[Ansteorra] Stew Recipe needed....

[Christie Ward]

>>I have a Viking stew recipe at:
>>http://www.vikinganswerlady.org/food.htm#ChickenStew

Stefan asked:
>Gunnora, what is the source of this recipe or its redaction?
>The main thing I'm wondering about is the Allspice, which I
>understand to be a New World item.
>Ok, if I've got things right, you indicate this source for this recipe:
>Fant, Michaël, Roger Lundgren and Thore Isaksson. Vikingars Gästabud
>(The Viking Feast. Danish.) Malmö: Richters Förlag. 1998.

The recipe comes from Vikingars Gästabud, and there are rumors that a
version in English translation will come out this year.  I'm about to
purchase the Danish version for my own library.  The recipes shown on my
webpage came to me as photocopies in Danish from a friend overseas...

It's important to remember that there *are no recipes extant from the Viking
Age*.  None, zip, nada, zero.  So what happens is that people look at the
archaeological evidence, and compare that to the oldest food and recipe info
we *do* have from the culture in question or related cultures, then we
guess.

Allspice probably isn't a good reconstruction - it's as given in the recipe
in the Danish text.  Allspice is a the dried unripe berry of the Pimenta
dioica which  belongs to the family Solanaceae, classified as Capiscum
annuum. It is also know as Jamaica pepper, common name applied to the berry
of a small West Indian tree of the myrtle family. Spanish explorers happened
on to the Allspice plant in Jamaica in the beginning of the 16th century.
The Spaniards thought the fruits look like pepper so they gave it the name
of Jamaican Pepper and pimento from the word "pimienta", Spanish for
peppercorn. The English name "Allspice" was given because the spice is said
to have the aroma of several spices including cloves, pepper and even
cinnamon and nutmeg.

More reasonable spices for the Viking Age include dill, coriander and hops,
which are known from Jorvík and the Danelaw. There is evidence from Dublin
for poppyseed, black mustard, and fennel. The Oseberg burial included
watercress, cumin, mustard, and horseradish. Other spices included lovage,
parsley, mint, thyme, marjoram, wild caraway, juniper berries, and garlic.

Instead of the allspice, if I were cooking this dish I'd probably try
juniper berries.  And, of course, my personal taste would call for garlic as
well.

::GUNNORA::

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