[Sca-cooks] viking food and fall fruit

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach a5foil:
>Ego scripsi:
>>  >I think any grapes would have been reserved for wine, rather than
>>  >eaten as fruit.
>
>Et Selene scripsit:
>>  I might beg to differ there.  Things like dried fruit are often the only
>>  sweetening agents available.  I'm thinking, like the raisins in a plum
>>  duff, later on at sea.  Just thinking out loud here.
>
>In England, grapes are a luxury crop left over from the Romans, and I don't
>recall any mention of vineyards farther north. Hagen (Anglo-Saxon Food &
>Drink II) says "Most grapes would have been used to make wine ..." I would
>expect that dried fruit would be from more abundant, native fruit like
>currants, and drying would simply be for preservation. Honey is the primary
>sweetener.

The main potential problem with that argument is that while things 
were warmer, generally, prior to the 12th or 13th century (which is 
why grapes could be grown in Britain), there's not a lot of dry, 
direct sunlight compared to, say, the Mediterranean Basin. I doubt 
there was a big trade in dried currants in Northern Europe, except 
those that came from Corinth (source of the name), and the fact that 
the little grapes that make up Zante currants or raisins of Corinth 
are different critters from red or black currants, which are berries, 
IIRC.

So I'd say if I had to generalize, yes, honey is the primary 
sweetener, with imported dried fruits having a role, and possibly 
small amounts of imported sugar.

Adamantius

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