Irish-Vik-fst-art - 6/26/01

The feast for an SCA event centering on the Norse Viking attacks on the British Isles, particularly Ireland.

NOTE: See also the files: Ireland-msg, Norse-msg, fd-Ireland-msg, fd-Norse-msg, fd-Scotland-msg, Scotland-msg, Wales-msg, fd-Wales-msg.

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NOTICE -

This article was submitted to me by the author for inclusion in this set 
of files, called Stefan's Florilegium. 

These files are available on the Internet at:
http://www.florilegium.org

Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author.

While the author will likely give permission for this work to be 
reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first
or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.

                               Thank you,
                                    Mark S. Harris
                                    AKA:  Stefan li Rous
                                         stefan at florilegium.org
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Boat Wars, April, AS35
by Lady Bonne de Traquair
Buckston-on-Eno, Windmasters' Hill, Atlantia

Karen Lyons-McGann	April  2000	Durham, NC

Boat Wars is an annual event based on the theme of the Vikings attacking the 
Isles.  The Isles are accepted to be the various small islands decorating 
the British, Scottish and Welsh coastlines, or Ireland itself.  There is a 
growing body of knowledge about foods available due to the Viking era Dublin 
archeological digs, and information on the stomach contents of 'bog men' and 
from burial sites all over the British Isles is also available.  But, 
there's no recipe information better than references in tales, making strict 
accuracy impossible.  The lines below identified as 'Source'  do not 
indicate anything about the recipes, which are a collection of traditional 
and modern Irish/Scottish recipes, with a sprinkling of later medieval 
recipes documentable to other lands.  And one Roman recipe.   It refers only 
to the documentation of the main ingredients in the source 'Land of Milk and 
Honey: The Story of Traditional Irish Food and Drink',  Brid Mahon, Poolbeg 
Press, Dublin, 1991.  Ms. Mahon is a folklorist, she has used tales, songs, 
letters and diaries as well as the archeological research about to create a 
history of what the Irish ate, and how that diet changed with various 
invasions and occupations, from the Vikings, to the Normans, to the British.

Below are my research notes, including notations about further research I 
would have liked to have done. Soon after the event I began arranging to 
move across the country, so following up in those books first requires 
locating them in California, or getting them through Inter Library Loan and 
I haven't put out the effort yet!  I also needed some information from my 
deputy cook that I have not yet received.  I'll update this file when I can.

COURSE 1  (Other than the Mushrooms, which are simple, and Parsnip Cakes, 
which are troublesome, this course is all prepared in advance.)

1. Pickled Quail Eggs
2. Baked Mushrooms
3. Samit Cheese (Fresh Cheese w/herbs)
4. Buttermilk Oaten Bread
5. Boiled Ham
6. Cisti Meacan Ban (Parsnip Cakes)

COURSE 2  (Except for the bread these were all made on site.)

7. Brotchan Rua (Leek and Oat soup)
8. Wheaten Bread
9. Marog Mheacan Dearg (Carrot Pudding)
10. Kailkenney (Kale and Barley)
11. Fried Beans from The Forme of Curye
12. Roast Rib of Beef w/ Pepper Sauce

COURSE 3 (Made on site)

13.  Honey Custard
14.  Berries

COURSE 1

1. Pickled Quail Eggs
Ingredients: Quail Eggs (canned in water), vinegar, peppercorns, cloves, 
ginger, salt, sugar

Method:  Rinse eggs and pack into sterile containers.  Boil vinegar and 
spices, pour over eggs, seal.

Recipe Source: Traditional, multiple recipes found, with varying spices.  I 
chose to use this  combination because it sounded good to me.

Historical Notes:

Source:  Land of Milk and Honey, pp. 118-121  (all sorts of eggs mentioned, 
including the eggs of many wildfowl, though not quail specifically)

Follow up source: The Banquet of Dun na nGedh, John O'Donovan (trans), Irish 
  Archaeological Society, Dublin, 1842, 1-22 (story over a war supposedly 
fought over a basket  of goose eggs)

2. Baked Mushrooms
Ingredients: 12 Mushrooms, 2 oz butter, salt, pepper

Method:  Serves 4
Choose large, flat mushrooms.  Wipe them with a clean cloth, peel them, and 
cut off the stalks close to the crowns. Do not wash them unless absolutely 
necessary.   Butter a fireproof dish and lay the mushrooms edge to edge, 
dark side up. Sprinkle with salt  and pepper and put a small piece of butter 
on each one.  Cook in oven for 20 minutes (350 F), (Gas mark 4)  Pile on a 
hot dish and pour on the gravy which has run from them.

Recipe Source:  Recipes from the Orkney Islands, Edited by Eileen Wolfe, 
Gordon Wright  Publishing, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1978  pp. 60, by T. Gorn, 
Kirkwall

Historical Notes: remark on pickled mushrooms, from the 16th C. followed by 
discussion of use by 'ordinary country housewife' stewed in milk, with a 
good dab of butter and salt and pepper. or, when fully opened and just brown 
underneath, cooked on a gridiron, or fried with bacon.

Source: Land of Milk and Honey, pp. 108

3. Samit Cheese (Fresh Cheese w/herbs)

Ingredients: Milk, Rennet, Fresh Herbs

Method: 	(Get from Bryn)(Soft Fresh cheese made in advance of feast.) chop 
herbs and mix into the cheese.  Serve with bread.

Recipe Source: (Get from Bryn)

Historical Notes:   Dairy Products a large part of the early Irish diet

Source:  Land of Milk and Honey, pp. 4 (archeological evidence) 55(goat 
cheese), 91-2 (list of cheese types and names, 109

follow up on Aisling Meic Con Glinne--The Vision of Mac Conglinne, Kuno 
Meyer (trans) London, 1892, 5-113     Curds?

***the list of herbs has gone missing and shall have to be re-researched.  
sigh.****

4. Buttermilk Oaten Bread
Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups flour, 2 1/3 cups rolled oats (ground), 1 1/4 cup 
buttermilk, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt

Method: 	soak the ground oats in the buttermilk several hours or overnight.  
Mix the dry ingredients, add the buttermilk and oats and mix.  If necessary, 
add a little more buttermilk to make the mixture into a soft dough.  Knead 
the dough until it is smooth, about 10 minutes.  Roll into a round about 2 
inches thick, and lay it on a well-buttered baking sheet.   With a sharp 
knife, cut into quarters.  Bake in a pre-heated 375 F oven for about 25 
minutes or until golden.

Recipe Source: The Good Cook: Techniques and Recipes  Breads, Time-Life 
Books, 1981 (follow  up on their source ''Irish Recipes Traditional and 
Modern'')

Historical Notes:    With baking soda, this recipe is NOT period.  All my 
oatcake experiments met with very little enthusiasm from experienced oatcake 
eaters, my husband and our friend.  My husband is British with a Scottish 
mother, and didn't approve of any I made.  Our friend is American but lived 
several years as a child in Wales, he was polite, but obviously not happy 
with them.  I didn't like them either.  I wanted an oaten bread of some 
sort, and so used a modern recipe rather than waste food and effort on 
something even the two most likely to appreciate rejected.

Source:  Land of Milk and Honey, pp. 3 grown 500 BC, 5, 62 (oatmeal 62, 65.  
Oatmeal  breads 5, 68, 72, 73) also cakes, jelly, porridge, sowans  
Buttermilk, pp. 5, 85 (in addition  to cows and goats, also deer, and sheep)

Follow up Source: Coir Anman Irische Texte, III, Stokes and Windisch (eds), 
1897, 285-440,  legend of Nia Segamain  Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, 
Whitley Stokes, (ed and trans) from the Book of Lismore,  Oxford, 1980

****In the end, logistics prevented even serving this modern oaten bread.  
The wheaten bread was moved up to this course, to go with the cheese and the 
soup had to go without bread.****

5. Boiled Ham
Ingredients: (Used Smithfield Brand Country Ham, saved label to copy, now it 
is gone)

Method: 	Soak overnight, boil, cool, strip off rind and fat.  Slice and 
serve cold at site.

Recipe Source: Traditional.  (Serving cold ham dicatated by site 
limitations)

Historical Notes: smoked ham might be more correct than a salt cure ham.

Source: Land of Milk and Honey, pp. 4, 58, 61, 118, curing 58, 69

Follow up Sources: Department of Irish Folklore MS 1071, 137; 433, 127; 
1862, 113, 142;  444, 92
The Aran Islands, JM Synge, 1907, 528

****mustards were on my original menu plan, and then completely forgotten 
until the feast was going out to the tables!****

6. Cisti Meacan Ban (Parsnip Cakes)
Ingredients: 1 lb parsnips, 1 Tbs. flour, salt, pepper, mace, 1 Tbs. butter, 
1 beaten egg, 8 Tbs.  bread crumbs, oil for frying

Method: 	Serves 4  (more if cakes are smaller)
Cook and mash the parsnips, combine with the flour, seasoning and butter in 
a large bowl and  blend well.  Mold into flat round cakes about 2.5 inches 
in diameter and .5-.75 inches thick.   Dip into the beaten egg, toss in 
bread crumbs and fry in a frying pan until golden brown on both  sides.  
Drain well before serving.

Recipe Source:  In an Irish Country Kitchen, Clare Connery, George 
Weidenfeld & Nicholson  Ltd., London,  1992, pg. 83

Historical Notes:

Source: Land of Milk and Honey, pp. 107 'Some varieties of parsnips and 
carrots were  known in early Ireland. In Lives (see below) we read how St. 
Ciaran  of Saigher used  parsnips as a relish, while Mac Conglinne in his 
12th C Vision gives a marvelous description  of '...a forest of tall leeks, 
of onions and carrots stood behind the house.'

Follow up Sources: Lives of the Saints, Whitley Stokes, (ed and trans) from 
the Book of  Lismore, Oxford, 1980;  Irish Life in the Seventeenth Century, 
Edward MacLysaght, Dublin and Cork, 1939

COURSE 2

7. Brotchan Rua (Leek and Oat soup)
Ingredients: 1/2 lb leeks, white and green parts, 4 Tbs. butter, 2/3 cup 
steel cut oats or oat groats, 3  3/4 cups water or  vegetable stock, 1  3/4 
cups milk, salt, pepper, mace, 2 Tbs. parsley, finely chopped

Method: 	 Serves 6
Trim and wash the leeks well.  Chop finely across their length.  Melt the 
butter in a large  saucepan and add the oats.  Fry gently until well 
toasted, then stir in the stock and milk.   Bring to a boil and add the 
leeks and seasoning.  Simmer for 30-45 minutes until the leeks are  tender 
and the oats cooked.  Adjust the seasoning and serve sprinkled with the 
finely chopped  parsley.

Recipe Source: In an Irish Country Kitchen, Clare Connery, George Weidenfeld 
&  Nicholson Ltd., London,  1992, pg. 53

Historical Notes:  supposedly a soup enjoyed by St. Columba, see Florilegium 
for remarks by others on cooks list

Source: Land of Milk and Honey, leeks, pp. 106; milk, 4,5,6, 40, 56, 84-97; 
oats see above; St. Colm Cille (Columba) 44, 47,  48, 106, 120

Follow up Source: Whitley Stokes mentioned above

8. Wheaten Bread
Method: (Get from Bryn)
Ingredients: (Get from Bryn)
Method:(Get from Bryn)
Recipe Source:(Get from Bryn)

Historical Notes:  Early law bairgin banfuine - woman's cake = two fists 
wide, one fist thick,  bairgin ferfuine--mans cake = twice that, bairgin 
indriub was kept for guests before whom a  cut loaf should never be placed.

Source: Land of Milk and Honey, pp. 69

Follow Up Source:  Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish. I, II, III, 
Eugene O'Curry, Dublin and New York, 1873

9. Marog Mheacan Dearg (Carrot Pudding)
Ingredients:  3/4 lb of carrots, 6 eggs yolks, 1/2 cup butter, 2 Tbs. heavy 
cream, 1/2 cup ground almonds

Method:  Serves 4-6
	Wash and peel the carrots, leave whole and cook in boiling water until just 
tender.  This  will take about 8 minutes. Drain the carrots and dry off any 
excess moisture.  Grate on a course  grater.  Beat together the egg yolks 
and sugar until rich and thick in texture and pale cream in  color.  Beat in 
the cream.  Soften the butter until the consistency of thick cream, but not 
melted.   Beat into the egg and sugar mixture along with the carrots.  Stir 
in the ground almonds.  A few  drops of orange-flower water can also be 
added.  Pile into the pie dish, bake at 400 F for 20  minutes, then reduce 
to 350 F for a further 35 minutes.

Recipe Source:  In an Irish Country Kitchen, Clare Connery, George 
Weidenfeld & Nicholson  Ltd., London,  1992, pg. 153

Historical Notes:  (reference by C. Connery in book above) 'Take three large 
carrots give  them a good warming in boiling water then take them out and 
grate them take the yolk of  twelve eggs very well beat half a pound of 
sugar half a pound of butter melted three of four  spoonfuls of sweet cream 
and beat all the ingredients together you must put puff dough  round your 
dish you may improve it by putting in a quarter of a pound of blanched 
almonds  pounded let the sugar be the last thing going in.' 1709 receipt 
book of Charles Echlin from  County Down

Source: Land of Milk and Honey, pp.  5, 107

follow up Mac Con Glinne reference

***grating the half cooked carrots gives an entirely different, and better, 
texture than grating and then cooking the carrots.***

10. Kailkenney (Kale and Barley)
Ingredients:  1/2 cup rolled oats (1 cup barley)*, 1 lb. kale, 1/2 cup 
chopped green onions w/ tops, 4 Tbs. butter,  1/2 cup meat broth or water, 
salt & pepper to taste, 1/4 cup light cream, 1/8 tsp. freshly grated  nutmeg

Method: Serves 4
	Toast oats in a small dry skillet over medium heat until lightly browned, 
about 3 minutes.   Remove from heat, set aside.  Wash kale, strip kale 
leaves from their stems; cut into fine slivers.  SautÈ green onions in 2  
Tbs. melted butter in a large saucepan until tender.  Add kale and broth or 
water.  Season with  salt and pepper.  Cook over moderate heat, covered, 
about 12 minutes, until just tender.  Add  cream, nutmeg, 2 tablespoons 
butter and toasted oats, mix well.  Cook 1 or 2 minutes.

Recipe Source:  'A Bonnie Scottish Cookbook', Kay Shaw Nelson, EPM 
Publications, Inc.,  McLean, VA, 1989, p 71.  *('Recipes from the Orkney 
Islands' has a similar recipe using barley.  I have substituted  barley for 
variety as oats appear so often in this menu and barley is also appropriate 
to early Ireland/Scotland )

Historical Notes:

Source:  Land of Milk and Honey, pp. 5, 107, 'Charlock or praiseach bhui, an 
edible weed that when boiled resembled leafy brown kale was used from the 
12th C and possibly  much earlier. '

follow-up sources: Mac Con Glinne

11. Fried Beans
Ingredients: 1 lb of split fava beans (2 1/3 cups) 8 cups water, 1/4 cup 
oil, 3 lg cloves of garlic  chopped fine, 2 medium onions parboiled and 
minced. 1  1/2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. ground cubebs, 1/2 tsp.  ground cumin.

Method:  16 servings
	Soak the beans overnight and cook them until tender.  heat the oil and 
brown the onion and garlic.  Add beans and brown approx. 20 minutes,  
stirring often.  Season with salt and spices and serve.  This recipe works 
well for large  quantities by baking in an open roaster in the oven on 
375-400 F, turning occasionally.

Recipe Source:  'A feast at Carrick Fergus' by Lady Hauviette March, AS 35

Historical Notes: The Forme of Curye, A Roll of Ancient English Cookery, 
1390  'Benes y fryed  Take benes and feep he almoft til pey berften, taken 
and wryng out wat clene. do to Oynons  yfode and ymynced and farlec pw. frye 
hem i oile. o i grece. do to powdo douce. sue it forth.'

Source: Land of Milk and Honey, pp 4, 'from Norman times, peas and 
beans...:, 6 'The Norman  Invasion of the 12th C brought with it a new 
pattern of eating with a dependence on cereals,  beans, peas and bread.', 
107 'While there is evidence that the Vikings of Dublin used some  species 
of coarse black beans, peas and beans were not generally known or used in 
pre-Norman times.

follow up source: the web site with Dublin archeological information

***I discovered only recently that the fava beens should have been skinned.  
Oh how troublesome, but the skin is tough and somewhat bitter.  Should I 
prepare it again, I'll buy pre-skinned fava beens.***

12. Roast Rib of Beef w/ Pepper Sauce
Ingredients: 1 rib roast of beef, 2  1/2 to 3 lbs; 2 Tbs. black peppercorns, 
10 Tbs. water, salt

Method:  Roast the meat on a rotisserie, or under the broiler but not too 
close to the heat, to an internal temperature of 120 degrees F/48 degrees C, 
turning from time to time.  This will take about 20 to 30 minutes.  
Meanwhile, crush the peppercorns in a mortar or grind them coarsely in a 
spice grinder.  Add them to the water, bring to a boil, and simmer for 
several minutes.  Add salt to taste.  When the beef is done, let it rest for 
at least 5 minutes in a warm place so that the juices  will be more evenly 
distributed.  Carve into even slices, sprinkle with salt and serve with the  
boiled pepper.

Recipe Source: The Medieval Kitchen, Odile Redon, Francoise Sabban & Silvano 
Serventi,  Translated by Edward Schneider, The University of Chicago Press, 
1998, p110

Historical Notes:  From above: #54,  'Assatura  bouina, cum costis iuxta 
dorsum acceptum, simpliciter in ueru assatur et cum bullito pipere  
administratur'  'Roast of beef, taken from the ribs near the spine, is 
simply spit-roasted and  served with boiled pepper.'  according to Redon et 
al the author also writes 'In general, all the  meats that should be boiled 
in water are the flesh of pork, beef and mutton.'  as beef was 'cold'  and 
'dry'.  But perhaps the boiled pepper is intended as a corrective element so 
that the meat  may be digested.'  Tractatus de modo preparandi et condiendi 
omnio cibaria, #388

Source: Land of Milk and Honey: The Story of Traditional Irish Food and 
Drink, Brid  Mahon, Poolbeg Press, Dublin, 1991,  beef pp 5, 6, 52, 55 
'tributes paid in kine', 56, 57, 61, 62
cattle pp. 3, 52, 55, 62
Cattle Raid of Cooley, 3, 55, 91

follow up source: The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland, The Four Masters, 
John O'Donovan  (ed), Dublin, 1845-51
St. Ciaran and 'the book of the Dun Cow'

COURSE 3

13.  Honey Custard
Ingredients: 2 cup milk 1/4 cup honey 3 egg yolks, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg or 
cinnamon

Method: combine the milk, honey and eggs, pour into individual molds or 
serving dish, bake  uncovered at 325 F for 1 hour or until set.

Recipe Source: The Roman Cookery of Apicius, John Edwards, Hartley & Marks, 
Washington  DC, 1984, pp. 175

Historical Notes:   below

Source: Land of Milk and Honey, p 5 moat of custard in Mac Con Glinne, 71 
The  Norman lords brought '...baked custards in pastry with dried fruits'

14.  Berries
Ingredients: 1 lb mixed berries, frozen, 1 Tbs. sugar, 1 tsp. ground ginger,

Method: 	 serves 8
	Thaw berries, mix w/ sugar and ginger.

Recipe Source: speculative, from below

Historical Notes:  Source:  Land of Milk and Honey,  bilberries (rel. 
blueberries) 4 'The markets of medieval Dublin offered. . .', 105, 133, 134
blackberries 4, 23, 104, 139
gooseberries not indexed
raspberries 4
strawberries 4, 105

***The berries were intended as a seperate dish, but it was quickly discoved 
that they were excellent as a sauce for the custard.  Equally delicious as 
breakfast the next morning. ***

------
Copyright 2000 by Karen Lyons-McGann, Irvine, CA. (Gyldenholt, Caid). <oftraquair at hotmail.com>. Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited and receives a copy.

If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would appreciate a notice in
the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also
appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being
reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	Irish-Vik-fst-art	Page 8 of 8