SC - Malaches (FoC 159)

[Nanna Rognvaldardottir]

ÚlfR wrote:

>Do you have a real recipie? Never having eaten it I could redact it from
>your description, but better would be a recipie. Is there a good
>Icelandic cookbook in any other scandinavian language (or English) that
>you know of? Far too many of the things you mention sounds yummy, and
>uses interesting parts of the animal.

Well, I´m currently writing such a book but for various reasons not making
quite as good progress as I had planned upon. Still, it should be available
in a year or so. Meanwhile, feel free to ask for any recipe that interests
you.

This is my family recipe - my mother got it from her grandmother, who was
born in 1870. Rye was traditional at least from the 18th century onwards
(often mixed with chopped Iceland moss) but earlier, barley was probably the
most common grain.

Blóðmör
(recipe may easily be halved)

a couple of lamb´s stomachs
1 litre blood
2 dl water
1/2 tbsp coarse salt
200 g oatmeal
around 800 g coarse rye flour
5-800 g chopped lamb suet

First you should make the bags/pouches (or whatever to call them): Lay the
cleaned stomach flat on a board and cut it into 5-6 parts. Sew each part
with a soft cotton thread to make a bag but leave a small opening (6-8 cms).
Keep them in cold salted water while you make the stuffing: Mix blood, water
and salt in a big bowl. Add oatmeal, then stir in the rye flour gradually,
until the mixture is so thick that the spoon can almost stand unsupported in
the middle of the bowl. Add suet (my great-grandmother would probably have
used at least a kilo, I use not more than half that amount). At this stage,
I usually abandon the spoon and use my arm to stir the mixture (no, this is
not for the squemish). Stuff the stomach pouches with the mixture; they
should not be more than two-thirds full or even less. Sew them up or use
pins to close them. Place in boiling salted water, taking care not to crowd
them. Prick them thoroughly with a pin and let them simmer for around 2 1/2
hours, turning them occasionally.

This is often served hot with potatoes and mashed swedes (oops, sorry,
rutabagas) but frankly, these days I prefer to let it cool, then slice it up
and fry it in butter with some apples and demarera sugar (very
untraditional), OR just plain with a glass of milk, OR (best of all)
preserved in soured whey until really really sour, then eaten with a bowl of
porridge.

To the basic recipe, you can add chopped soaked Iceland moss, or some
raisins (there are even modern recipes which substitute all the fat with
raisins), or some spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice.

Nanna