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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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NOTICE -

 

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.

 

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.

 

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

 

Thank you,

    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