[Sca-cooks] RE: Plums and Irish

[otsisto]

Note: I said " If she is trying for Irish Norse then it is a very slim
possibility for the Irish to have plums (actually prunes)." I did not say
that there wasn't a possibility.
Also, I am thinking of the damson plums as being a very slim possibility.
As there are several varieties of Plum, and that like apples, there is a
little to big differences between them with their flavors, I was wanting to
find that specific plum (if any) which was more likely to have been in that
area.
>From what has been presented, sloes can be found in Ireland during the
period of 1005. So, if more of an Irish flavor is wanted then would you not
want to try to obtain that which would have been around, if such fruit can
be obtained?

Lyse


-----Original Message-----
Harald Hardrada, who invaded England in 1066, had been a member of the
Varangian Guard in his youth.  Vikings had been entering the Mediterranean
both through the Straits of Gibraltar and down the rivers in the Steppes
since the early 9th Century.  The probability that none of these venturers
wound up in Ireland is very low.

Rollo settled in Normandy in 911 and whether his Vikings brought the plums
or the Romans left them, that establishes a hundred year span for getting
them into Ireland.  Since the Vikings were in the trading business as well
as the raiding business, shipping prunes to other Viking settlements seems
highly probable.

Were I looking for further evidence to support or refute the contention, I
would look at what information is available on the diet of Viking Era
Dublin.

Bear