SC - Food migration

[Nanna Rognvaldardottir]

>>Henry of Maldon wrote
>Okay, I see a very good reason now that I know a few of the ingredients.
But
>in that case, what brought up the question of whether Vikings ever went to
>Mongolia?

There wasn´t any question, really. 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. Then I was reading up on Mongolian
cooking and came across a recipe that was very similar to these dishes.
Given the ingredients, any direct connection was impossible. The
Vikings-in-Mongolia reference was a joke, sorry - I had forgotten that I had
told Elysant about the Mongolian soup in a private communication, so others
wouldn´t know that one of the ingredients was swedes (rutabagas).

FYI, 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

The only real difference is that in the Mongolian recipe, the meat and
vegetables are sautéed first in mutton fat until lightly colored but not
browned; this is not done in the Icelandic soup. Cabbage is optional in both
soups; flat wheat noodles are frequently added to the Mongolian soup, a
couple of tablespoons of rice or rolled oats to the Icelandic soup. But both
reflect the harsh conditions of their country of origin, short growing
seasons, cold winters, the need to keep vegetables over the winter, scarcity
of fuel and so on.

Nanna

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