection Johanna Maria van Winter's article "The role of
preserved food in a number of mediaeval households in the Netherlands"
describes the accounts for the military campaign of the Count of Holland
against the Frisians in 1345 as listing 7342 codfish being salted for the
army, with the quantity of salt also accounted for. The documents were
reprinted by H.G. Hamaker as _De rekeningen der grafelijkheid van Holland
onder het Henegouwsche Huis_, 2nd series nrs 21, 24, 26, Utrecht 1875/6/8,
volume II, pp.168-172. De Winter seems to have trawled every domestic
account book surviving from the mediaeval Netherlands; her references are
awesomely thorough.
- ---> email to "jc" at the site in the header: mail to "jack" will bounce <---
Jack Campin 2 Haddington Place, Edinburgh EH7 4AE, Scotland 0131 556 5272
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 10:17:24 -0000
From: "Yeldham, Caroline S" <csy20688 at GlaxoWellcome.co.uk>
Subject: SC - Breakfast
Re: 'Baconn'd herring'
I understood salted and smoked herring was normally referred to as 'red
herring', whereas white herring was just salted. On the other hand, I'd
have through it unlikely that bacon would have been consumed in Lent,
without special approval.
Caroline
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 13:16:38 -0400
From: renfrow at skylands.net (Cindy Renfrow)
Subject: Re: SC - Bacon
><snip> Often times the only meat available and affordable to the poor was
>salted whale.
>Ras.
>=
>Okay, I am going to do something that I really hate when it happens to me...
>but can you document that Ras? I have seen some references to dolphin and
>porpoise being used in period, but not whale- and it was my understanding that
>out of period whale use did not include meat- fat, bone, baleen- but any
>"edible" parts were waste...
>-brid
Ooh, ooh, I know!
"And if on a fish day or in Lent there be whale-flesh (craspois), you ought
to use it as you use bacon on a meat day." Power, The Goodman of Paris
(Le Menagier de Paris), p. 252.
Cindy/Sincgiefu
Date: Thu, 14 May 1998 19:43:58 +1000
From: Robyn Probert <robyn.probert at lawpoint.com.au>
Subject: Re: SC - Organ Meats left out?- Heresy in the Cathedral!
At 06:27 PM 12/05/98 -0500, Bogdan wrote:
>Hey, speaking of Herring, anyone know some period herring recipes (chances
>are they are sitting in this pile of medieval cookbooks, but I haven't
>found them yet. Preferrably a picked type that might last longer?
The Forme of Cury has a pickled fish recipie (Gele of fish) using wine,
vinegar and spices you might want to look at...
Rowan
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 02:56:07 -0500 (CDT)
From: jeffrey stewart heilveil <heilveil at students.uiuc.edu>
Subject: SC - Trouting
I was wondering if anyone has tried the follwing recipe...
It comes from _The Medieval Kitchen Recipes from France and Italy_ by
Redon, Sabban, and Serventi. It is Recipe # 64. Marinated Trout in
Carpione. (Pg. 122)
The translation of the original says:
"To prepare carpione of trout as you would cook a carpione, clean the
trout well and gut them, then pierce them in many places all over with the
point of a knife. Then make a brine with equal parts of water and
vinegar, adding plenty of salt which you must dissolve thouroughy; and put
the trout in for half a day or more. And when this is done, transfer
them to a table, putting them under a weight for three or four hours, and
fry them well in plenty of good oil, so that they are nicely cooked but
not burnt. You can keep these trout for a month, refrying them if you
like, and preparing them again as you would a carpione."
While this sounds all well and good, I am left with a couple of questions:
2) then these fish can be kept DRY for a month? or should they be returned
to the brine?
Bogdan
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 09:52:22 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Trouting
jeffrey stewart heilveil wrote:
> I was wondering if anyone has tried the follwing recipe...
> It comes from _The Medieval Kitchen Recipes from France and Italy_ by
> Redon, Sabban, and Serventi. It is Recipe # 64. Marinated Trout in
> Carpione. (Pg. 122)
>
> The translation of the original says:
<recipe snipped>
>
> While this sounds all well and good, I am left with a couple of questions:
> 2) then these fish can be kept DRY for a month? or should they be returned
> to the brine?
I suppose this is intended as a companion piece to a recipe for
carpione. Having that would probably help clarify things...I could see
either the frying oil being used to exclude air, or the semi-saturated,
acidic brine being used to actually preserve the fish. It's not clear
which, but this is where the carpione recipe would come in handy.
My gut reaction is to suspect the fish are put back into the brine,
which would bring to mind the idea of refrying them before serving.
Adamantius
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 09:12:45 -0500 (CDT)
From: jeffrey stewart heilveil <heilveil at students.uiuc.edu>
Subject: Re: SC - Trouting
On Mon, 13 Jul 1998, Philip & Susan Troy wrote:
> I suppose this is intended as a companion piece to a recipe for
> carpione. Having that would probably help clarify things...I could see
> either the frying oil being used to exclude air, or the semi-saturated,
> acidic brine being used to actually preserve the fish. It's not clear
> which, but this is where the carpione recipe would come in handy.
As it turns out, the original is from Maestro Martino's _Libro de arte
coquinaria,_ though I don't believe I have an english copy around
anywhere.
Bogdan
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 17:58:11 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Trouting
heilveil at students.uiuc.edu writes:
<< While this sounds all well and good, I am left with a couple of questions:
2) then these fish can be kept DRY for a month? or should they be returned
to the brine? >>
Due to the salt and vinegar, added to the frying and pressing I would not be
surprised that they might keep a month under the right conditions. Recently I
made a pan of those breaded fish patties (I know- <gasp!>) but nevertheless I
did. ;-) 2 of them were left on the counter overnight. They were literally as
hard as a rock by morning and could well have survived a month of storage if i
had chosen to do so. :-)
A'aql (pronounced Ras)
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 10:43:31 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: SC - Carpiones: Platina's perspective
With regard to the experiment being done on trout in carpione, via
Martino, I had mentioned in passing that I'd be very surprised to see
that Platina, who seems to have based some of his work on Martino's, did
not have a similar recipe. It turns out he does.
De Honesta Voluptate, Book X, #64
"Garda Trout
"I am surprised at Pliny, for although he made frequent mention of the
very famous Lake Garda of his native Verona, nothing survives which was
written by him about the trout for which that lake is especially
praised. Trout are cooked however you wish. So that they may last a long
time, as soon as they are caught and kept in brine for two days, fry for
a long time in the best oil so they are well cooked, to be saved this
way for a month,even if they are less healthful and rather unpleasant,
more so, if they are recooked. other fish will also be saved but not as
long, if they have been cooked this way. Be careful not to be hurt by a
spine which it bears on its head, for it is considered dangerous, as if
it were dyed with poison."
Translated by Mary Ella Millham.
Just what occurs to me: Apparently Martino has this recipe as a variant
on another recipe, but Platina omits the original, but a couple of
recipes previous he gives a recipe for carpio (carp), carpiones being a
plural form. Now, bearing in mind that carp are somewhat fatty, a bit
like trout in texture, _and_ the fact that they are exceedingly bony
fish, a long cooking method, which would tend to make the bones softer
and more brittle, like chalk or the bones in canned salmon, it would
make sense that this method might well have been developed with carp in
mind originally. Trout have a far less difficult (at least from a
diner's perspective) bone structure, but the edible portion (which in
this dish probably includes the bones, more or less, for the less
squeamish) would respond quite well to this treatment.
Now, I gather Martino is pretty clear as to the strength of the brine he
uses at the beginning of his process, and IIRC, he says to be careful to
avoid burning. Platina just says to cook well for a long time. He also
makes it clear to use the best oil. I bet this is more or less a fish
confit in oil. Since Platina specifies the grade of oil, I imagine the
oil is part of the final dish, which we don't normally associate with
fried foods, at least not intentionally.
This seems to me a possible relative of the numerous types of canned
fried fish available and popular in many parts of the Far East. I'm not
suggesting that one culture(s) learned it from another, necessarily, but
it seems to have some similarity. Basically the fish is seasoned and
fried in oil, until it has a texture similar to fried bacon, but is not
burned. It becomes less crunchy and more tough as it cools, but it can
either be refried, or steamed on a plate on top of the rice, to soften
it up. It actually responds fairly well to microwaves, in fact. I must
have six or eight cans of fried dace (little freshwater, vaguely
herring-like guys) in oil with black beans (the fermented, salted ones,
not frijoles negro).
If this is the case, I assume the moisture lost in the cooking would
have to be on the order of close to half the total weight of the fish
before brining, to be effective as a preservative for any length of
time. Same as for ham. I imagine this is not a dish you mess around with
scales for, but I believe with some experience of getting it just right,
that is the effect you would achieve. I also believe part of the
preservative process is that the oil excludes some of the oxygen and
airborne bacteria, so it should probably be stored at least partially
submerged in oil. Packing the fish closely into a crock and covering
them with the oil would probably be ideal.
Adamantius
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1998 07:28:12 -0400
From: Phil & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Gravlax and the thingy recipe (a bit OT)
Craig Jones. wrote:
> <Snip>
> >>seaweed, Gravlax (salmon spiced and fermented for a few days),
> >>brandade, jelly fish salad, beef tendon noodle soup, sea cucumber,
> >>pork and beef dumpling soup, Alys' recipe for bull penis, mountain
> >>oysters, kimchee, <snip>
>
> Some quick questions:
>
> How do you make Gravlax? Have any good recipes for serving it? Is it
> period?
Yes, it appears to be period, although in slightly altered form. The method of
storing your catch refrigerated by burying it in the sand above the high tide
line is prehistoric. When you bury salmon you have gravad (as in grave) lachs.
We used to make this almost daily in a restaurant I worked in, according to
_fairly_ traditional, albeit updated, methods. Everything was done more or
less by eye, so I don't have really well-defined quantities for the
ingredients. But fear not, last time I checked, when I didn't feel like typing
a lot of stuff, I found several recipes on the Web.
What we used to do is fillet (and completely debone, including the little guys
that live along the lateral line) a whole, cleaned, 7-8 pound salmon, skin on.
We would prick several holes just through the skin side, without cutting into
the meat, to facilitate penetration of the marinade. On top of a sheet of
plastic wrap, we would lay out the two fillets, side by side, almost touching
along the back, and skin side down, so it looks like an orange oblong butterfly.
We'd mix together approximately 1/2 cup Kosher, pickling, or sea salt
(non-iodized!), and 1/2 cup sugar, along with about 2 Tbs cracked black
peppercorns. We would spread this on the flesh side of the salmon, until the
surface was white like snow. Okay, snow with black pepper in it. Sometimes
we'd need to make more of the mixture depending on the size of the salmon, but
it should be fairly thickly coated.
Tradition calls for a topping of coarse-chopped fresh dill, again, a thick
coat so the surface is now completely green. We would first add sliced
shallots to almost cover the fish, and it's good that way, but not really
standard traditional. A light sprinkling (maybe an ounce) of some kind of hard
spirit (ideally akvavit, but I've seen it done with gin and a bunch of other
types of hooch) is optional. We'd then fold the fillets together along the
back line, like a book, and wrap our fish, sugar, salt, and dill sandwich up
tightly in more plaswrap. We used to place the package in a hotel pan, a.k.a.
a steamer tray, and top it with a perforated hotel pan liner, and place a
weight on top of this. I seem to recall tomato cans were the approved item,
totalling maybe four or five pounds. We found it was necessary to move the
weights around because they wouldn't stack well on the non-level surface, and
as the fish cured it would compress and the angle would change.
We used to turn the fish over daily, and pour some of the resulting brine back
over the fish package. Oh, and I forgot to mention: this was kept
refrigerated! It could be considered done after it had macerated and cured for
as little as two or three days, but we used to think it was best after
pickling for four days, at which time it had shrunken a bit, darkened a bit,
and acquired a waxy shine to the meat. We'd scrape the blackened dill off
(sometimes rinsing to get the last of it off), pat dry with towels if
necessary, and allow it to sit for a few minutes for the surface to dry a bit
in the air, maybe five or ten minutes.
We'd slice this in paper-thin slices with the only viable salmon knife on the
premises, which happened to belong to me ; ) : Thin, long, flexible, and
very sharp. The kind of knife commonly called a ham knife works well, just
make _sure_ the knife is not serrated, or you really _will_ have ground Nova.
This was (and is) traditionally served with bagels or brown bread, topped with
a thick, creamy olive oil / white wine vinegar vinaigrette, with added sugar,
some prepared mustard (we used Dijon) and much finely chopped dill (no stems
this time) stirred in.
Need I mention that gravlax made from an eight-pound salmon goes a fairly long
way? It might get you something like twenty good-sized servings.
Adamantius, with profound apologies for calling akvavit "hooch"!
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1998 17:09:10 -0400
From: Marilyn Traber <margali at 99main.com>
Subject: SC - Gravlax recipe (a bit OT)
Gravlax with Mustard Dill Sauce
The following recipe is for two large sides (whole fillets) of salmon,
which outside of restaurants, is only
appropriate for large buffets. If you're not serving a small army, simply
reduce the recipe. Just be sure your two
pieces of salmon are similar in size and shape (two tail pieces would work
nicely). You'll need two pans the
same size that are large enough to hold whatever size salmon fillets you
choose to cure and some canned goods
for weights. The exact amount of dill needed cannot be easily specified
because dill bunches, as sold, vary so
greatly in size. You need enough to cover your pan twice, plus enough to
fill in between the fillets, plus dill for
the sauce. Don't throw away the stems when making the sauce. They can be
used in the cure. For a real taste of
spring, serve the salmon slices over spears of chilled, steamed or
blanched asparagus.
For the salmon:
Two large sides of salmon, two pounds or more each
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sea salt
1/2 cup ground white pepper
lots of dill
For the sauce:
2 tbs. Dijon mustard
2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup distilled vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill, stems removed
salt and white pepper to taste
Salmon:
Thoroughly mix four dry ingredients. Spread thoroughly and evenly over
salmon flesh, spreading a little on the skin side too.
Cover the bottom of one pan with dill. Place one salmon fillet, skin-side
down in the pan. Cover with more dill.
Place the other fillet on top, skin-side up, matching head and tail ends of
the two fillets. Cover with the remaining dill.
Wrap the pan with plastic wrap. Place the second pan on top of the salmon.
Add the cans or other weights.
Refrigerate for 2-3 three days, turning the salmon fillets at least once
each day and recovering.
Remove salmon from pan. Brush away the dill and any remaining cure. Lay the
fillets on a flat surface. With a
long, sharp, thin-bladed knife, held at an angle almost parallel to the work
surface, slice the salmon into wide
slices as thin as possible.
Spread salmon slices, overlapping on serving plates or a large serving
platter. Serve with the sauce and lightly
toasted slices of pumpernickel bread.
Tightly wrapped gravlax will keep under refrigeration for up to 10 days.
Sauce:
Whisk the first four ingredients in a bowl until light and lemon-colored.
Slowly whisk in the vinegar, then the oil.
Stir in the dill and then season with salt and pepper. Sauce will keep 3-4
days under refrigeration.
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1998 20:38:53 -0400
From: "Philippa Alderton" <phlip at bright.net>
Subject: SC - Gravlax
I've been trying to send y'all gravlax recipes all day, with no success, so
if you're interested, try these links:
http://www.eskimo.com/~jefffree/recipes/gravlax.htm
http://www.eskimo.com/~jefffree/recipes/gravlox6.htm
http://www.eskimo.com/~jefffree/recipes/gravlox5.htm
Phlip
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1998 22:28:50 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - Here is Phlip's recipe for Gravlax
GRAVLAX IV
Source: "Pure & Simple: Delicious Recipes for Additive-free Cooking" by Marian
Burros*
€2 lbs center-cut fresh salmon €1 T sugar €1 T salt €1 1/3 T coarsely ground
black pepper €1 large bunch dill, coarsely cut
MUSTARD SAUCE:
€2 T Dijon mustard €1 T sugar €2 T vinegar €6 T oil €1 heaping tsp chopped
dill
HORSERADISH SAUCE:
€3 heaping T prepared white horseradish with liquid thoroughly squeezed out €1
T powdered sugar €1/2 tsp dry mustard €2 T white wine vinegar €Salt and pepper
to taste €1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1. Split fish into 2 halves. Remove all the bones and wash and wipe the skin.
2. Combine the sugar, salt and pepper and sprinkle over halves of flesh.
3. Sprinkle on the dill.
4. Place the two salmon halves flesh side together.
5. Place in an enamel or glass container and cover tightly. Place a brick or
other heavy weight on top of salmon.
6. Refrigerate for 3-4 days, turning salmon occasionally.
7. Remove the dill and scrape off seasonings.
8. Slice salmon thinly and garnish with fresh dill and lemon and serve with
sauce.
MUSTARD SAUCE: Mix mustard with sugar and vinegar; add oil slowly, beating as
you add. Stir in chopped dill and serve with Gravlax. Swedish mustard will
make a much sweeter sauce.
HORSERADISH SAUCE: Mix horseradish with sugar, mustard, vinegar, salt and
pepper. Gradually add to whipped cream. Chill sauce for several hours before
serving.
*NOTE: The author's source was the wife of the Swedish Ambassador, Ulla
Wachtmeister
From: Suzan D Herskowitz (sooz3 at juno.com)
Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 19:15:19 -0800
From: Edwin Hewitt <brogoose at pe.net>
To: "sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu" <sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
Subject: Re: Pickled fish
Melanie Wilson wrote:
> This variation is similar to Gravlaks ie buried or grave salmon. there is a
> record of its use in a ms of 1348, and is probably older still....
I found a nice little site that can suppy you with all the pickled and dried
fish your little viking might want from Norsland Lefse:
http://mydestiny.com/norsland/ordering.html
Samples:
Microwaveable Lutefisk
For our lost Viking friends. We've secured a supply of the
highest quality boneless, vacuum packed lutefisk. 1 3/4# Fillet $10.95
Microwaveable Lutefisk Dinner
completely cooked lukefisk, peas,
homestyle mashed potatoes. Single
serving ready in 8-10 minutes $4.95
Olsen Herring
You'll have the finest pickled herring with Olsen's. In fine
wine sauce.
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 13:21:35 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Kippers
> Adamantius, what is a kipper?
>
> Leanna (without dictionary, as well as eggs, bacon or sausage) of
> Sparrowhaven
I'm not Adamantius, but kippering is the preparation of fish by splitting,
salting, and smoking.
A kipper is usually a herring which has been split, salted and smoked, but I
am given to understand that salmon may also be kippered.
Bear
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 23:23:42 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Kippers
"Sharon R. Saroff" wrote:
> Isn't a kipper a type of herring or sardine?
>
> Sindara
"A kipper" generally refers to a kippered herring, unless otherwise
specified as kippered salmon, sturgeon, etc.
Kippering is a light salt cure (I think in brine rather than a dry rub)
followed by a rather light cold-smoking, so the fish is not cooked in
the heat of the smoking. In the case of kippered salmon or sturgeon,
however, I believe it is more common to hot-smoke the fish so it emerges
from the smokehouse more or less ready to eat.
I recall reading somewhere that kippering actually originally referred
to the way the fish is split and splayed open for smoking (split down
the _back_ and held open with little wooden splints). In any case,
kippered herring are a fairly common Scots export, and fresh ones can
still be a little too salty for most Americans' taste if cooked in a
skillet with eggs, which is a fairly common way of eating them. They're
actually better poached in a skillet of water, then drained and
buttered, and there is a way of jugging them by putting them in a tall
jar or pitcher with boiling water. Alternately (and be aware this is
heavy-duty sacrilege) there are canned "kipper snacks", fillets of
kippered herring, cooked and ready to eat, which, while sacrilege,
aren't such a terrible introduction to the product for children and
others easily intimidated.
My reference to kippers was sparked by the references to eggs, bacon and
sausages at breakfast. They're fairly common in the British Isles as an
accompaniment to eggs and surely beat the stuffings out of Spam in that
regard...
Adamantius
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 1999 12:12:33 +0200
From: "ana l. valdes" <agora at algonet.se>
Subject: Re: SC - "cabelho" fish recipe?
I am not an expert, but I am raised in Uruguay, South America, and in my
catholic family, with portuguise, spanish and italian ancestors, it was
natural to eat cabelho or "bacalao" every Friday during Lend.
The recipe we used at home was the following:
1 kilo dried fish, cod, called also cabelho or bacalao
Tomatoes
Chickpeas
Onions
Oil (olive)
Egg
Parsley
Bayleaves
Pepper and salt
Let the fish soaked in water one day
Dry the excess of water, rinse and pat with some paper
In a pan fry the tomatoes and the onions in olive oil
Put the fish in a pot and add the mixture you got from the pan
If the chickpeas are "natural", you must cook them for some hours before
you add them to the pot
If not, the best is to buy a can with precooked chickpeas
You got now in the pot the fish, the tomatoes, onions and chickpeas.
Add water (not much)
A can with passed tomatoes and tomato juice
Parsley
Bayleaves
Add salt and pepper
Let it boil during two hours with slow flame
When the casserole is almost ready, add the eggs
The bacalao can serves with rice or potatoes
Excuse my poor english, I tried to translated my grandmothers recipe
from 1935
Greetings
Ana L. Valdés
Date: Sat, 03 Jul 1999 10:32:37 +0200
From: "ana l. valdes" <agora at algonet.se>
Subject: Re: SC - "cabelho" fish recipe?
And the dish have different names in different cultures. In
Spanish its called bacalao, in Portuguise cabelho. But all its about the
same fish, dried cod. When you buy it, its very similar to jerky, long
and wide irregular chunks, hanging often from the roof.
I can try to find some pictures if you want.
By the way, i found a wonderful recipe from Nero Wolfes cookbook, the
recipe is called "portugese salt cod":
NERO WOLFE'S BACALHAU (PORTUGESE SALT COD)
Dato - Date: 18-02-1997
av - by : Lasse Jenssen (lasse.jenssen at graficonn.no)
Oppskrift - Recipe
Ingredienser - Ingredients:
1 1/2 to 2 lbs soaked dried cod
2 lg Onions, sliced
6 tb Butter
1 cl Garlic, minced
3 lg Potatoes
2 tb Bread crumbs
10 Pitted green olives
10 Black olives
4 Hard-cooked eggs
1/2 c Chopped fresh parsley
Wine vinegar
Olive oil
Fresh ground black pepper
Framgangsmåte - Description
NOTE: To prepare dried cod, soak in cold water for about 24 hours, or
until it is completely moistened. Change the water two or three times.
Drain thoroughly.
Put the cod into a saucepan and add enough cold water to cover.
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until
the fish is tender. Drain; remove skin and bones.
Flake the meat with a fork into large pieces.
Saute the onions in 3 tablespoons of butter until they are tender and
golden in color. Add the garlic. Boil the unpeeled potatoes in salted water.
When they are tender (about 20 minutes), remove from the heat, put under
cold running water, and remove the skins.
Drain and slice into 1/4-inch pieces.
Preheat the oven to 350 deg.F. Grease a 1 1/2-quart casserole with the
remaining 3 tablespoons of butter.
Arrange a layer of half the potatoes, then half the cod, then half the
onions. Sprinkle with a little pepper and repeat the layering.
Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top layer.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until heated through and lightly browned.
Before serving, garnish the top with olives and eggs; sprinkle with parsley.
Serve with the wine vinegar and oil in cruets and black pepper in a
small dish.
In this url you can find more recipes around the same topic:
http://graficonn.no/webhotell/oppskrifter/Bacalao.html
I forgot the Norwegians and the Newfoundlanders are also big consumers
of bacalao.
Greetings from
Ana L. Valdés
Date: Sat, 03 Jul 1999 15:31:46 +0200
From: "ana l. valdes" <agora at algonet.se>
Subject: Re: SC - "cabelho" fish recipe?
Jessica Tiffin skrev:
> Ana L. Valdés said:
> > > spices they found in Madagascar and Macao. Their recipes about the dried
> > > fish named "cabelho" are also unique.
> Ooooh, this is fascinating! When you say "dried fish named cabelho", does
> the name refer to a particular fish species, or to any kind of fish which is
> dried?? There's a stockfish found only off the coast of Southern Africa and
> Madagascar, which is a prime eating fish, and which in Afrikaans is called
> kabeljou, pronounced "cabble-yo". The name is apparently derived from the
> Old Dutch (according to my housemate's book on S. African fish-species), but
> sounds _very_ similar to the Portuguese. I'm wondering if there was
> cross-cultural wossname here, and if so, which way??
>
> Jehanne
>
> Jehanne de Huguenin, called Melisant * Jessica Tiffin
> melisant at iafrica.com * jessica at beattie.uct.ac.za *
It can be, in Norway and in other parts of the Northern Europe the fish
is named "torsk", in English cod. But I think the "kabeljou" or
"bacalao" it means the dryed fish, the procedure and not the specific fish.
For all interested in trace the origins of food and what kind of food
are really "multicultural", I can recommend Raymond Sokolov "Why we eat
what we eat", published 1991 by Summit Books.
Greetings
Ana L. Valdés
Date: Sat, 03 Jul 1999 10:35:55 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - "cabelho" fish recipe?
LrdRas at aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 7/3/99 9:32:02 AM Eastern Daylight Time, agora at algonet.se
> writes:
> << ut I think the "kabeljou" or
> "bacalao" it means the dried fish, the procedure and not the specific
> fish. >>
>
> What leads you to this conclusion?
>
> Ras
In the case of bacalao (I think there's something about cabaljou in that
fascinating cod book I have somewhere, but where, aye, there's the cod)
it seems to be the deal that any of a number of codlike fishes can be
used, including cod, ling or hake, pollack, etc. The equivocation for
purpose is only aided by the fact that cod, as they've become somewhat
overfished, have gotten smaller [i.e. the size at which they are
harvested rather than thrown back] over the last several decades, and
you see fewer and fewer of the really big fish in the primary markets
these days. If a real cod isn't going to get more than about two feet
long, usually, an eighteen-inch hake, which will dry to a perfectly fine
stockfish, or salt for a fine bacalao, seems like an excellent
substitute from which to make a product sold under the same name. I know
I've seen those little wooden boxes of bacalao (imported, I think, from
South Africa, interestingly enough), reading "SALT COD [pollack]".
This is not to say that this situation always existed, of course. Until
fairly recently salt cod was salt cod.
Adamantius
Date: Sat, 3 Jul 1999 18:33:15 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - "cabelho" fish recipe?
Elysant wrote:
>I wonder what the words literally mean in these languages.
Kabeljau is the German name for cod and has come to mean "dried salted cod"
in several languages. Bacalao (Spanish) and bacalhau (Portuguese) also meant
originally just cod but has come to mean "dried salted cod" and later "dried
salted fish" in these languages seems actually to have come from the
language of the natives of Newfoundland: "Cabot him selfe named those landes
Baccallaos, bycause that in the seas ther about he found so great multitude
of certayne bigge fysshes ... which thinhabitantes caule Baccllaos."
(Richard Eden, Decades of Newe Worlde (1555).
>Anyway, I'm imagining that the names you're all talking about must have
>travelled more because of trade than migration right?
Yes. In the Mediterranean and other southern countries, almost all the cod
people ever saw was dried and salted, so it is natural that the names for
fresh fish came to mean just that.
Nanna
Date: Sun, 04 Jul 1999 19:58:47 +0200
From: "ana l. valdes" <agora at algonet.se>
Subject: Re: SC - salmon recipe?
I can suggest the most common recipe to prepare "gravad lax", a Swedish
speciality. Cut the salmon in thin pieces and leave overnight in a
marinade composed of sugar, dill, blackpepper and salt. Easy, wonderful
tasty and not salty at all!
Ana L. Valdés
Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 11:50:07 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Danish cookbook
Anne of Bradford wrote:
> Lutefisk? I've got the family swedish recipe, and would love to compare the
> two. Mine's definitely OOP (potatoes. in sweden. in period? Doubtful, but
> the butter/cream/potato sauce is heavenly before you put the cod in...),
There's also a recipe in Sabina Welserin's cookbook that is clearly
lutefisk in substance, if not in name, dated at what, 1553, C.E.? I'll
see if I can find the CD with the book on it...
Adamantius
Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 23:23:55 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - Danish cookbook
From: Anne of Bradford <rdwlist at micronet.net>
>Lutefisk? I've got the family swedish recipe, and would love to compare the
>two. Mine's definitely OOP (potatoes. in sweden. in period? Doubtful, but
>the butter/cream/potato sauce is heavenly before you put the cod in...),
Unfortunately, this recipe is one of the more vague in the book - the name
is actually "spidfisk", i.e. spitted fish, which I take to mean fish dried
on a spit.
Spidsfisk
Let it soak overnight in water and lye. But if you need it quick, then bring
it to the boil in water mixed with mild lye, then warm the fish up again in
fresh water.
Doesn´t say much, does it? There is a a very good description of how to make
lutefisk in the earliest Icelandic cookbook but it dates only from 1784. No
sauce - it is served with melted butter and mustard. Not that lutefisk has
ever been popular in Iceland but the book is written under a very strong
Norwegian influence and the author was trying to teach Icelanders to eat it,
with no success at all.
Nanna
Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 04:33:10 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - fresh lutefish?
Stefan li Rous wrote:
> Quick lutefish? I thought the whole idea of making lutefish was to
> preserve it for later use and that the lye taste was just tolerated.
> Does this indicate that some folks *liked* the taste of the preservation
> technique, much as we often still lightly smoke or salt meats and fish
> not as a true preservative but because we like the taste?
Nossir. Lutefisk is a preparation or, if you will, dish, designed to
make a dried fish product known as torsk or stokfisk (known in English
as stockfish), palatable.
The only preservation technique involved is air-drying, which leaves the
fish with a texture somewhat like warped, peeling plywood. You soak it
in a solution of lye to tenderize it, then wash the lye (which is not
only unpleasant tasting, like soap, but potentially toxic in quantity)
outta there.
The dish itself is made as if one were taking beef jerky and
reconstituting it in water with a powerful meat tenderizer added, before
cooking. You'll notice that the English and French recipes for stockfish
usually call for beating it with a wooden mallet for a while before
soaking: the purpose is to tease the fibers apart somewhat so that the
water can penetrate into the flesh and reconstitute it that much faster,
and to make the finished product more tender. In the case of lutefisk,
the same is accomplished by using a caustic substance to partially
dissolve the collagen-based intramuscular connective tissue, of which
cod and its relatives have a fair amount compared to, say, flounder.
Here's a period German recipe for what seems pretty clearly to be
lutefisk, courtesy of Valoise Armstrong's translation of Das Kochbuch
von Sabina Welserin, 1553 C.E. :
> 33 To prepare dried cod, from the gracious Lord of Lindau, who was Bishop in Constance
>
> First take river water and ashes and add caustic lime, which should be rather strong, and soak the dried cod therein. Allow it to soak for a day and a night, afterwards drain it off and pour on it again the previously described caustic lime solution. Let it soak again for a day and a night, put it afterwards in a pot and wash it off two or three times in water, so that the fish no longer tastes like lye. Put it then in a pot and put water therein and let it slowly simmer so that it does not boil over. Allow it to only simmer slowly, otherwise it becomes hard. Let it cook approximately one hour, after which, dress and salt it and pour salted butter over it and serve it. Also put good mustard on the outside in about three places. One must also beat dried cod well before it is soaked.>
Note that you have a preserved product already, take 48 hours to prepare
it for eating, then you eat it, after, as the recipe specifically
states, you remove all traces of lye taste.
Hope this makes the issue less <ahem> fishy for you...
Adamantius
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 09:32:14 +1100
From: Lorix <lorix at trump.net.au>
Subject: SC - Period Sources requested for Preserved Fish (salmon)
Good Fortune the List,
this is a request for assistance from all
those who have a much better book collection
than mine :-) or access to a State Library
with good resources!
I have several modern recipes for preparing
preserved/uncooked fish. One in particular
is incredibly yummy and everyone begs for
more of it. Alas, I have not been able to
find in my resources anything that would
suggest (with modifications) that the
preparation of fish in a manner similar to
that used to prepare 'gravelax' is period.
My request is for any period recipes for
preserved fish or fish prepared in a similar
manner to gravelax. I have added the recipe
that I have been using mundanely.
The recipe is easy to prepare, can be
prepared in advance & is good for those
situations where cooking facilities are
limited ('cause it doesn't need to be heated
:-). The recipe I currently use mundanely is
incredibly popular (even with those who
initially turned up their nose at 'uncooked'
meat), so that I would like to serve it, or
something similar that is period.
Alternatively, I would welcome any fish
recipes that others have tried that can be
pre-prepared and either served cold or
re-heated safely. I have a severe back
injury, so I must pre-prepare most dishes
that I serve at a feat. While I have a
number of tried recipes for a variety of
foods, I have none for fish & would welcome
any suggestions.
Basically the recipe is very simple and is as
follows:
1. Cover the base of a baking dish with an
equal mix of salt & sugar. Basically the
sugar/salt should be thick enough that you
cannot see the base of the dish.
2. Lay the 1/2kg fillet of salmon (skin
down) on to the sugar & salt mix. Cover the
fish with a dusting of sugar/salt (equal mix)
until it is white.
3. Grate the zests of a lemon & an orange,
then juice them to have an equal amount of
lemon & orange juice. Add white wine (or
brandy or sherry) & a slosh of balsamic
vinegar. This liquid should be enough to
cover the fish. If not juice some more
fruit!
4. Pour liquid over the fish gently, so as
not to disturb the salt/sugar too juice. If
it gets washed off in places, then dust it
over again.
5. Cover, refrigerate & Leave fish for a
minimum of 24 hours & up to 36 hours
6. When ready, lift out & drain of excess
liquid & pat dry. Let it stand face down on
absorbent paper for an hour in the fridge.
7. When it has drained, then take it out.
Combine dijon mustard, fresh chopped dill &
basil with a little verjuice. Smear this
over the top of the salmon. Wrap the fillet
tightly in glad wrap & leave in the fridge
for several hours.
8. When ready to serve, cut the fillet to
the skin (but not thru) in straight cuts
about 1/2cm thick. Then basically cut the
skin off, leaving as little flesh as
possible.
9. We usually sever this on slices of
"melba" toast (flattened bread with a rolling
pin & bake it till it is hard).
Despite the huge quantities of salt, the
flesh has NO salt taste. The sugar & salt
sort of crystallize & form a protective
covering over the fish (preventing it going
off, etc). Also, despite soaking in the
liquid for some time, the flesh is not
squishy. It does absorb the liquid, because
the taste of the marinade does penetrate
throughout the fish, but the salt & sugar
seem to act in combination & allow the
marinade to 'cure' the fish, but also be
drawn out again. When you pat the fish dry,
the salt & sugar flakes off, leaving no
residue. The flesh has a similar texture to
that of unsliced smoked salmon and the sugar
gives it an almost glazed appearance. When
it is sliced, the mustard mix slightly coats
the sides of the fish, so no other relish is
necessary.
Thanks, Lorix
Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2000 19:10:20 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Old Wives Cleaning
Bluwlf17 at cs.com wrote:
> What is "lutefisk" ?
Lutefisk is a modern Scandinavian name for a preparation of air-dried
cod which involves marinating it in a lye solution until extremely
tender, then washing it clean, then poaching or steaming it. Usually
served with mustard and melted butter. Oldest recipe I've seen (under
another name) is from 1553 Augsburg.
Adamantius
Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2000 12:07:42 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: New World Foods: Rant/ Counter Rant (Long)
Stefan li Rous wrote:
> Now salt cod (and other dried or cured fish) is expensive here at
> about $6 to $8 for one pound in a cheap, but cute, wooden box. In what
> other areas is it available and what are the prices?
I seem to recall seeing salt cod (which most often come in 1-pound
chunks in a plastic bag or a styrofoam meat tray) at around $4 per
pound. It's worth considering, though, that salt cod, when soaked,
translates to 2-3 times as much per weight in fresh cod, both from an
increase in mass in reconstitution, and the fact that it is more
powerfully flavored than fresh cod, so most ordinary people (i.e. not
me) eat somewhat less of it.
Air-dried cod or pollack, which I sometimes see in Asian markets, works
out to about $4/lb, too, but reconstitutes to about 4 times its original
weight. It also is generally in the form of skinless, boneless, fillets,
so there's little or no waste.
Adamantius
Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2000 22:16:13 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: New World Foods: Rant/ Counter Rant (Long)
Christi Rigby wrote:
> When you soak your salt cod do you soak it in milk or water? I have heard
> milk takes the saltiness out better and adds a bit to the fish when
> reconstituted.
I usually just use water, but I've been known to cook it in milk. While
[fresh] milk contains a small amount of lactic acid, which could
tenderize some of the connective tissue, I don't see how it would remove
salt any better than water. The trick is to change it frequently.
In the book, "Cod: A Natural History of the Fish That Changed the World"
(I forget the author and the book is still boxed), there's a passge
describing the patented soaking method used by the then-mayor of
Marseilles, who used to put it in a net bag and weight it down in his
toilet tank, instructing a household servant to flush at least once an hour...
Bear in mind, of course, that _in theory_, there's no backflow, so that
water _should_ be clean...
Adamantius (I figure it's no worse than cooking a salmon in the dishwasher)
Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2000 00:00:47 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: New World Foods: Rant/ Counter Rant (Long)
William Seibert wrote:
> About getting the salt out; seems to me I recall something from somewhere or
> other about throwing in a raw potatoe, which would (by some magical process)
> suck up the salt. True or no?
>
> wajdi
I haven't heard that one. I'm familiar with putting a potato to cook in
a pot of oversalted food, like soup or stew. Basically the way it works
is that you've just increased the mass of the overall dish, causing some
of the salt (which works through diffusion or osmosis like many other
chemicals in solution) to enter the potato. You can do this as many
times as you need to, but each time you remove a cooked potato you
remove some salt, too.
Le Menagier advises the same thing with a little bag of meal, works the
same way. Another medieval Helpful Hint from Heloise (or is it Abelard?)
that actually works!
Adamantius
Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2000 11:21:39 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: New World Foods: Rant/ Counter Rant (Long)
Adamantius wrote:
>I usually just use water, but I've been known to cook it in milk. While
>[fresh] milk contains a small amount of lactic acid, which could
>tenderize some of the connective tissue, I don't see how it would remove
>salt any better than water. The trick is to change it frequently.
Back home on the farm, we used to soak it in a small mountain brook running
nearby. The only problem was, the ravens nesting in the cliffs nearby would
always try to pinch it. So we children were sometimes ordered out to watch
the saltfish.
Nanna
Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2000 11:34:34 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: New World Foods: Rant/ Counter Rant (Long)
"Decker, Terry D." wrote:
> Raw potato helps remove excess salt from a soup or a stew when you've been a
> little heavy handed with the salt shaker. One period technique to do the
> same is to hang a bag of oatmeal in the soup or stew.
>
> Neither technique is designed to handle the quantity of salt found in salt
> preserved foods.
>
> Bear
I think perhaps it could, but the thing is that it works when the food
is being cooked, not when it is soaked. Gelatinizing starch expands, and
it seems to suck up more liquid, and salt, in the process. I can't
imagine a raw potato going into the soaking water and absorbing much
salt. Perhaps in the case of foods with a lot of salt that also require
long cooking, like some Virgina ham dishes, perhaps, it might work. I
think with salt cod it would require enough cooking to ruin the fish.
Adamantius
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2000 14:02:57 -0700 (PDT)
From: Angus <angus at iamawitch.com>
Subject: Re: SC - gravlax
>The 2 questions I would like to pose to the list are, is gravlax period for
>a Viking type feast and if so, does anyone have any good recipes or tips on
>what it should be served with?
>Kristine Agnew
>aka.Lady Boudicca nia inghen Siol Lhiannon
>Seneshal, Shire of Mare Amethystinum
If my memory serves me right the word 'gravlax' (which rougly translates into 'buried salmon') appeared sometime in the 12th century but that's no proof it didn't exist in earlier times. I came across a swedish book on Viking foods and if I can find the time during the weekend I'll look into if it lists something similar and try ot locate some ppl involved in the writing but if IIRC the whole thing was based on archeological finds, maybe even written sources like the Icelandic Sagas.
I've managed to dig up a recipe from the web which is almost identical to the one I use myself.
You'll find it on
http://www.santesson.com/recept/gravlax.htm
A WORD OF WARNING!!!
When making gravlax be sure that you DO NOT use any of the 'health-salts' with some part of the sodium chloride replaced by magnesium chloride or calcium chloride.
The recipe for the mustard sauce is also very good and trust the advice on excluding gin, whisky etc. from the recipe. Strong spirits should be chilled in your freezer and poured into a small glass put beside your plate, not used in gravlax itself IMHO.
As for what you serve it I'd say your staple food most of the time. I eat it mostly around Xmas of Easter along with the rest of the excess of food served then. For the days in between I usually put thin slices on fresh toast and slather it with mustard sauce for breakfast or as a snack.
However, I have never tried to make gravlax with honey instead of white sugar. Honey would probably have been the most readily available sugar source for Vikings so it's possible they just dried, smoked or salted the fish.
Well, there's my 0,18 SEK and I'll get back when I've taken a deeper look into it.
/Angus MacIomhair
Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 09:38:08 -0700 (PDT)
From: Angus <angus at iamawitch.com>
Subject: Re: SC - gravlax
In my earlier reply to this post I said I'd follow it up and finally I've got the time to do it.
I have not found anything that suggests gravlax was served in the Viking era but I haven't looked into the various Sagas. They might have something to offer.
Making gravlax with honey worked out fine but was a little tricky. Partly because the honey has a sweeter taste than white granulated sugar, partly because the difficulty in tasting the salt/honey mix. The honey coats the grains of salt so all you feel is an initially sweet honey taste followed by a sharp salty taste, not the salty-sweet balanced taste you get with ordinary sugar. I ended up adding roughly 10-15% more salt than honey (by volume) and the finished gravlax came out OK but personally I prefer a slightly saltier taste. I used "liquid" honey with a high water content for easier mixig with the salt. According to the label the sugar content of the honey was 70%.
Since I made this mundanely I also added a handful of chopped dill and a good sized pinch of crushed white pepper, I have no idea if this was available to Vikings or not.
/Angus MacIomhair
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 00:44:16 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - gravlax
Stefan li Rous wrote:
> Thanks for the personal experience with making the gravlax. You question
> whether the Vikings would have had the dill and white pepper. I would
> question, if not more so, the Norse having the sugar. The amount of
> sugar required would seem to put it out of reach in this time period
> from what I've seen mentioned on this list earlier. When even several
> hundred years later sugar was treated more like a medicine and rationed
> out carefully, it would seem that using it to preserve fish would not
> have been done.
>
> I like your idea of using diluted honey as I doubt that honey was
> cheap either, just more available and cheaper than sugar.
I vaguely recall reading somewhere (was it Elisabeth Luard, Stefan?)
that the concept of fermenting/pickling/curing fish is extremely old,
and probably well-known to the Vikings. I'll have to dredge up the
details, but the method discussed appears to have included evergreen
branches as a wrapper for structural support and drainage, with the
package being buried in the sand above the high tide line. The dill and
the sugar, and perhaps in some cases even the salt (not to mention the
optional hooch) appear to have been later additions. Again, I only
vaguely recall this, but I could swear it was claimed that the
difference between dishes like gravlax and things like haakarl
(Greenland shark cured until reaching a texture and flavor similar to
Brie) was the type of fish used, and the degree of fermentation.
Adamantius
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 02:30:55 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - gravlax
Adamantius wrote:
>I vaguely recall reading somewhere (was it Elisabeth Luard, Stefan?)
>that the concept of fermenting/pickling/curing fish is extremely old,
>and probably well-known to the Vikings. I'll have to dredge up the
>details, but the method discussed appears to have included evergreen
>branches as a wrapper for structural support and drainage, with the
>package being buried in the sand above the high tide line. The dill and
>the sugar, and perhaps in some cases even the salt (not to mention the
>optional hooch) appear to have been later additions. Again, I only
>vaguely recall this, but I could swear it was claimed that the
>difference between dishes like gravlax and things like haakarl
>(Greenland shark cured until reaching a texture and flavor similar to
>Brie) was the type of fish used, and the degree of fermentation.
That would be some very mature Brie. Ideally, you should need a large sip of
Black Death (Icelandic vodka-type drink) to keep the h·karl down. Although
in recent years I've had some that only required a sip of water. There is
also the very potent fermented skate traditionally eaten on St. Thorlak's
Day (Dec 23rd); it is often the job of the man of the house to cook it and
they are frequently exiled to the garage because of the smell. I always keep
open house on St. Thorlak's day for desperate fugitives from skate-eating
feasts, since it happens to be one of the few foods I don't like).
Anyway, I don't recall any mentions of gravlax in the Sagas but fermented
fish has always been quite common in Iceland. The oldest descriptions I can
recall of anything gravlax-like are from the 19th century. But it was an old
practice here to keep salmon and other fish for a few days wrapped in common
chickweed (Stellaria media); this was not, AFAIK, done to improve the taste,
but the fish was said to keep better this way.
Nanna
Date: 21 Oct 2000 15:19:04 -0000
From: gunnora at realtime.net
Subject: Re: Lutefisk
To: Norsefolk at egroups.com
Uddgar asked:
> Gunnora, and idea if it is pre or post 1600?
Starting around 1100 (i.e., the very end of the Viking Age and start
of the Middle Ages in Scandinavia) European markets for Scandinavian
fish opened up. In northern SCandinavia, it's so dry and cold that
they simply strung the fish (mostly cod) up and hung it from a rod
or "stock" and allowed it to dry. This produced "stockfish". Any
peasant could set up to produce stockfish -- the fishermen usually
owned all their own equipment, catching cod using lines with onr or
two hooks.
By 1300 stockfish production spread southwards in Scandinavia to the
coasts of Möre. Iceland exported stockfish to Bergen beginning ca.
1320, then later (1412) sold direct to English merchants who sailed
to Iceland to buy. By 1450 stockfish production had spread to
northern Troms and Finnmark. By 1520 fishing villages producing
stockfish had spread all along the coast to Vadsø.
Herring for European markets was generally salted, though some was
smoked. Herring production for export was not a peasant activity,
because of the large investment needed for the salt and tuns for
salting fish, combined with the fact that the herring catch was
variable since herring shoals are irregular. Herring was usually
taken with seine nets and fish traps along the shore.
The herring industry was centered around Scania, near the Hansa towns
on the German coast, beginning ca. 1200. The value of the herring
trade quickly outstripped the stockfish trade. (Why? Proximity to
the Hanseatic merchants?) Important herring production sites included
the islands of Møn, Lolland, Falster, and southern Zealand, with the
two most important fishing villages being Falsterbo and Skanør.
Bohuslän got into the herring business from 1288-1341, and from 1370
German merchants gradually fielded their own fishermen directly as
well.
See: Nedkvitne, Arnved. "Fishing, Whaling and Seal Hunting." In:
Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia. Garland Reference Library of
the Humanities 934. Phillip Pulsiano, et al., eds. New York: Garland.
1993. pp. 307-308.
Alas, none of the sources I have at home even *mention* lutefisk.
Interestingly, my Swedish dictionary translates "lutefisk" as "dried
stockfish" and doesn't even mention lye. From other sources, it
appears that true lutefisk is made from stockfish, i.e., dried cod.
Each pound of dried fish yields nearly eight pounds of lutefisk.
The Old Norse dictionary gives me skarp-fisk (lit. "sharp fish") and
skreið for dried fish, but I couldn't even find a word for
lutefisk -- it may be there, but *I* didn't find it.
I was able to find a period German recipe for what appears to be
lutefisk, which comes from Valoise Armstrong's translation of Das
Kochbuch von Sabina Welserin, 1553 C.E.:
33 To prepare dried cod, from the gracious Lord of Lindau, who was
Bishop in Constance. First take river water and ashes and add caustic
lime, which should be rather strong, and soak the dried cod therein.
Allow it to soak for a day and a night, afterwards drain it off and
pour on it again the previously described caustic lime solution. Let
it soak again for a day and a night, put it afterwards in a pot and
wash it off two or three times in water, so that the fish no longer
tastes like lye. Put it then in a pot and put water therein and let
it slowly simmer so that it does not boil over. Allow it to only
simmer slowly, otherwise it becomes hard. Let it cook approximately
one hour, after which, dress and salt it and pour salted butter over
it and serve it. Also put good mustard on the outside in about three
places. One must also beat dried cod well before it is soaked.
Other Lutefisk Resources:
Making Lutefisk:
http://www.lofoten-info.no/nfmuseum/history/lutefisk.htm
http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/3227/luteing.htm
Stockfish drying in Norway:
http://members.theglobe.com/GAILDEV/Resources/tfisk2.jpg
Some lutefisk books:
Gary Legwold. The Last Word on Lutefisk: True Tales of Cod and
Tradition. 1996. To buy from Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0965202704/thevikinganswerl
Gary Legwold. The Last Toast to Lutefisk!: 102 Toasts, Tidbits, and
Trifles for Your Next Lutefisk Dinner. Conrad Henry Press. 1999. To
buy from Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0965202712/thevikinganswerl
I am also frightened to tell you that you can get lutefisk as --
that's right -- A TV DINNER:
http://www.olsenfish.com/products/frozen.htm
::GUNNORA::
Date: Fri, 05 Jan 2001 10:13:28 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Surstr=F6mming?=: Was, Re: SC - Would you like 14 Metric Tons of Long Pepper?
UlfR wrote:
> On Fri, 5 Jan 2001, Stefan li Rous wrote:
> > Par Leijonhufvud commented:
> > > just as long as the UN does not catch on to the fact that we *are*
> > > stockpiling biological weapons...
> >
> > I don't think lutefisk counts as a biological weapon.
>
> We are talking about surstr–mming here. A very different beast.
>
> /UlfR
Surstr–mming are a Scandinavian form of pickled herring made not with
vinegar, which seems to be the more common method, but by salting them
with approximately half as much salt as would normally be used for
salted herring. Herring is sometimes salted right on the ship from which
they are caught (this method appears to date from the 13th or 14th
century, BTW) in cases where the fishermen had to go farther afield to
find the shoals, hence the whole Hanseatic League thing yadda yadda...
but that's another story.
When your catch is huge, and you begin to run out of salt, what you do
is skimp on the salt in each barrel, thinking to sell the imperfectly
preserved herring to the first sucker that comes along -- cheaply and
with your no-returns-in-case-of-food-poisoning-caveat-emptor-policy
clearly written in very small print on the back of the receipt.
Then, what happens as you sail home across the sea, is that the fish
begins to undergo a lactobacillic fermentation, something like what
happens to half-sour or dill pickles, or sauerkraut. The bacteria
produces lactic acid, and this actually preserves the fish rather
nicely. It also produces a flavor which is an acquired taste at best for
some, but highly prized by many others, and instead of unloading your
cheap, half-rotted herring on unsuspecting rubes, you can sell your
surstr–mming to wealthy herring connoisseurs, whose demand greatly
exceeds suppy in almost any given year.
If it's after the mid-19th century, you'll have found that a good way to
distribute your surstr–mming is in soldered tins not otherwise
heat-processed: you don't want to spoil the flavor by cooking the fish
in the tin, or killing the bacteria. So, you put the fish in cans and
then refrigerate them anyway. All is well.
However, what then happens is that the fish continue to ferment slowly
in the can, producing gas and alarming pressure and finally, bulges on
the can similar to those produced by botulism. The fish is perfectly
safe to eat, although cans of surstr–mming have been known to explode.
I'm pretty sure UlfR entertained us at one point with the story of the
adventures of a surstr–mming fan arrested by either the Bomb Squad or
some kind of Anti-Terrorist Task Force after a surstr–mming accident in
a major airport.
Adamantius
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 12:31:03 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Gjetost and stockfish
Elizabeth A Heckert wrote:
> In another conversation, someone said that you have to beat or hammer
> stockfish to make it edible. I have also read this *somewhere*, but the
> technique was not described. My only experience with dried meat is once
> with that salted beef you make creamed chipped beef out of. I soaked
> that stuff to remove some of the salt, and made the cream sauce, and it
> was fine without pounding. What does the pounding do, and how do you do
> it? If you use butter in the process, when is it added?
Bearing in mind that dried cod, ling, hake, etc., the kinds of fish that
get made into stockfish, are not salted, an important consideration is
that soaking them can soften the outside, and even perhaps allow it to
go bad before the inside is moist enough to use. Also, these fish all
have a fair amount of intramuscular connective tissue: they can be tough
fish, and drying their flesh will only amplify that. The object of
beating them is to make them not only tender but porous (the dried fish
will begin to split apart at the fibers, but hold together until you
have a fibrous, almost puffy mass), so they'll absorb water in the
reconstitution stage, and also flavorings in the cooking stage (dried
fish can be a bit bland). Finally, by exposing the various tough threads
of connective tissue, you get the greatest amount of tenderizing in cooking.
Butter can be added probably at any time. Sometimes it is added at the
table, sometimes in the kitchen either during cooking or before serving.
I was struck by the fact that there's what looks very suspiciously like
a lutefisk recipe in Sabina Welserin, even down to the mustard and
butter saucing.
Adamantius
<the end>
