[Sca-cooks] Best and worst Norse-themed Feasts?

[Terry Decker]

My first feast was for an Althing almost forty years ago.  This was in the 
days before I was deep into historical cooking and it was more a mix of 
traditional Scandinavian dishes than anything close to historically 
accurate.  As a perioid feast, it went quite well.  The problem was 
inclement weather and a feast for 120 had about 80 attendees.  We made up 
the loss on the beer and turned a profit of $1.86.  Somewhere I have the 
recipes, but I wouldn't post them as a feast menu, only as the occasional 
modern goody.  In particular, I enjoyed the cardamom bread.

A small side tale:  The feast was attended by two Viking personas from Caid 
who were on their way to Pennsic.  After eating their way through a lot of 
food, they wanted to haul me back to Caid to "teach the people there how to 
do a feast."

What's your problem with turnips?  Other than the human genetic problem with 
the TAS2R bitterness receptor which causes some people (20-25% of the 
population, IIRC) to preceive turnips and rutabagas as being extremely 
bitter?  Proper cooking can help reduce the problem, but not eliminate it. 
A more interesting question is when and how did the turnip arrive in 
Scandinavia?  Is it a prehistoric import or is it more modern?  Turnips 
appear in the context of Jorvik and Dublin, although at Jorvik, this may be 
animal fodder, rather than human.  They do no appear in a number of Viking 
era digs in Scandinavia.  The idea that turnips were common fare in Viking 
era Scandinavia may be a fallacy and the vegetable was a Medieval import 
from England, Ireland or France.  I don't have enough information yet to 
have an solid opinion.

A point to consider is rutabagas, or swedes, as they are sometimes referred 
too, first appear in the botanical record in 1620.

Bear


----- Original Message ----- 

My Laurel has put a task in front of me, and I seek to fulfill it!

I'm looking for some of the best and worst Norse themed dishes/feasts you
have run into. Give me some recipes, tell me some horror stories, inform me
properly on the tyranny of turnips!

Thanks in advance ;)

 - Christoff