fd-Iceland-msg – 5/29/05
Food of medieval Iceland.
NOTE: See also the files: Iceland-msg, Norse-msg, fd-Norse-msg, Iceland-bib, Norse-food-art, N-drink-ves-msg, fish-msg, stockfish-msg.
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This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.
This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.
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Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 08:50:21 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - "bog butter"
><< And completely unsalted, >>
>On what basis do you make this statement?
In Iceland, butter was never salted until the 19th century. Neither was
fish, and meat rarely. We used other methods of preservation, as almost all
salt had to be imported and was simply too expensive for ordinary people.
Yet this butter was not only a great part of our diet (the usual allotment
for a working man was half a pound per day) but was also used for many
financial transactions. Rents were usually paid in butter, for instance.
Nanna
Date: Sat, 15 May 1999 19:51:28 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - Lichen (Was "personal recipies" (long))
>Nanna, I asked- please post you lichen recipe.
The lichen we use is, as I said earlier, Iceland moss, called fjallagrös
(mountain grasses) in Icelandic but it is of course neither moss nor
grasses. It was widely used to supplement grains in our diet (grains had to
be imported and were expensive), but also added to skyr (curd) or sausages,
or boiled in a porridge or a soup, or used in practically anything that was
cooked here. I even have a recipe for Iceland moss candy, and there is a
company here that makes throat lozenges and other health stuff from it. I
think some European health food stores used to carry Iceland moss; don´t
know if they still do.
Anyway, here are a couple of recipes - the first one is for the bread I was
baking earlier today, an old handed down family recipe, centuries old but
probably made only with Iceland moss and rye or barley flour earlier, not
wheat. Another version of this bread, without the lichen, is far more common
nowadays. Both are produced commercially. Iceland moss is also used in
several modern bread recipes.
Icelandic Lichen Flatbread
1 packed cup Iceland moss (measured after soaking)
1 1/2 c rye flour
1/2 c stoneground whole wheat flour
a pinch of salt
boiling water as needed
(1 cup soaked Iceland moss is about 2 cups dried.) The Iceland moss is
soaked for a few minutes in lukewarm water to soften it, then drained and
chopped (I use a food processor). Mix it with rye flour, wheat flour and
salt, then gradually add boiling water and stir well, until you have a stiff
but pliable dough. Divide it into 12 equal pieces, roll them out thinly and
cut out a round cake, 7-8 inches in diameter. Prick them with a fork.
As for the baking - well, in the old days they were either baked directly on
the hot embers of the kitchen fire or on a large hot stone. I cook them
directly on one of the plates of my electrical cooker, as my mother did, but
I´m sure a good griddle would work as well. They are baked at high heat,
until black spots begin to appear. Then they are turned and cooked on the
other side. They should be stacked and covered at once, either with a damp
cloth or a plastic bag, else they dry out and become hard and brittle. They
will be rather chewy (the commercial ones I can buy here are softer but not
as tasty).
They are either eaten warm with lots of butter and maybe cheese, or cold
with butter and thin slices of smoked lamb.
Lichen Milk Soup
a large fistful of Iceland moss
1 litre (4 cups) milk
1 tbsp sugar or brown sugar
salt
Wash the Iceland moss and dry it. Pour the milk into a saucepan and heat to
the boiling point. Add the Iceland moss and the sugar and simmer for 10
minutes. Add salt to taste and serve. In another version, the soup is
simmered for 2 hours, until somewhat gluey. Some versions add far more sugar
but that is not traditional.
Nanna
Date: Sat, 15 May 1999 23:11:04 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - lichen
>We recently discussed seaweed as a possible ingredient in jellies. Is
>there any evidence of lichen being used in any period foods in period?
>Is it used anywhere for this today?
The earliest mention of Iceland moss as human food in an Icelandic written
source is from the early 14th century but since this is in a law text
dealing with land rights, they were probably used much earlier. They are
still used today but far less than they were.
Many types of lichen have been used for food all over the world - you can
find a list of them at this site (the lichens are sorted by type of use;
scroll down the list until you reach the category HUMAN FOOD:
http://www.lichen.com/usetype.html
Nanna
P.S. Lichens were also used in jellies.
Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 11:23:14 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - whey preserved foods (long)
Stefan wrote:
>This sounds like it works on the same principle as storing things in
>honey - keeping air and microbes away for the food. But doesn't the
>whey itself go bad? Is this whey generally from goat's, sheep or cow's
>milk? What other foods were stored this way?
It is more like pickling, actually; the term used for fermented whey in
Icelandic, "sýra", actually means "acid" and today, vinegar is sometimes
used, even though the results are not as good.
The following are two loosely translated sections from my book, the section
on "súrmatur", literally "sour food", i.e. food preserved in whey, and the
section on "sýra" (fermented whey). There is some overlapping of the texts.
Any text in parantheses is not in the original; I´ve added it to explain
things an Icelander doesn´t need explained. I´ve removed the accent from the
y in sýra as it may not show up on your screen correctly.
"Pickling was one of the most used preservation methods in Iceland almost
from the Settlement, as salt was always lacking, and the liquid used for
pickling was fermented whey. Icelanders were by no means the only ones who
preserved their food by pickling but long-term preservation in whey is not
known to have been widely practised elsewhere. Whey accumulated as a
by-product of skyr-making during the summer (skyr: curds, made from ewes or
cows milk, a mainstay of Icelandic diet through the centuries) and was kept
in barrels, where a fermentation process began. It was then called syra.
Syra was either diluted with water and drunk, or used for the preservation
of food. Many kinds of food were preserved in this manner, such as blood
sausage, liver sausage, lundabaggar (a kind of Icelandic version of
faggots), sheep´s heads, lamb´s testicles, fatty meat, whale meat and
blubber, seal flippers and many other things. Dried or hard stuff, otherwise
quite inedible, for example bones and dried fish skin, were sometimes kept
for a long time in syra, until they softened. Food keeps very well in a
strong syra and loses relatively little of its nourishment value, but this
method has a great effect on the taste of the food. If a barrel was to be
kept undisturbed for many months, some mutton fat was usually rendered and
poured over the surface to seal it, but if the barrel was in constant use,
it was simply closed with a wooden lid. If the surface wasn´t either sealed
or disturbed daily, a mold might start to grow."
And from the chapter on syra:
"Syra, i.e. fermented whey, was the most common beverage of Icelanders for
many centuries and can in effect be said to have replaced ale, as lack of
grain prevented us from brewing much ale. The whey was poured into huge
barrels in the larder. These barrels were sometimes almost completely dug
into the floor, as was the case with the syra-barrel Earl Gissur hid in when
the farmhouse at Flugumýri was burned down (a famous and well-documented
incident from 13th century Icelandic history. The barrel was almost full of
ice-cold syra and there was another one on top of it, with a small space in
between. The earl (the only Icelandic nobleman ever) hid in the bottom
barrel while his enemies searched the burning farmhouse). There are also
several similarities between the making of syra and ale-brewing, and the
blanket that developed on the surface of a sýra barrel was called jastur,
which is the same word as yeast in English. Syra was used for a lot of
things besides drinking and preservation, for example to marinate food, and
according to Íslenskir ?jóđhćttir (a 19th century book on folk customs and
more), better-off farmers frequently "let the meat lie in syra for a day or
two, before it was roasted, especially when a large feast was held". Bones
were also put in syra to soften them up and make them edible. It is said
that syra isn´t really mature until it is two years old. Then it was never
drunk undiluted, but mixed with water. Syra that was diluted by 11 parts of
water was called tólftarblanda (twelve-blend)."
>Does this storage technique only work in a cool climate, which I assume
>Iceland has even in summer? Or would it work in warmer regions such as
>the Mediteranean? Does anyone else have any evidence of this preservation
>technique being used elsewhere besides Iceland?
Don´t think so. Our top food historian says she has frequently asked
collegues from around the world if they know of this technique in other
cultures and no one has ever heard of it. - I´m not sure if this would work
in a warmer climate, maybe if the barrel was kept deep down in a cold
cellar. In summer, when I was a child, the syra was icy cold, never mind how
hot it was (not that it ever got very hot but it was the only cold drink
available before refrigeration).
Nanna
Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 22:45:45 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - whey preserved foods (long)
Stefan wrote:
>You said though "are two loosely translated sections from my book".
>Please, what book? If you have mentioned this before I may have
>missed it in some of the digests I had to skip but will eventually get
>back to. Could you please give a complete biblographic referance? And
>perhaps where it might be purchased. There may be some here or elsewhere
>interested in getting a copy. I think I would like to, but if it is
>in Icelandic, which your "loosely translated" implies I'm afraid it
>won't be of much use to me in that form. Is it available in English? If
>not, please consider a translated version. Your English is certainly
>good enough.
Thank you. The book I mentioned is in Icelandic and hasn´t been translated.
It is called "Matarást" (Love of Food), published by Iđunn, Reykjavík, 1998,
is a kind of encyclopedia on food and cooking (the first ever in my
language), is rather large (it weighs seven pounds (really)) and costs the
earth. It has quite a lot of historical information (though not as much as I
would have liked, but I had to listen to my publisher, who said "Well, you
know, Nanna, culinary history will not be the major selling point of this
work". So I added a lot of recipes instead. The book has been very well
received, was even shortlisted for the Icelandic Literary Prize, which it
unfortunately didn´t win.
And no, I´m not planning on translating it.
>Also, your header info comes through the digest to me as:
>> From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Yes, I know, that is the downside of speaking a language which hasn´t
changed that much for a thousand years, and has quite a lot of characters
that English doesn´t have. My name is Nanna Rögnvaldardóttir - or
Rognvaldardottir, if your computer can´t handle the Icelandic letters.
Nanna
(at least I got an easy first name, even though English-speaking people
usually won´t believe it is my real name)
Date: Thu, 27 May 1999 02:31:12 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: SC - =?iso-8859-1?Q?Lamb=B4s_head?=
>>(And, it does have a sheep´s head recipe.)
>
>I just found it, and it looks good, but is it period? If we can find one
>that is period, I'd likely do that myself unless someone else REALLY wants
>to do it, but I want ALL the things we do with the lamb to be as done in
>period, and I don't mean borderline-up-to-1650.
I haven´t found any pre-1600 recipe (although I seem to remember having seen
at least one a long time ago, can´t remember where). A mention of a Roman
sheep´s head roasted with apples and with peaches marinated in Albanian
spirits, yes - but not an actual recipe. Quite a few 18th century recipes.
The traditional Icelandic and Norwegian method - certainly pre-1600 - is to
drive a stake into the head and hold it over an open fire to burn the wool
off, then scrape the skin with a knife. (This used to be a job for us kids
back on the farm, from the age of six onwards.) This is repeated until all
the wool has burned off and the skin is blackened. Then you split the head
in two and remove the brain, and wash the head in cold running water,
scraping it with a knife until the skin is brown and clean. Then the head is
boiled for an hour or so (or until meat begins to come off the bone) and
served hot or cold. In the 18th century and perhaps earlier, the head was
sometimes dipped in melted butter when cooked, then breaded and grilled.
This was done all over Scandinavia but I´m not sure how old that method is.
We serve the head with the eyeballs intact, and yes, we eat them. And until
maybe a few years ago, particular care was always taken to leave the ears
intact. There was a special reason for this. The ears of young lambs are cut
with special markings - every sheep farmer has his own distinct set of
markings and by looking at the ears of a sheep, you can instantly see whom
it belongs to (or look it up in a printed book if you don´t recognize the
markings). This has been done for hundreds of years. And if sheep´s heads
were served, or found in a farm kitchen, with the ears cut off, the farmer
and his wife were instantly suspected of having stolen the sheep and removed
the ears to hide the evidence. So, everybody served the heads with the ears
intact so that the markings would show that the animal indeed belonged to
them. This custom has survived, even though most people now buy their heads
in a supermarket and have no idea whom the markings on its ears belong to.
I am currently searching for old sheep´s head recipes and will let you know
if I find any pre-1600.
Nanna
Date: Wed, 7 Jul 1999 01:35:42 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - Horsemeat, was Re: "cruel food"-
>Is there a particular breed that you prefer? Have recipes? I don't
>suppose eating horse is period, wouldn't they have been too expensive
>to raise for eating?
We only have one breed here, the Icelandic Horse - or pony, really.
According to the sagas and other sources, horseflesh was eaten by the
Vikings; they slaughtered horses as an offering to their gods, then feasted
on the meat. When the Icelanders decided to let themselves be converted to
Christianity at the Althing in the year 1000 (well, recent evidence shows
that it probably was in 999 but we are celebrating 1000 years of
Christianity next year anyway), they passed a law that the eating of
horsemeat should be a non-punishable offense, if done in secret. But that
probably only went on for a few decades. Later, the eating of horsemeat
meant excommunication and virtual exclusion from human society. There are
occasional accounts of horsemeat being eaten during famine years (no lack of
them here) but usually people would die of hunger rather than eat it. Which
was tragic, because horses were definitely not too expensive to raise for
eating, not here at least, as they were grazing in the wilderness all year
round, and cost nothing to raise. One of my ancestors (early 18th century)
had a flock of around 200 horses, and only a handful of them were actually
ever put to any use.
Despite all the taboos people seem to have believed in some special
qualities of horsemeat. Several very old buried treasure legends around the
country specify that no one can find the treasure, unless he was brought up
solely on horsemeat and mare´s milk until the age of 12 (which pretty much
guaranteed that no one would be able to seek it). In other legends,
horsemeat is the food of giants, or outlaws, and makes them very big and
strong.
People began to eat horsemeat again in the early 19th century. The first
"horseflesh-eaters" were very poor and they were derided, even shunned, by
their neighbors, but this gradually changed. By the turn of the century,
most people would eat horsemeat, regardless of their social status. During
most of this century, it has been far more common than beef (I suppose I ate
about six times as much horsemeat as beef in my childhood) but this has
changed during the last 3 decades or so; now we eat far more beef. You don´t
see many horsemeat recipes in Icelandic cookbooks, though, because we use
the meat in exactly the same way as beef. (Beef tenderloin costs about $40
per kilo here; steak is maybe $12-$15 per kilo.)
Nanna
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1999 00:32:18 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: my favorite dessert was horse recipe 1581
Helen wrote:
> What was your " favorite dessert"? I am having trouble thinking of a blood
>dessert.
This is an old Icelandic regional speciality, mentioned and described in
17th century sources but I´ve never seen a printed recipe, except the one I
wrote down from my mother´s description. It has some curious names like
kálfadans (calves´ dance) and villibráđ (game) but the name used in my
family was blóđkássa (blood stew). It is simply a mixture of milk and blood,
thickened with flour and butter. You can find the recipe at:
http://www.bahnhof.se/~chimbis/tocb/recipes/index-fr.htm
Nanna
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1999 08:43:26 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: my favorite dessert was horse recipe 1581
><< It is simply a mixture of milk and blood,
> thickened with flour and butter. You can find the recipe at:
>
> http://www.bahnhof.se/~chimbis/tocb/recipes/index-fr.htm
>What is the name of the recipe, Nanna?
It is not listed as a pudding or dessert, but under Various. The name is
Blóđkássa (villibráđ). I haven´t had it for many years now, not since I
moved south, because you can´t buy calves blood (and anyway calves are
rarely slaughtered that young nowadays). But until a few years ago I could
still recall the taste very vividly. Now I only remember it is unlike
anything else I´ve ever tasted.
My mother says you can use lamb´s blood but it will not be as good. I´ve
been thinking of trying to make some this autumn, when I can buy blood in
the shops, and see what the outcome will be. But maybe the animal must be
very young; my mother stressed that the blood of an older calf can´t be
used.
This was definitely not eaten as a savory dish; it is not sweetened but when
it was served, heaps of cinnamon and sugar were added.
The kalvdans mentioned by Ana is well known to me also under the name
ábrystir, in fact I cooked some only a few days ago, and have a bottle of
first milk (colostrum) waiting in my freezer. I was going to ask the list if
anyone knew of a recipe (period or otherwise) that makes use of first milk
but I better wait with that until I return from my vacation in 10 days or
so.
Nanna
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 00:16:08 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - seals
Ras wrote:
>Although Aleut tribes eat the blubber from seals the meat itself is rather
>obnoxious being very stringy, tough and not a little fishy in flavor. SFAIK,
>no mention of seal is made in any of the currently available corpora of
>period recipes. Whale and dolphin were the sea mammals of choice during the
>middle ages.
I don´t recall any actual recipe but seals were certainly eaten in Iceland
and Greenland in period and probably in Norway as well. There are