stockfish-msg – 7/28/11

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, fish-pies-msg, Shrympes-art.

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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

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    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          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
http://www.best.com/~ddfr/


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 upon a time, long long ago I promised to dig up a recipe 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: 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: 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


Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2005 08:07:08 -0800
From: "Nick Sasso" <grizly at mindspring.com>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Best fishes for dried fish
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

I found a Univ of Minnesota Extension Service website that cautions not to dry fish at home:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/nutrition/DJ0820.html

This site gives instructions for drying Salmon . . . with lots of salt.
http://www.i4at.org/surv/dryguide.htm

Your local extension agency should have info about drying and preserving foods safely.  Ask them what they recommend.  I suspect that salting and smoking fish were done for a reason, and popular in period . . . staves off the nasties.

This site has a brine and then drying.  They even give suggested  
brining and drying times:
http://www.3men.com/threemen1.htm#Drying


Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 10:16:25 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] links for salted/dried cod?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/jump.jsp? 
itemID=29366&itemType=PRODUCT&searchid=inceptor
http://www.qualityfreshseafood.com/sacodsbypocf.html
http://www.tienda.com/food/pop/se-01.html

Johnnae

Stefan li Rous wrote:
> At one time my grocery did have small, wooden boxes with salted fish
> (cod?) and I have a bag of split pieces of lightweight wood, er ah,
> dried fish that I found in an Asian market. But it would be nice to
> have some more sources.
>
> Stefan


Date: Sun, 09 Apr 2006 09:54:05 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius"
	<adamantius.magister at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lutefisk and strange dreams...
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

On Apr 9, 2006, at 5:01 AM, Ana L. Valdés wrote:
> But I don't know anybody younger than 70 years old who really buys
> or eats the lutefish!

It's probably a fact, although an unfortunate one, that many younger people don't see the point of any food that takes several days to prepare. Lutefisk needs to be soaked, not only in water, but at some point, in lye or potash solution, to tenderize it. The soaking in lye (the "lute" in "lutefisk" refers to this lye, apparently) not only tenderizes the fish, but also begins to break down some proteins and produce an odor that some find disagreeable. It is not the horrible, deathly stench some people claim it is, but then some people will complain about the smell of liederkranz cheese for hours on end, too. I'd rather smell the cheese or the fish than listen to the whining, myself. But ultimately, I think the elders have grown to love certain foods they were compelled by necessity to appreciate, or at least tolerate. Younger people, many of whom have a somewhat higher  standard of living (in some ways) than their great-grandparents did, generally have access to food that can be shipped quickly while fresh, fresh meat year round, and have never really needed to depend on something like lutefisk, and so, have probably never developed an appreciation for it.

> People here buy for Christmas ham, pickled sill, meatballs,
> different porridges made of rice or wheat, meatjellies, but you
> seldom see lutefish in the Christmas table, with the said
> exception, the older people, who remember or keep their childhood
> uses.
> Which is the difference between the lutefish and what the
> portuguese call "bacalao", or "cabello"?

Bacalao is salted before being air-dried. By tradition, lutefisk (or, rather, the dried cod -- torski? or stockfisk -- from which it is made) is just dried in the wind until quite hard and dry, more so than bacalao needs to be. You can soak bacalao in fresh water and it will return, more or less, to some semblance of fresh fish, while lutefisk needs to be soaked in an alkaloid solution (generally lye) to speed up the soaking and tenderizing process (medieval English recipes advise the cook to beat the stockfish for an hour with a wooden mallet, instead). It then needs further soaking in several changes of fresh water (sometimes it's put in a cloth bag and placed in a running stream, tied to a stake or a large rock), but it takes a couple of days to remove the lye residue or it really is inedible. 

The effect of the lye soaking is such that, when the fish is cooked, it is almost translucent, and almost jelly-like in texture (and yes, quite tender in comparison to bacalao). Traditional flavorings involve some combination of butter and mustard; the fish itself has little flavor of its own, IMO. 

> I have eaten bacalao for Lent since my family was practising
> Catholics and the bacalao was done in a kind of stew, with
> chickpeas and tomatoes.
> Is the same stuff?

It's not really the same thing, although you could probably use unsalted, dried cod (soaked in water) in the dish you describe above. It would probably be good, but not the same.

The Goya company makes a canned bacalao in tomato sauce -- it may also contain olives -- that's quite good quality, as canned fish goes...

Adamantius


Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2006 19:01:03 -0400
From: "King's Taste Productions" <kingstaste at 
comcast.net>Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Anyone made salt cod?
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

I have recently been learning to work with salt cod.  When I go to the market, all of the old wives (they really look like they stepped out of a painting somewhere) stand around and squeeze every package of fish, looking for the ones with the most give.  The harder it is, the more soaking and cooking time it will have.  If it is still 'meaty' and has a bit of give, all they need is a short soak and they can be added to whatever.  Usually the plank-like fish that have been salted hard and flat are not in a package.  In my case, I've been learning the finer points of Saltfish and Akee from Jamaica. 

I've never salted any fresh cod myself, although I had some to work with in a fish cookery class last week.  Having gotten used to the texture of the salted and then rinsed fish, I found the fresh fish very apt to crumble and I saw the benefits of the salting technique for the changes in texture it gives to the fish.

I'd rinse it and give it a try in something.

Christianna


I coated some nice, fresh cod fillets with salt and then wrapped in two layers of cheesecloth.  After about five days they had not lost an appreciable amount of moisture and I felt the process was not working.  So I took the fillets and put them in a large ziplock bag and emptied out my 1/2 box of kosher salt on top of them.  This was yesterday. 

I should mention, the fillets have been under constant refrigeration and I was following the directions specified in the Ruhlman/Polcyn Charcuterie book up to the point of putting them into the ziplock and burying them in salt.  That was from the Nose To Tail Eating by Fergus Henderson.  

So my question is - I have never even seen salt cod, I'm assuming that it should be a cured and somewhat flat fillet with no give to it.  Correct?  Every reference I've seen describes salt cod as looking like bark.  Mine look like air-dried fillets and still have some flexibility.  I may end up tossing the experiment and starting all over again for food safety reasons as I'm concerned the salt has not reached the middle of the fillet quickly enough for preservation.  

Eibhlin


Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 07:35:59 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius"
	<adamantius.magister at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Russian food
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Jul 20, 2006, at 2:55 AM, Stefan li Rous wrote:

> Aislinn commented:
>   <<< Ok Jadwiega, here is what I served at the Judge's Luncheon.
> Smoked whitefish, smoked salmon, kippered herring, >>>
>
> I think the only kippered herring I know of comes out of the little,
> ovalish cans. Did you get yours already kippered? Or kipper them
> yourself? What exactly is "kippering"? Is it simply pickling them in
> vinegar?

No, no vinegar in kippering, as a rule. It's a smoking process. It seems, based on the examples I've seen, and since any hard-and-fast rule I can find is rife with exceptions, to be a hot-smoking process, i.e. where the product ends up being cooked in the heat of the smoking process, except in the case of kippered herring (more or less the Ur-kippering process, the one that first bore the name, I believe), which are lightly salted and cold-smoked. You can get real, freshly-smoked kippered herring in places like the UK and Canada, and in the US you sometimes find them vacuum-sealed in plastic packets. There's a rather distinctive splitting/butterflying method used for kippers to prepare them for smoking (they're split along the back, past the spine and into the abdominal cavity, and opened up like abook).

Canned kippers are okay for what they are, but they aren't necessarily a good way to understand or appreciate the glories of the kippering process...

Adamantius


Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 10:00:24 EDT
From: Devra at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kippering
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

I have a BBC TV show done by Ivan Day, where he demonstrates kippering.
First you salt the fish and let it sit for a few days, depending on  
the thickness of the flesh, then you smoke it.
     Devra (we'll be showing the tv shows at our Oct 21 event...)


Date: Mon, 09 Oct 2006 00:56:18 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Smoked Meats in Northern Europe
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

We discussed salt cod back in February and I posted these links.
http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/jump.jsp? 
itemID=29366&itemType=PRODUCT&searchid=inceptor

http://www.qualityfreshseafood.com/sacodsbypocf.html
http://www.tienda.com/food/pop/se-01.html

I thought you could store it out of the fridge but when you began the soaking process, then you moved it to the fridge. May be wrong. Have to check the
packages or contact the dealers.

Johnnae


Date: Mon, 09 Oct 2006 00:56:18 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Smoked Meats in Northern Europe
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

We discussed salt cod back in February and I posted these links.
http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/jump.jsp? 
itemID=29366&itemType=PRODUCT&searchid=inceptor

http://www.qualityfreshseafood.com/sacodsbypocf.html
http://www.tienda.com/food/pop/se-01.html

I thought you could store it out of the fridge but when you began the soaking process, then you moved it to the fridge. May be wrong. Have to check the
packages or contact the dealers.

Johnnae


Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:32:46 -0700
From: "Kathleen A Roberts" <karobert at unm.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Everything old is new again
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Kathleen A Roberts wrote:
> I dunno... that salted herring in last year's estrella [siege cooking]
> competition was pretty skeery!
>
> cailte
> only one in her team willing to take it on ;)

How did you utilize it?

You did soak it and remove much of the salt, yes?

Dragon
---------------- End original message. ---------------------

first I soaked it in water, then in milk, then in water,
then in milk, then in water yet again and was satisfied
with non-saltiness and suppleness.  I remembered watching
my mother soak salt cod in alternate water and milk, and i
thought, what the heck?

then I chopped it up, marinated it in wine with onion and
black pepper, and at the last added some home-made sour
cream (cream and white wine).  I may have added some
horseradish, but that might have been another seige
basket.

it turned out pretty good, IF you like pickled herring.
  but my hands smelt like fish for most of estrella. 8(
  even washing my hair didn't help.

cailte


Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:16:50 -0700
From: "Kathleen A Roberts" <karobert at unm.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] salted fish
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com> wrote:
> So long did each of the soakings take?

we had 6 hours in which to cook [for the siege cooking contest], and I think I did the soakings over about a 4 hour period.  did a fair amount of
kneading and scmooshing it around in the plastic baggie it
was in.

> After all that prep work did it look like fish? Or more like just
> mashed up food of some indistinguishable type? Maybe
> this is the recipe for those who don't like fish!

trust me, if it was hard to distinguish on sight, the
aroma more than made up for it.

> Sounds like washing your hands would have been more effective than
> washing your hair. But maybe that's just the way things
> are done in Atenveldt. What part do you wash if your feet smell like
> fish? :-)

cute. 8)  I find that shampoo quite often will get smells
out when other things won't, so I assumed I would loose
the stink in the shower truck next day.  nope.

cailte


Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:01:25 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Salt fish recipes?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Doc's medievalccokery.com makes a search like this easy.
Search under lye for instance and one finds

This is an excerpt from *Koge Bog*
(Denmark, 1616 - Martin Forest, trans.)
The original source can be found at Martin Forest's websitewes
<http://www.forest.gen.nz/Medieval/index.html>

XLIIX - Spit fish. Let it lie one night in water and coldcrushed lye.
But if you need it quickly then seethe it in water mixed with some mild
lye and then warm it in fresh water.

Search under fish and one finds dozens.

Johnnae

jenne at fiedlerfamily.net wrote:
> I know there's a recipe for salt fish in Welserin, but it calls for
> soaking the fish in lye. I've used modern salt cod, soaked for 24 hours
> and rolled in breadcrumbs, as a dish cooked over the fire, and we all
> liked it very much. Can you all point me to more recipes of things to do
> with salt fish? (Yes, I could go look for them, but I'm hoping to tap the
> brain trust / medieval cooking equivalent of Google Books for more
> complete answers.
>
> - Jadwiga


Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:18:09 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Salt fish recipes?-- I.E. SALTED (preserved)
	fish
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Wed, 2008-04-30 at 13:55 -0500, jenne at fiedlerfamily.net wrote:
> I'm looking specifically for recipes for fish that has been  
> preserved by salting, yes.

IIRC, there are a great number of recipes for fresh fish in The
Enseignements (which should be available on Thomas Gloning's site - in
French and an English translation by someone on this list, I forget
who), a significant number of which end with a clause to the effect,
"and if it is salted, serve it with mustard..." The standard method for
dried fish generally involves beating it to loosen fibers and facilitate
soaking, then the soaking, then some form of poaching or other gentle
simmering. You can't boil it or the connective tissue that holds i9t
together will disintegrate before the actual muscle fibers fully
reconstitute and tenderize.

I STR (I'd check on this; I'm not within reach of the bookshelves just
now) Taillevent recommending putting some smaller salt fish into a
pasty, and then serving with a sauce, so basically it's cooked with
moist heat in a pastry cover, then either served in that cover or
removed and sauced like any other poached fish.

It sounds like the lutefisk-with-mustard combination is not without
period precedent.

Adamantius


Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:55:37 -0400
From: Daniel Myers <edoard at medievalcookery.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Salt fish recipes?-- I.E. SALTED (preserved)
	fish
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

I did a quick search for "stockfish" and here are the recipes that
appear to involve salted fish:

From: Ein Buch von guter spise
(Germany, ca. 1345 - Alia Atlas, trans.)

20. Dis sagt von eime stockvische (This speaks of a stockfish). Nim
einen stockvisch. do niht garst in si. tu im die hut abe. weich in in
kaltem wazzer eine naht. und nim denne heruz und dr?cke in in ezzig.
also daz er blibe gantz. binden uf zwo schinen. und lege in uf einen
h?lzinen rost. strich daz fiur under allenthalben. daz er erwarme.
laze in wol belaufen mit butern. dor noch mache einen schoenen teyc
mit wizzem melwe. und mit eyern. dor zu tu gestozzen pfeffer oder
ingeber und ein wenic saffrans. saltz zu mazze. sprengez uf den
visch. als der visch gar heiz si. so slahe den teyg dor uf mit eime
swanke riche vaste koln dor under. daz er rot werde. also tu daz e du
in abe nemest und betrauf in veizt mit butern. und giv in hin.

Take a stockfish, which has no rotten meat in it. Take the skin down
(off). Soak it in cold water a night. And then take thereout and
press it in vinegar, so that it stays whole. Tie off two forms and
lay it on a wooden grill. Spread the fire under all sides, so that it
warms. Sprinkle it well with butter. Thereafter make a fine dough
with white meal and with eggs. Thereto do ground pepper or ginger and
a little saffron. Salt to mass. Sprinkle it on the fish. When the
fish is very hot, beat the dough (batter) thereon with a swing
(endore it). Put strong wide coals thereunder, so that it becomes
red. So do that earlier. You take it down and sprinkle it rich with
butter and give it out.

----

From: The Good Housewife's Jewell
(England, 1596)

To boile Stockfish. Take Stock fish when it is well watered, and
picke out all the baste cleane from the fish, then put it into a
pipkin, and put in no more water than shall cover it, and set it on
the fire, and assoone as it beginneth to boyle on the one side, then
turne the other side to the fire, and assoone as it beginneth to
boile on the other side, take it off, and put it into a Colender, and
let the water runne out from it, but put in salt in the boyling of
it, then take a little faire water and sweete butter, and let it
boyle in a dish untill it bee something thick, then powre it on the
stockfish and serve it.

----

From: Das Kochbuch des Meisters Eberhard
(Germany, 15th century - Giano Balestriere, trans.)

If you want to make good stockfish. Let it boil as long as veal and
let it boil at a simmer. Pour off the broth and take out the fish and
pick it apart well. Then take a pan and put lard in it, let it warm
up, then place the stockfish into the butter and let it heat up in
there. Take ginger and saffron and the broth of the fish and color it
with that, pour it over the stockfish into the pan and let it boil up
once or three times. That way it is well done.

Wiltu einen gutten stockfisch machenn. So la? in siedenn als ein kalb
fleisch vnd la? in ein siedenn auff halben wogk vnd seig dann die
brue dar vonn vnd sch?et den stockvisch herau? vnd erclaub in wol vnd
nym dann ein pfannen vnd thue smalcz dar ein vnd la? es warmm werdenn
vnd leg dann den stockvisch in die putternn vnd la? sie dar ynnen
erhiczenn vnd nym dann ingwerr vnd saffran mit des visch br?e vnd
ferb das do mit ein vnd geu? es v:eber den stockvisch in die pfannen
vnd la? es ein wal oder drej thun. So ist er gerecht.

----

From: Le Menagier de Paris
(France, 1393 - Janet Hinson, trans.)

COD (morue) is not spoken of in Tournay unless it is salt, for the
fresh is called "cabillau", and it is eaten and cooked in the same
manner as is told below for cod.

Item, when this cod is caught at the edge of the sea and you want it
to keep for ten or twelve years, you gut it, and take off its head,
and dry it in the air and sun, and not with fire or smoke; and when
this is done, it is called stockfish. And when it has been so kept
and you want to eat it, you should beat it with a wooden mallet for a
good hour, and then put it to soak in warm water for a good twelve
hours or more, then cook and skim it well like beef; then eat with
mustard or drenched in butter. And if anything is left in the
evening, make it into tiny pieces like lint, fry and put powdered
spices on it.

STOCKFISH must be cut into square pieces like a chequerboard, then
soak for only one night, then take it out of the water, and put it to
dry on a cloth; then put your oil on to boil, then fry your pieces of
fish in a little oil, and eat with mustard or garlic sauce. Stockfish
is made, apparently, from cod.

----

From: A NEVV BOOKE of Cookerie
(England, 1615)

A Chewet of Stockefish. BOyle watered Stockefish, and make it fit to
be eaten: when it is colde take the whitest of the Fish, and mince it
small: put in parboyld Currens, Razins of the Sunne. Season it with
Nutmeg, Pepper, Salt, and a piece of sweet Butter. Bake it, but
before you serue it in, cut it vp, and wring in the iuyce of an Orenge.

----

From: Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books
(England, 1430)

Sauce for stokefysshe. Take faire brothe of elys, other of pyke, or
els of freysshe Samon, and strayne it thurwe a straynour: and take
faire percely, and hewe it smal, and put the brothe and the percele
in-to a faire erthyn vessel; and put ther-to poudre gingere, and a
litil verious, and lete boile to-gedre. And thanne take faire sode
stockefysche, and ley it in faire hote watre: and whanne thou wilt
serue it forthe, take the fysshe fro the watre, and ley it in a clene
disshe; and cast the sauce al hote ther-on, and serue it forth.

Sauce for stokfysshe in an-other maner. Take curnylles of walnotys,
and clouys of garleke, and piper, brede, and salt, and caste al in a
morter; and grynde it smal, and tempre it up with the same brothe
that the fysshe was sode in, and serue it forthe.

----

From: Le Viandier de Taillevent
(France, ca. 1380 - James Prescott, trans.)

Stockfish. Soak it for three days in water, wash it very well, and
fry it in oil without flour. Eat it with Garlic Cameline [Sauce] like
ray. Some eat it with its own juices, as one eats venison, or with
Mustard [Sauce].

- Doc


Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:10:12 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Dragon" <dragon at crimson-dragon.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Salt fish recipes?-- I.E. SALTED (preserved)
	fish
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Wed, April 30, 2008 16:55, Daniel Myers wrote:
> I did a quick search for "stockfish" and here are the recipes that
> appear to involve salted fish:

Just to clarify... (I know some of you know the difference but some  
may not).

Both stockfish and salt cod are made from the same type of fish (usually
Atlantic cod) that has been filleted and preserved but there is a big
distinction between them in how they are processed and how you must treat
them.

Stockfish is cod that has been simply dried, sometimes it is done by
hanging it under the sun and in the wind and sometimes it is done on racks
over a very low wood fire. The fire is mainly to provide hot air but not
to cook it or smoke it (though it will be a tad smokey if done this  
way).

Salt cod is dried by salting. I know that sounds obvious but it is
something quite significant.

Both products are stiff and hard as a board and must be softened by
soaking. With salt cod, you must soak it for a much longer period and with
several changes of water to remove the salt or it is pretty much too salty
to eat. Salt cod can take up to 3 days to soak properly while stockfish is
often only in need of an overnight soak if it will be cooked with a wet
method.

Now you very often can use either form in most recipes once they have been
properly soaked. Stockfish tends to have a much more pronounced fishy
smell to it but in both cases, this is moderated a bit by the soaking.

It has been my experience that salt cod is the more common product
available in my area, I don't ever recall having seen stockfish for sale
anywhere here in Southern California.
-- 
Dragon


Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 15:31:02 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks]  Best types of dried fish
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Have you seen Fish, Food from the Waters?
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/lane/kal69/shop/pages/isbn890.htm

Otherwise how about Harold McGee's on Food and Cooking?

Johnnae

Sharon Gordon wrote:
<<< Which types of dried fish do you think are the tastiest and the most 
useful?
Also, I'm trying to figure out the fresh fish to dried fish weight ratio.
So if I have an ounce of dried fish, how much fresh fish did that used to
be?  Or if I have a pound of fresh fish, how much dried fish will I have
when it's properly dried?  I have found once reference that says that 
70% of the water needs to be removed to dry the fish to preserve it,  but 
that just gives info on one of the variables.

Sharon >>>


Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 14:53:43 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Best types of dried fish
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

<<< Which types of dried fish do you think are the tastiest and the most 
useful? >>>

Actually, I prefer smoked salmon.  Other than that, my experience has been 
with a little salt cod, which is nothing to write home about.

<<< Also, I'm trying to figure out the fresh fish to dried fish weight ratio.
So if I have an ounce of dried fish, how much fresh fish did that used to
be?  Or if I have a pound of fresh fish, how much dried fish will I have
when it's properly dried?  I have found once reference that says that 70% 
of the water needs to be removed to dry the fish to preserve it,  but that 
just gives info on one of the variables.

Sharon >>>

The choice of drying method, salted, brined, smoked or sun and air dried 
changes the amount of weight you lose.  Brined should lose the least, smoked 
and air cured the most.  A firm bodied fish should lose less weight than a 
soft bodied fish.  In general, the longer a fish is in the process of 
curing, the greater the weight loss.

To give you some idea of the variables that concern weight loss in drying 
fish, I've add the links below.

Have fun.

Bear

http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/T0606B/T0606B17.htm

http://www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca/publications/industrial/fish-processing/fish-processing.cfm?attr=24 


Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 13:02:20 -0700
From: Dragon <dragon at crimson-dragon.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Best types of dried fish
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Terry Decker wrote:
> Which types of dried fish do you think are the tastiest and the most 
> useful?

Actually, I prefer smoked salmon.  Other than that, my experience 
has been with a little salt cod, which is nothing to write home about.
---------------- End original message. ---------------------

Salt cod and stockfish are both rather bland when they are 
reconstituted. But... there are ways to make them quite delicious 
with the right things added.

Dragon


Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:07:57 -0500
From: "Daniel & Elizabeth Phelps" <dephelps at embarqmail.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Cod Connection
To: "Cooks List" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Cod trade was considerably earlier than previously documented.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19826622.400-histories-viking-longships-brought-rape-pillage-and-cod.html?DCMP=ILC-hmts&nsref=news6_head_mg19826622.400

Daniel


Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:27:43 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Bacalhau being overtaken by Frozen Cod
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

 From the Tuesday NYT-- A Portuguese Tradition Faces a Frozen Future.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/world/europe/16cod.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=bacalhau&st=cse

"Cod, the salted, cured, dried, smelly kind, may be the closest thing 
this country has to a national symbol.
Bacalhau, as the fish is called here, is to Christmas Eve in Portugal 
what turkey is to Thanksgiving in America. Treasured since the 16th 
century, when Portuguese fishermen first brought it back from 
Newfoundland, it bore the nickname fiel amigo ? faithful friend. Its 
correct preparation is a source of pride, a sign of respect for family 
values."

Good description of the process and preparation of the fish and the dish 
in the article.

Johnnae


Date: Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:02:37 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] newbee planning feast in winter, blog
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Bear replied to Elisande with:
<<< Very nice.  As to your question about fish, let me say "salt cod." 
Salt preserved cod and herring were staples of the Hanseatic trade.

Bear >>>

What would you suggest as a modern source for salt cod or herring,  Bear? 
I've seen some salt cod sold in little wooden boxes. Rather  expensive for 
a feast, even considering that the drying has reduced its weight.

Some fresh fish was available in winter, depending upon how far you were 
from the sea and how rich you were.

Stefan
-------------

Here in Ansteorra, I'd call Bodeans Fish Market and ask.  In Europe, I'd 
probably check with the local fishmongers.  Since bacaloa (Spanish), baccala 
(Italian), and bacalhau (Portugese) are a multinational family of dishes 
that use salt cod, Elisande, who is in Germany, might have an easier time 
getting salt cod.

As a cheat, I might brine a little frozen whiting from Walmart.  Other than 
catfish, it's about the cheapest fish available to us.

Bear 


Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:47:00 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Salt cod (was: Newbee planning feast in
	winter)
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Jun 19, 2009, at 5:27 PM, David Walddon wrote:
<<< What do you use for your recipe for salt cod?
Does anyone have period directions on salting cod?
What a great idea!

Eduardo >>>

I've developed a cheater's method that's pretty foolproof, that I  
originally used on some fresh cod fillet that I had in the fridge and  
intended to use within 24 hours, and then couldn't, for some reason...  
if that makes any sense.

It's a cheater's method because while it does produce lovely-tasting  
salt cod, I didn't achieve (or even especially try to achieve) a fully  
dehydrated product that would survive without refrigeration. I'm sure  
it's doable; I simply didn't bother.

On the other hand, I did achieve a cured product whose flavor and  
texture when cooked was definitely that of salt cod and not fresh cod,  
and it actually had a better color and aroma than much of the lower- 
quality salt cod (you know when it gets yellow?).

Basically I coated the fillets with an even, fairly heavy, dusting of  
non-iodized, Kosher salt. Not buried in salt, but completely covered  
on both sides, as if you took the fillets and pressed them down into a  
large pile of salt, on both sides, and whatever sticks to them when  
you lift them up is the right amount.

I laid the fillets on a folded square of several thicknesses of paper  
towel (proper drainage is a big, big issue in all sorts of food  
storage projects -- ask the guy who, in large part, sold leftovers at  
a premium for a living), and slipped them into a large Ziploc-type  
plastic bag, one large enough to spread the fish out in one layer.

This goes into the fridge for 2-3 days, by which time the salt will  
have dissolved in expressed fish juice, and drained into the paper  
toweling. If the toweling is obviously saturated, you can remove it,  
replace with fresh, and rewrap. At the end of that time, the fish will  
have achieved a firm, cured-ham-like texture. It could then presumably  
be further dried under the proper conditions, but I just wrapped it in  
plastic wrap and froze it.

I soaked it for a couple of hours only before using (just pinch off a  
bit and taste it; if it tastes good and not like a salt lick, you're  
good to go.)

Best Bacalao Viscaino I ever had ;-)...

Adamantius


Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2009 09:12:57 -0500
From: Jennifer Carlson <talana1 at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Salt cod (was: Newbee planning feast in
	winter)
To: Cooks list <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Eduardo asked:
<<< What do you use for your recipe for salt cod?
Does anyone have period directions on salting cod? >>>

I found a recipe on the web by googling "making salt cod" and picking the one that looked the least complicated.

Coat the fillets on all sides with kosher salt, as if you were breading them.  I put a poultry roasting rack in a baking dish and laid the fillets on the rack, then  covered the assembly with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. 

 The fillets give up their water fairly quickly.  I let them stay in the fridge for a few days, pouring off the liquid each day and resalting them if they needed it.  Then I put them in freezer bags and tucked them in the freezer.  

Like Adamantius, I didn't get them to dry out completely, but they're quite satisfactory.

Talana


Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2009 10:48:48 -0400
From: "Philip Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Salt cod (was: Newbee planning feast in
	winter)
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Jun 20, 2009, at 10:12 AM, Jennifer Carlson wrote:
<<< I found a recipe on the web by googling "making salt cod" and  
picking the one that looked the least complicated.

Coat the fillets on all sides with kosher salt, as if you were  
breading them.  I put a poultry roasting rack in a baking dish and  
laid the fillets on the rack, then  covered the assembly with  
plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator.  The fillets give up  
their water fairly quickly.  I let them stay in the fridge for a few  
days, pouring off the liquid each day and resalting them if they  
needed it.  Then I put them in freezer bags and tucked them in the  
freezer. >>>

It sounds like the main difference between this method and the one I  
posted is in how proper drainage is achieved, and apart from my  
recurrent semi-obsession with proper drainage in stored foods in  
general, there seems to be no lactic fermentation in salt cod -- it is  
salted but not pickled, as opposed to, say, gravlax, which can acquire  
a lactic tang after a prolonged curing process.

<<< Like Adamantius, I didn't get them to dry out completely, but  
they're quite satisfactory. >>>

Yes, I agree on that (no surprise there, I expect). While this seems  
like a simple, and almost random, combination of  cod and salt, which  
would sort of beg the question, okay, what are we not being told here,  
the fact is that apart from the basic combination of ingredients,  
there are fundamental changes in texture and flavor which makes the  
product salt cod and not simply cod with salt on it... and those  
changes do occur, so it appears the method does work.

And if one wanted to dry the cod further, it wouldn't be too hard, I'm  
sure, given the right weather or other artificially established  
conditions. I gather modern salt cod is finished in an electric kiln,  
at a very low temperature, a lot of the time. You could probably use  
your oven, if careful, in much the same way jerky can be dried. I've  
always been tempted to hang stuff near the fan in a walk-in fridge,  
myself.

Adamantius


Date: Sun, 21 Jun 2009 07:26:08 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] salt cod
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Kipper as a noun dates to at least 1000 CE, when the word references the 
reddish color of a salmon during spawning.  As an adjective, the word dates 
to around the 12th Century and it is uncertain whether the reference is to 
spent salmon or preserved fish.  The linguistic probability is the former. 
As a verb referring to the preservation of fish, kipper dates to the 18th 
Century.  The earliest description of preserving fish by kippering I have 
encountered is from 1769.  Commercial kippered fish appear around 1840.

Bear

----- Original Message ----- 

While the term "kippered" goes back to 12th century or so, what we
think of as "kippered" fish or "kippers" apparently dates to just the
19th century and refers to a lightly smoked fish, one where the
smoking is mostly for flavor. This fish required the speed of the
railroads to transport it to market before it spoiled since there
wasn't enough smoking to add much preservation qualities.

Stefan


Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:49:35 -0500
From: Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] kippering
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

Adamantius replied to me with:
Stefan: While the term "kippered" goes back to 12th century or so,  
what we
think of as "kippered" fish or "kippers" apparently dates to just
the 19th century and refers to a lightly smoked fish, one where the
smoking is mostly for flavor. This fish required the speed of the
railroads to transport it to market before it spoiled since there
wasn't enough smoking to add much preservation qualities.

Adamantius: I dunno about that; real kippered herring from Scotland  
are pretty
powerful critters, and really should be soaked a bit before cooking
and eating. Mostly it's salt, rather than a heavy smoking, but it's
not like there's no preservative action taking place. Smoke, per se,
isn't much of a preservative on its own; it has some antibacterial and
insect repellent qualities, but it's the salting and drying that
generally accompany it that usually do most of the work. Unless you're
talking about canned kipper snack fillets, for which the main
preservation process is... canning.
------

Okay, For once I can find where I read this. From the same book I  
mentioned, "Fish on Friday, Feasting, Fasting and the Discovery of the  
New World", p 47, 48.

The footnote on p 47:
"A note on herring terminology for uninitiated readers: the kipper is  
lightly salted then smoked, the word coming from "kippering", a 1326  
verb that means "to cure a fish by cleaning, salting and spicing it"  
Kippers and bloaters were associated with Yarmouth, England, but were  
produced all along the eastern English coast, especailly in  
Northumberland, where the kippering process was invented in the 1840s."

On page 48:

"John Woodger of Seahouses in Northumberland invented the kippering  
process in the 1840s. A relatively mild cure, it was ideal in an era  
when rail transportation wafted herrings from smoker to kitchen in a  
few hours.  Such light preservation would have been unthinkable in  
earlier times,, when fish took days, even weeks or months to reach  
their destination. The waters of the Baltic, English Channel, and the  
North Sea teemed with aquatic life, but the catch couldn't travel.  
Only a few kilometers inland, a fresh catch would being to smell,  
leaving the seller with no option but to throw it away. So sea fish  
had inseperable partners p drying racks, salt and the smokehouse.

Breakfast kippers are fat herrings, salted and smoked lightly to  
preserve their delicate flavor and texture. There's a world of  
difference between the salting and smoking that create fine food and  
the heavy salting that preserves it, as in medieval times, when shelf  
life was the primary consideration and people ate fish intensively at  
certain times of the year. By the twelth century, the devout who dined  
on fish during Lent almost invariably consumed a dried, salted or  
smoked catch."

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
   Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at austin.rr.com


Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2009 06:01:15 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kippering
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Jun 22, 2009, at 1:49 AM, Stefan li Rous wrote:

<<< Okay, For once I can find where I read this. From the same book I  
mentioned, "Fish on Friday, Feasting, Fasting and the Discovery of  
the New World", p 47, 48.

The footnote on p 47:
"A note on herring terminology for uninitiated readers: the kipper  
is lightly salted then smoked, the word coming from "kippering", a  
1326 verb that means "to cure a fish by cleaning, salting and  
spicing it" Kippers and bloaters were associated with Yarmouth,  
England, but were produced all along the eastern English coast,  
especailly in Northumberland, where the kippering process was  
invented in the 1840s."

On page 48:

"John Woodger of Seahouses in Northumberland invented the kippering  
process in the 1840s. A relatively mild cure, it was ideal in an era  
when rail transportation wafted herrings from smoker to kitchen in a  
few hours.  Such light preservation would have been unthinkable in  
earlier times,, when fish took days, even weeks or months to reach  
their destination. The waters of the Baltic, English Channel, and  
the North Sea teemed with aquatic life, but the catch couldn't  
travel. Only a few kilometers inland, a fresh catch would being to  
smell, leaving the seller with no option but to throw it away. So  
sea fish had inseperable partners p drying racks, salt and the  
smokehouse.

Breakfast kippers are fat herrings, salted and smoked lightly to  
preserve their delicate flavor and texture. There's a world of  
difference between the salting and smoking that create fine food and  
the heavy salting that preserves it, as in medieval times, when  
shelf life was the primary consideration and people ate fish  
intensively at certain times of the year. By the twelth century, the  
devout who dined on fish during Lent almost invariably consumed a  
dried, salted or smoked catch." >>>

The operative term here is probably "relatively mild". There are  
herring salted and smoked until they resemble planks of mahagony, and  
kippers aren't.

On the other hand, anyone, including the author of the quoted text,  
could easily compare them to raw fish for flavor and simple  
refrigerated shelf life, or try eating an unsoaked, raw, kippered  
herring, before suggesting the kippering process, as used, changes  
only the flavor, and that only slightly.

Which, mind you, I don't think the author is doing. But the difference  
between a fresh herring and a freshly kippered herring (when not the  
canned critters, they usually come refrigerated and sealed in some  
form of cryovac plastic, in my own experience) is somewhat akin to the  
difference between a fresh pork chop and Smithfield Ham. You can throw  
both in a frying pan as is, cook and eat them, but a soak in water for  
a while helps make the ham and the kipper more palatable for most  
people.

Adamantius


Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:29:42 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kippering
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

<<< Okay, For once I can find where I read this. From the same book I
mentioned, "Fish on Friday, Feasting, Fasting and the Discovery of the 
New World", p 47, 48.

The footnote on p 47:
"A note on herring terminology for uninitiated readers: the kipper is 
lightly salted then smoked, the word coming from "kippering", a 1326  verb 
that means "to cure a fish by cleaning, salting and spicing it"  Kippers 
and bloaters were associated with Yarmouth, England, but were  produced 
all along the eastern English coast, especially in  Northumberland, where 
the kippering process was invented in the 1840s."

Stefan >>>

The author is assuming broader meaning than is presented by the evidence. 
The 1326 reference (according to the OED) is the Durham Account Rolls and 
the entry reads, "11 Kypres emp., 3s 6p",  A note to the entry reads, "It is 
doubtful whether the quots. from the Durham Acc. Rolls belong here; they may 
relate to the fish in sense 1, without reference to any particular mode of 
preparation."  Sense 1 refers to spent salmon.

Please note that the word used is a noun, while the author is saying it is a 
verb.  Usage as a verb does not appear in the written record until the 18th 
Century.  I'm of the opinion the author is in error on this linguistic point 
and is overstating the evidence.

Bear 


Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 00:42:00 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] kippering
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

There's the very useful
Dictionary of the Scots Language:
http://www.dsl.ac.uk/
**Kipper **, /n/. Also: *keiper*, *kep-*, *keypyr*. Add: Also attrib.
with /salmont/. ? (1)
For a keiper xi d.; *1512* /Household Bk. Jas. IV/ 13 b.
For ane kypper xvi d.; /Ib./ 17 b. (2)
Coft i kepyr salmont pryce xiiii d.; *1512* /Household Bk. Jas. IV/ 2 b.
For ane keypyr salmont xx d.; *1512* /Ib./ in /Facs. Nat. MSS./ III. x.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now as a verb--
**Kipper **, /n/. Also: *keiper*, *kep-*, *keypyr*. Add: Also attrib.
with /salmont/. ? (1)
For a keiper xi d.; *1512* /Household Bk. Jas. IV/ 13 b.
For ane kypper xvi d.; /Ib./ 17 b. (2)
Coft i kepyr salmont pryce xiiii d.; *1512* /Household Bk. Jas. IV/ 2 b.
For ane keypyr salmont xx d.; *1512* /Ib./ in /Facs. Nat. MSS./ III. x.

?** KIPPER **, /v/.^2 To trifle (Abd. 1928).
**Abd.* *1902* /E.D.D./:
Fat gars ye come * kipper *in wi a thingie like that?
[Prob. an irreg. variant of Eng. /caper/.]

**kIPPER **, /v/.^3 With /up/: to pile or stack objects loosely and
carelessly (Mry.^1 1925, Abd.^27 1959).
**Abd.*^15 *1928*:
Dinna be * kipper *in it up on that heech skelf, an? haein it fain? doon
an? brakkin.
[From Kip

OED lists it as "Etymology uncertain". One wants to think it might have
to do with 'keeping' or 'preserving' which turns up under 'kip*' 
searches in the MED.

Moffett mentions that salmon "for towards Winter they wax kipper, full 
of kernels under their throate like a measeld hogg, and lose both their 
redness of fles ...."
Izaak Walton mentions "that the He Salmon susually bigger then the 
Spawner, and that he is more kipper, & less able to endure a winter in 
the fresh water, then the She is;..."

So the term may have come from the earlier term for a male salmon.

Johnnae


Date: Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:07:45 -0500
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 'Tis the season...

On Dec 31, 2009, at 7:37 PM, Stefan li Rous wrote:
<<< Anyone know how the lutefisk they sell compares to the "real thing"? Or since it is frozen is it fairly close? The comments on canned haggis for instance, seem to universally say it doesn't come close to the real thing. >>>

The frozen product is the real thing; it has just been frozen. To make the real thing from scratch, you have to soak dried cod in water, then in water mixed with lye (the all-important lute part), then in fresh water to remove the lye.

Then, since it is no longer dried nor salted nor in any other way preserved, it must either be eaten immediately or frozen. Probably almost any conceivable damage that freezing will do to the flavor and texture of the fish has already been done.

Adamantius


Date: Thu, 16 Jun 2011 08:08:59 -0400
From: bronwynmgn at aol.com
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] powdered fish?

<<Powdered fish? What is that, a dried fish which is then crushed into a powder? How was it used in period recipes? As a soup base? I assume similarly to what you'd do with a dried/stockfish, but if you soak or boil them, you get something somewhat resembling a fish, at least. >>>

If I remember correctly, "powdering" is a preservation method where the item to be preserved is buried in powdered salt.

Brangwayna Morgan 


Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2011 04:05:23 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] powdered fish?

On Jun 16, 2011, at 5:19 AM, Stefan li Rous wrote:
> Powdered fish?

Here's a recipe where one is instructed to powder something.

To keepe it from rotting after it is new flaine.

COuer it close from the Sunne or Ayre with Fearne, and laye it in a  
colde place, then washe it cleane and let it lye in Water halfe a  
daye, and then laye it on the Floore to drye, then set the Water and  
Salte together, and let it coole till it be leuke warme, and then  
washe the Venison therin, and let it lye in that pickle three dayes  
and thr?e nightes, then take it out and powder it with drye Salt, and  
barrell it and stop it fast.

from Partridge, John. The Widowes Treasure. 1588.

Johnnae


Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2011 19:53:55 +0200
From: Ana Valdes <agora158 at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] powdered fish?

Yes, the Scandinavic word used today is "pudra", it means sprinkle with something. I guess the word is originally Norse.
Ana

18 jun 2011 kl. 19:42 skrev Sharon Palmer <ranvaig at columbus.rr.com>:
<<< Here's a recipe where one is instructed to powder something.

To keepe it from rotting after it is new flaine.

COuer it close from the Sunne or Ayre with Fearne, and laye it in a colde place, then washe it cleane and let it lye in Water halfe a daye, and then laye it on the Floore to drye, then set the Water and Salte together, and let it coole till it be leuke warme, and then washe the Venison therin, and let it lye in that pickle three dayes and thr?e nightes, then take it out and powder it with drye Salt, and barrell it and stop it fast. >>>

<<< I suspect that this means to sprinkle it with salt, rather than to grind it to a powder.

Ranvaig >>>

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	stockfish-msg	Page 60 of 60