[Sca-cooks] Salt in Iceland (was Honey butter)

[Johnna Holloway]

Nanna reported back in 1999
"><< And completely unsalted, >>

>On what basis do you make this statement?"

In Iceland, butter was never salted until the 19th century. Neither was
fish, and meat rarely. We used other methods of preservation, as almost all
salt had to be imported and was simply too expensive for ordinary people.
Yet this butter was not only a great part of our diet (the usual allotment
for a working man was half a pound per day) but was also used for many
financial transactions. Rents were usually paid in butter, for instance.

Nanna

Later in May 1999, she talks about "Pickling was one of the most used 
preservation methods in Iceland almost
from the Settlement, as salt was always lacking, and the liquid used for 
pickling was fermented whey."

In 2001 she posted:
>     (P.128) "Hard as a board, dried fish was softened by being beaten 
and > was served with butter.

 We still do that, quite often. I still spread my dried fish liberally with
butter when I want to treat myself. But dried fish only gradually became a
substitute for bread in the Icelandic diet. Besides, _everything_ used to be
served with butter here.

 
>  ... Heavily salted, butter could be kept for> decades; large stores 
were accumulated, like gold, by wealthy landowners.

 
Heavily salted??? Oh no no. One of the strongest characteristics of pre-19th
century Icelandic cuisine is the almost complete lack of salt. Butter was
"soured" (I'm not sure what the proper English term is here and old sources
say that butter treated in this way could easily keep unspoiled (and it WAS
considered unspoiled, although I doubt modern people would think so) for at
least 20 years, whereas salted butter was said to keep only two years. Most
Icelanders actually preferred this to salted butter, but others usually
found it quite disgusting.

Hope this helps

Johnnae


edoard at medievalcookery.com wrote:
> Salt not available in Iceland? This seems a bit odd to me, considering it's an island surrounded by salt water, and that most (all?) of the
> settlements are on the coast.  They didn't use sea water as brine?  (I'm
> not saying they did - I know pretty much squat about Iceland)
>
> - Doc
>   
>