Viking Cuisine

  Vikings were people of large size. With such a large size they had to eat a lot of food. The food they ate varied with their location. I have compiled a list of foods or ingredients that most all the tribes ate collectively.

  Mammals: cattle, pigs, sheep, goat, oxen
  Fish: cod, herring, ling
  Birds: duck, chicken, goose, plover, cormorant
  Cereals: oats, flax, spelt, hemp, rye, wheat, barley
  Fruit: apple, blackberry,"stone fruits" (plums, slomes, damsons), strawberry, sloe, elderberry, mountain ash, rose hips, cloudberries, crabapple, juniper berries
  Nuts: hazelnut walnut
  Veggies: celery, carrots, turnips, swede, radish, fennel, brassicas, nettle, cress
  Legumes: peas, beans
  Barley was in almost every meal. Whether if it was Barley cakes, Barley and Fish or Meat and Berries, Barley was a main component. In my last post, some of you wanted me to make a Viking dish. I have decided to make Barley cakes considering desserts are my specialty in the kitchen. I'll leave the recipe at the end of the post for those who want to try it!
  In order for Vikings to eat, they had to have some utensils to help them make and eat without just their hands. The utensils that have been found are pots, pans, forks, knives, spoons, kettles, strainers, metal pots and or cauldrons. They have also found wooden bowls and wooden plates. A more uncommon utensil that has been found is a large metal fork for cooking food directly above fire. Chains and tripods for hanging pots have also been found. Like the modern gridiron for making pancakes and bacon have been dug up!

Utensils used for cooking over a fire.

  For the sick and cold winter nights, Vikings used wooden, soapstone, or metal bowls for soup.
Curd draining boards, butter churns, wooden sieves with the nalbinding technique from horse hair and their version of the "sippy cup" have been found. Who knew the Vikings could be this advanced?  Many would still say they were savages from their thievery but from that sippy cup they found they were pretty docile people.

Viking spoons.

Barley Cakes:
-ingredients
    2 cups barley flour
    water or milk to make thin batter
    2-3 eggs
    pinch of salt

Preparation:
  Mix everything into a thin batter.
  Cook like pancakes on griddle or frying pan.
Optionals: You can leave the eggs out but they would cook a bit better with them in.
Serve: You may add butter and honey or any sweet syrup of your choice. You may also serve them with smoked or pickled fish, roast chicken, any other meats and fruit.
Enjoy!

Who Were the Vikings?

  The term Viking is a general name to describe the people of Scandinavia from the ninth to eleventh centuries. As if, we called the French or the Spanish Pirates. A name for profession. The Scandinavians were people made up of farmers, explorers -hunters-, fishermen, and merchants. Vikings were mainly men. As seamen and warriors, they chose this way of life to prove themselves men. They mainly raided neighboring kingdoms and churches nearby.
  Vikings were masters of the sea. They traveled on Dragon boats. The name of these boats is fairly self explanatory. Though, as their raids became more and more frequent they became greedy people. The raids soon turned into a tradition and they had many boys and men lining up to join the raids. When they would go on raids they often searched and took livestock, coins, weapons, thralls, treasures, spices, works of art and raw materials. Though, they didn't actually want these things that they stole. They felt obligated with their power to take these things, anyway.

Viking Dragon Boat

  As many associate with them, their horned helmets weren't actually apart of their "armor"! They saw it as extra weight to what they were already carrying. Their clothing was mainly hand made and woven by the women of their settlements. Men typically wore tunics that were tight fitting at the chest but had a broad skirt. They also wore either tight or loose trousers depending on the occasion and season. In addition to the tunic and trousers they wore a cloak to keep warm. The outer layer of a man's tunic was called a kyrtill, often made of wool and made with complicated patterns. The style of tunics and under tunics were limited, trousers however, varied very much, from fabric to stitching. Some were tight, others baggy. Some had built in socks, others had heel straps. All in all, Vikings trousers had no fly and no pockets. Meaning both men and women had to find other ways to carry their belonging with them. Many Vikings wore puttee leg wraps to gather excess fabric by the ankles.

  Women typically wore clothing made with the same fabric as men but the clothing was ankle length. The neck was closed by a brooch. Over that dress she would wear a shorter woolen dress suspended by straps and intricate metallic brooches, this type of overdress was called a hangerock. Though, these also varied in size and shape.

Description above

Beads made of glass or ember were often strung in between the brooches. Women also carried everyday items with them suspended from their belts, brooches, or pouches. These everyday items consisted of keys, scissors, needles, a knife, whetstone and much more depending on the woman. Some women wore shawls, cloaks and coat-like covers. Shawls and cloaks were much more common and often fastened with a tri-lobed brooch.

Tri-lobed brooch

Of course the Vikings had much more to who they were including language, cuisine, weaponry and traditions. Next week, I will explore the Viking cuisine. This week was as informative as any other! Please leave your thoughts in the comments and I hope you read my next update on "Viking Cuisine"!

How Much Can I Learn About Vikings in Seven Weeks?

           I chose to research the life of the Vikings because their way of life fascinates me. Within my seven week journey I plan to learn about their weaponry, cuisine-if they had one-, mythology and their day-to-day routines!

           Though, with every journey come potholes and road blocks. When I reach those bumpy paths I will ask myself more questions about why they haven't found that information, why the Vikings did such and how I can get past all the football posts. Because the Vikings seem like mythical creatures, I plan to figure out if their mythology isn't truly a myth. There have been many movies, both foreign and American, on Norse mythology. Within their mythology are many creatures they believed to be real that I want to find out if they were real.

            For the next seven weeks I will be researching and slowly perfecting my Viking expertise. I hope not to lose interest in something I currently love and hope to help you fall in love with wonderful people from the eleventh-century!