SC - sugar

[Christina van Tets]

- -Poster: <Elysant at aol.com>

Nanna wrote:

> Elysant was referring to a discussion she and I had about similarities 
between 
> certain traditional Welsh/Icelandic dishes, especially cawl and kjötsúpa; 
we were
> speculating if there was any direct influence, but I thought it more likely 
that these > dishes had evolved separately, due to similar resources.

I was trying to explore a Viking/Celt "food migration" between Welsh and 
Icelandic dishes.  To me it had seemed logical that perhaps there would be 
some movement or influence of dishes between the Celts and the Vikings 
because of the similarity 
we had noted in some of the dishes, and because of the fact that the two 
peoples were present in both countries (i.e. the Vikings invaded Wales, and 
Celts (including Viking slaves) lived in Iceland).
 
Unfortunately though, (AFAIK anyway) there is no proof available of any 
migration of dishes or foods between these two countries in the Viking Age.  
And even if we were to decide for ourselves without the proof that the 
similarity of the dishes or recipes must be indicative of some sort of 
influence, the fact is that as Wales and Iceland have been in contact 
repeatedly over the centuries, the exchange of ideas and resources could have 
happened at any point in history, even up to the present day. 

Also, as Nanna said, there is a point to be made that similar dishes like the 
stews discussed here could have easily developed independently in different 
countries at some point because of similar circumstances, food resources, 
cooking methods etc. 

Elysant
P.S. I've added the Welsh Cawl ingredient list at the bottom for comparison 
with the Icelandic and Mongol stews.

>... the ingredients in the Icelandic/Mongolian soups are as follows:

>Kjötsúpa (Icelandic):

>Fat mutton or lamb
>onion
>potatoes
>rutabagas
>carrots
>a spoonful of a dried herb/vegetable mixture, if available
>a small pinch of pepper
>salt
>water

>Guriltai shul (Mongolian):

>Fat mutton
>some mutton fat
>onion
>potatoes
>rutabagas
>carrots
>salt
>water

Cawl (Welsh)

neck of lamb
leeks
potatoes
rutabagas
carrots
parsnips
parsley
salt
pepper
water
(cream optional)

(We don't add any oats, rice, or cabbage).

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