The Heathen Hearth

The blog of the YouTube channel Heathen Hearth” has moved to @auzatravensknoll.

[theheathenhearth]

We are Moving!

Hello Followers!

The main Tumblr feed for the Heathen Hearth YouTube channel has been moved over to @auzofravensknoll​.

This has been done in order to consolidate the uploading of content to social media. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to automate uploading to Tumblr sub-blogs.     <|:-(~~

I look forward to seeing you on @auzofravensknoll​!

[auzofravensknoll]

[theheathenhearth]

This blog will now have posts made through Instagram. So, for the most part post will first go to my primary account “Auz of Raven’s Knoll” and then be reblogged here.

“Heathen Hearth” now has a YouTube channel! Please check it out:

www.youtube.com/c/heathenhearth

[theheathenhearth]

An account of the medieval diet. It is no Viking Diet, but still an interesting experiment.

[auzofravensknoll]

I am eating bibimbap from a street food cart on Bank Street and reading my new cookbook “Koreatown.”

The book is excellent, being a partnership between a Korean-food convert / professional food blogger and a Michelin trained Korean-American chef working in the oeuvre of his heritage.

Korean food is wonderfully funky, with umami flavours dominating, and a blast of heat always ready to raise your spirits. It is comforting and healthy, but not heavy.

If you know nothing about Korean cuisine this book explains what you need to know. If you think you know it, this book will expand your knowledge into varied types of dishes. And, if you are an expert it, the book will delight you with amazing photography and interesting interviews.

[theheathenhearth]

Whoops. I posted to the wrong blog initially.

[theheathenhearth]

Edda Loaf

A dense loaf of dark rye bread with rye kernels

A recipe from the Hail and Horn Gathering Cookbook …

Makes two large loaves.

Seven days before

Water (1 cup)

Rye flour (1 cup)

Mix together the water and the rye flour, in a non-reactive bowl. Cover with a clean cloth. Keep at room temperature.

Six days before

Leave the starter to sit and start to quicken on its own.

Five days before

Water (1 cup)

Rye flour (1 cup)

Mix together the water and the rye flour, in a non-reactive bowl. Add this slurry to the starter. Stir with a clean spoon. Cover with a clean cloth. Keep at room temperature.

Four days before

Smell the mixture. If it smells a bit boozy, proceed with this step. If it does not, wait another day before doing this step.

Discard all but one cup of the starter mixture. Add to this mixture a slurry of:

Water (1/2 cup)

Rye flour (1/2 cup)

Stir with a clean spoon. Cover with a clean cloth. Keep at room temperature.

Three days before

Water (1 cup)

Rye flour (1 cup)

Mix together the water and the rye flour, in a non-reactive bowl. Add this slurry to the starter. Stir with a clean spoon. Cover with a clean cloth. Keep at room temperature.

Two days before

Water (2 cup)

Rye flour (2 cup)

Mix together the water and the rye flour, in a non-reactive bowl. Add this slurry to the starter. Stir with a clean spoon. Cover with a clean cloth. Keep at room temperature.

One day before (maybe)

The starter should be ready. A living starter will have a boozy smell and tiny bubbles rising to the surface. If it does not smell boozy, wait another day.

Water (1lb and 2 oz)

Rye kernels (1lb and 5 oz)

Heat the water to 200 degrees F and pour over rye kernels. Mix well. Cover tightly (with saran wrap or similar) and leave to swell until the following day. Drain in a sieve. The final weight should be approximately 1 lb and 12 oz.

24 hours before

It is now the time to prepare the starter for the bread.

Water (7 oz)

Sourdough rye starter (1 ¾ oz)

Rye flour (2.5 oz)

Mix together the water, starter, and rye flours for about 10 minutes. Place in a non-reactive bowl. Cover with a clean cloth. Keep at room temperature.

Day of baking

Water (14 oz)

Yeast (10 oz)

Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water.

Starter mixture, as prepared

Rye flour (15.5 oz)

Rye kernels, as prepared

Honey (0.9 oz)

Grey sea salt (0.8 oz)

Mix the ingredients and knead the dough in a bowl for about 10 minutes, 15 minutes if using a machine with a dough hook. Place in a non-reactive bowl. Cover with a clean cloth. Keep at room temperature for 75 minutes.

Lard (2 tablespoons)

Grease two 4.2 cup springform cake pans. Pour the dough into the pans and level the surface with a spoon dipped in water. Cover tightly (with saran wrap or similar) and let rise for 60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the tins in the oven and bake for 60 minutes. Use a thermometer to check the internal temperature of the bread 208 degrees Fahrenheit.

Remove tins from the oven and remove loaves from the pans. Return the loaves to the oven to bake for another 5 minutes to harden the crust.  (A soft crust will result in the bread go mouldy much faster.)

This bread will keep for weeks in the fridge. It actually tastes best after a day or two of rest in a chill place. Let come to room temperature before eating.

[theheathenhearth]

A recipe from the Hail and Horn Gathering Cookbook …

Thrall’s Scrapple

Mixed grain porridge sliced into slabs and fried in butter

In North America, classic scrapple is a loaf made from a very thick maize porridge mixed with spices, swine offal and head cheese, then fried. It shares a kinship with the Italian dish polenta, a cooking technique that was applied to other grains prior to the introduction of maize to Europe. In this recipe, a mix of grains that were much more commonly available to the Germanic tribes has been substituted – cracked wheat, rye, oats, and flax seed. Such a mix and rough grind of grains was more economical for poorer folk, who ate it hot as gruel and often later fancied up the leftovers as other dishes.

Serves 8

3 hours before serving

Wheat berries, cracked (1/2 cup)

Rye kernels, cracked (1/4 cup)

Flax seeds, whole (1/8 cup)

Flax seeds, ground (1/8 cup)

Oat groats, cracked (1 cup)

Grey sea salt (1/4 teaspoon)

Water (6 cups)

Butter (to grease containers)

In a pot, mix together all the ingredients. Bring to a boil on high heat. Once boiling reduce the heat to a very low simmer. Stir constantly to ensure that the grains cook evenly and do not  burn on. Cook until the porridge starts to pull away from the sides of the pot when stirred and large clumps no longer fall from the spurtle (or stirring spoon) when raised out of the pot. The timing depends on the surface area of your pot, but it should take about 30 minutes or so. Grease loaf tins or similar containers with the butter. Divide the porridge between the containers. Let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate.

20 minutes before serving

Wheat flour, whole (1/4 cup)

Butter, clarified (1 cup)

Grey sea salt (to taste)

Turn out the solid loaves of porridge. Slice at thinly as possible, without breaking apart, approximately the thickness of a thumb. If your knife sticks, wet it before making the cut. Lightly dust the slices in the flour. Fry slices a few at a time in a hot pan in a few table spoons of clarified butter. Remove from the pan when crisped on both sides. Drain fat on a cloth or kitchen paper. Finish by seasoning with salt.

2 minutes before serving

Let rest 2 minutes, uncovered, before serving.

[You can use whole oat groats in this recipe, or substitute with the most roughly cut “steel cut” or “Irish” or “Scottish” oats you can find. Do not use rolled oats, they authentic in this recipe. Also, feel free to substitute “Red River Cereal” for the wheat, rye and flax mixture in this recipe, if your local grocery carries it.]

[ancientorigins]

1000-year-old middle eastern recipe book has ultimate hangover cure

Written nearly a thousand years ago, the Kitab al-tabikh (book of cookery) is the most comprehensive work of its kind, including more than 600 recipes for culinary and medicinal dishes, including a well-known ancient Middle Eastern hangover cure, ingredients for enhancing sexual performance, and dishes for curing a range of health problems.

Read More…

[theheathenhearth]

I wonder if any Rus learned this recipe while living in Constantinople?

“Al-Warraq’s hangover cure, called ‘Kkishkiyya’, is a meat, chickpea, and vegetable stew with the addition of a special ingredient known as khask, a fermented yoghurt, milk, and whey product, which is thought to be the key to alleviating what Nasrallah describes as excess heat in the head and stomach.  The book also advises to eat cabbage prior to drinking alcohol, eating snacks between drinks to slow down its effects, and sipping on water the following day before consuming the stew.”

[theheathenhearth]

Nilsson, Magnus. (2015) The Nordic Cook Book. New York, NY: Phaidon Press Ltd.

I have not even read this book yet and I just need to share its glory with the world! The book is written by Magnus Nilsson, the head chef of Fäviken Magasinet restaurant in Sweden. It is a magnum opus of Nordic cuisine covering Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Finland, the Sámpi region, as well as the core of Norway, Sweden and Denmark. At more than 700 8 ½ X 11 pages, the book is immense. The text is exceedingly well-written and evocative, with all the socio-historical notes an anthropology nerd like me craves. Aside from the standard and core recipes, such as the various meatballs and flatbreads, it includes important cultural outliers such as pilot whale and pine bark recipes. I am going to thoroughly enjoy this book. A tome like this can be mined for years, which I plan to do to come up with ideas for the Hail and Horn Gathering feast.

Finnish Rye and Pine Bark Bread

Pettuleipä (Finland)

Preparation and resting time: 4 days

Cooking time: 45 to 60 minutes

Makes: 2 cakes

Day 1

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons mixed rye and pine bark flour

1/8 oz fresh yeast

Day 2

1 2/3 cups mixed rye and pine bark flour

Day 3

2 ½ cups mixed rye and pine bark flour

2 teaspoons salt

Day 1: Mix ¾ cup of water with the rye and pine bark flour and yeast in a big bowl. Leave overnight at room temperature. Do not cover the bowl, as you want the lactobacillus in your room to work on the dough, together with the what’s present in the flour.

Day 2: Add the flour and another 1 ¼ plus 2 tablespoons water and more flour and mix well. Cover and leave overnight again.

Day 3: Check the starter dough to make sure that you have plenty of active fermentation. Is it frothing? Taste is to make sure you have lactobacilli in there, creating lactic acid. Does it taste fresh and acidic? If the answer to both these question is yes, then proceed with the recipe.

To finish the dough, add the salt and the rest of the flour and transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Knead for some time. It might take up to 30 minutes on medium speed, depending on the efficiency of your mixer. The dough should be sticky and dense, but shiny-looking.

Cover the bowl with a clean dish cloth and leave the dough at room temperature to double in size. The time it takes will depend on several factors: the raw materials used in the dough, the level of activity in the starter, the temperature of the room and so on.

Line two baking sheets with baking (parchment) paper.

With wet hands transfer the dough to a floured work counter and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Shape them into round cakes, then poke a hole in the middle of each cake and expand the hole to a diameter of about 1 ¾ inches. Still with wet hands, smooth the surface of each cake – it should look silky. Dust the cakes lightly with flour and transfer them to the prepared baking sheets. Cover with a clean dish cloth and leave to rise. It can take a couple of hours and they should be almost but not quite doubled in size when ready to bake.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Prick the cakes with a fork before baking. It will take longer than you think, I would guess about 1 hour and, since the cakes are already a dark colour, using colour to indicate doneness is dangerous. I prefer to cook until the cakes have a core temperature of about 205°F. When the cakes are done, wrap them immediately in clean cloths and leave them to the next day to cool and slowly soften, before cutting into them.

:

[theheathenhearth]

Renfew, Jane. (1985) Food and Cooking in Roman Britian: History and Recipes. Birmingham, UK: English Heritage.

This a good introductory cook book for people interested in Ancient Roman cusine. It is not an exhaustive academic tome. The book is part of a series from English Heritage on the history of cuisine in Britian. More than half of the slim volume is dedicated to history, notes, and elegent pointilist sketches (like the following), while the remainder is dedicated to easy to follow recipes.

The majority of the recipes are taken from Apicius, curated to focus on those recipes that may have been more likely to have been served in Britian. 

Patina of Elderberries

6 bunches of elderberries

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp liquamem (substitute anchovy essense or thai fish sauce)

4 fl.oz. red wine

4 fl.oz. passum (substitute very sweet cooking wine or a sweet wine reduction)

4 fl.oz. olive oil

6 eggs

Remove the fruits from the stems of the elderberry bunches with a fork. Wash them, place in a saucepan with a little water, and simmer gently until just softened. Drain and arrange in a greased shallow pan. Add the pepper, moisten with liquamen, then add the wine and passum and mix well. Finally, add the olive oil and bring to the boil. When the mixture is boiling, break the egges into it and stir well to bine it together. When set, sprinkle pepper over it and serve hold or cold. 

[theheathenhearth]

Evidence of Sacred Cooking-Pit Meals in the Viking Age

“The cooking pits at sites with no signs of permanent occupation, sometimes also associated with hearths and scattered post-holes, are a familiar phenomenon over much of Scandinavia. Martens (2005) has termed them specialized cooking-pit sites, a term which will be used from here onwards.

The discussion of the practical function of the cooking pits has been based on Old Norse written sources and a diverse body of ethnological evidence (e.g. Heibreen 2005). The pits that are found in larger clusters, either at settlements or in the specialized sites, are identified by most scholars as evidence of the preparation of food. Cooking in a pit is certainly not the usual cooking method of a household, since a pit is first and foremost well suited to the preparation of large quantities of food, perhaps particularly meat. The number of pits at settlements also shows that the digging of a pit was not something that was done every year, but only at intervals of several years (Henriksen 1999). When the stones in a cooking pit have been heated up and the pit is kept covered with turf or some other material, it can be used for cooking over several days. The construction of cooking pits is therefore especially appropriate for occasions when a large number of people stay at a particular site for several days. Many authorities link the cooking pits with the word seyeir, which in the sagas denotes a fire or pit for cooking food, usually meat. Narmo (1996) refers to several sources that indicate that this mode of cooking was associated with sacrifice, and that the combination of cooking and sacrifice created and con- firmed group-solidarity amongst the participants. As can be seen from the plan, four of the cooking-pits at Pjóealyng, 1.3–1.6 m in diameter, lie in a straight line at intervals of 2.0–2.6 m. Such regular rows have also been found elsewhere (Henriksen 1999; Martens 2005; Thörn 2005). In Germany, Denmark and southern Sweden there are many dozens of pits in rows of this kind, and their regular disposition is probably due to their having been constructed along a common boundary, possibly a fence or a track. Such a large number of pits cannot have been in use at one and the same time. Earlier pits were presumably visible as hollows, and the new ones were laid out to maintain the regular pattern established by their predecessors. The reason for this is difficult to conceive, but it is reasonable to believe, as Henriksen (1999:116) does, that these features were linked to ritual feasts. The location of new pits in a specific relation to old ones may have been parts of the ritual.

…

In terms of the number of pits, the four at Þjóealyng can hardly be compared to the much larger, and consistently earlier, Danish, Swedish and German rows of pits, and consequently their interpretation must be different. The most plausible interpretation of the four regular cooking pits is that they were built and used at the same time. On that occasion, it is probable that food was prepared for a relatively large number of people, given that a single pit with a diameter of about a metre could be used to prepare food for at least 30 people. If used to their full capacity, these four pits could have been used to prepare food for at least 200 people.

…

The root of vi or vé is a Common Germanic word meaning ‘holy’. In the Viking Age the word is also used for holy places within Nordic cult life (Vikstrand 2001; Brink 2002a). In several place names -vi as a final element is compounded with the names of gods such as Frey, Odin or Thor. A runic inscription from Oklunda in Östergötland shows that a murderer was protected from his pursuers when he sought refuge in a vi (Jesch 1998; Vikstrand 2001; Brink 2002a). Several sources also refer to another legal ritual which appears to have some cult associations, namely the practice of sacrificing an animal after a case had been decided at the thing (Brink 2002a).”

From “Kaupang Excavation Project Publication Series, Volume 1. Norske Oldfunn XXII. 2007”

Accessed March 2, 2016 from https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/44083.

[theheathenhearth]

My friend Polly Lind, from New Zealand, gifted me with this fabulous cookbook. The “Maori Cookbook” actually has sections for traditional New Caledonian, Tahitian, Samoan, Cook Island, Tongan, Hawaiian, Fijian and Pitcairn Island cuisine, in addition to an extensive section of Maori recipes.

Interesting recipes include rotted maize and recipes using native produce like kumara (a tuber). The technology of food production is interesting too, since pre-Colonization in the South Pacific stone tools could be made tough, but not that sharp, and sharp tools could be fashioned from shell, but they were not that tough. Also, there was little clay for developing a pottery technology and flat stones for transfering heat in griddle cooking was not often available. Thus, food preparation technologies were constrained compared to some other parts of the world.

One famous method of Maori cooking that has become a national pastime in New Zealand is the “hangi”, called the “umu” in other regions. It is a common cooking technique the world over, particularly for people’s that had little access to pottery or large vessels. It is similar to the New England clam-bake, as well as the ground-roasting of some Rocky Mountain First Nations, as well as many of the megalithic peoples and Paleolithic hunter-gatherers of Europe. 

At the Well and Tree Gathering at Raven’s Knoll this year, we plan to cook a communal feast in this way. 

Here are instructions for a Maori hangi:

Glenfield College Home and School Association. (n.d.) Maori Cookbook. New Zealand: Marfleet Lithoprint Ltd.

[theheathenhearth]

Roman melon salad

1 honeydew melon

1 tbsp wine vinegar  

1 tbsp black pepper

1 tbsp forest honey

1 tsp liquamen (use fish sauce as a modern substitute)

1 tsp fresh dill 

Peel the melon and cut into cubes. Mix the vinegar, honey and liquamen thoroughly,  then pour over the melon pieces. Pour over the melon pieces. Sprinkle with finely chopped dill.

Karg, Sabine, Regula Steinhauser-Zimmerman, and Irmgard Bauer. (2011) A Culinary Journey Through Time: A Cookery Book with Recipes from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages. Gylling, Denmark: Narayana Press.

[theheathenhearth]

Eel and oyster soup

1 small eel, rinsed and cut into pieces

2 wild carrots

4 oysters, loosened

2 L water (1 L sea water and 1 L fresh water or clean brackish water)

1 rinsed and cleaned animal stomach

Dig a pit in the ground, spread out a piece of water-soaked leather inside it and fill it with water. Heat stones (ideally quartz or quartzite, not flint) in a fire, then transfer the hot stones to the water in the pit with the aid of a forked stick. Place the eel pieces and wild carrots in a well-rinsed animal stomach together with the water. Hang the stomach from a branch and position it in the pit containing the hot water. Leave to simmer gently for about ½ hour. Shortly before serving add the oysters and warm them through.

(Photo: Anguilla anguilla, by Jack Perks)

Karg, Sabine, Regula Steinhauser-Zimmerman, and Irmgard Bauer. (2011) A Culinary Journey Through Time: A Cookery Book with Recipes from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages. Gylling, Denmark: Narayana Press.

[theheathenhearth]

Stewed crab apples with sea buckthorn

6 handfuls crap apples

1 handful sea buckthorn berries

honey to taste

Dig a pit in the ground, spread out a piece of water-soaked leather inside it and fill with fresh water. Heat stones (ideally quartz or quartizite, not flint) in a fire, then transfer the hot stones carefully to the water in the pit with the aid of a forked stick. Add the apples and leave to seethe for about 1/2 hour.

Take out the apples and mash them with the sea buckthorn berries in a wooden bowl. If wished, the paste can be pressed through a sieve (reed basket). Sweeten with honey.

(Photo: Common Sea Buckthorn.)

Karg, Sabine, Regula Steinhauser-Zimmerman, and Irmgard Bauer. (2011) A Culinary Journey Through Time: A Cookery Book with Recipes from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages. Gylling, Denmark: Narayana Press.

[theheathenhearth]

Originally published in German, “A Culinary Journey Through Time,” is a ‘cookery book’ with recipes from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages. The book focuses on the archeo-history of food in Denmark, and both Danish and English versions of the book are available. Although the book is simple, without too much in the way of background notes, it is clear that book is well-researched by the Swiss authors. The recipes are organized to follow the seasons, while each recipe has a symbol indicating what epoch it is from – Meslolithic, New Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Viking Age, or Middle Ages. The recipes are simple and clearly described, without a hint of modern contrivance or ingredients in the instructions. 

The illustrations are beautiful pen and ink with the occasional acrylic tableau painting, much as you might find in an archeological journal or history book.

Karg, Sabine, Regula Steinhauser-Zimmerman, and Irmgard Bauer. (2011) A Culinary Journey Through Time: A Cookery Book with Recipes from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages. Gylling, Denmark: Narayana Press.

One of my pet peeves is that the diets inspired by the foodways that existed before the Agricultural Revolution, such as the “Paleo Diet,” merely adapt modern recipes by dropping ingredients or adding bizarre substitutes (coconut flour anyone?). A person from the European Paleolithic Era or a Neanderthal would not recognize any of the foods in those cookbooks.  The Mesolithic recipes in this cookbook, however, probably would have been actually recognizable in the Stone Age. Let’s bring back the #RealPaleo recipes!

Tasty Hare

1 hare or rabbit, skinned and cleaned

Mugwort leaves, dried and pounded

Vegetables and/or fruit of choice, as available

Sorrel or coltsfoot leaves

Dig a pit in the earth, line it with stones (not limestone or flint!) and light a big fire in it. After about ½ hour, spread stones, c. 10-20 cm in diameter; over the hot embers. About 1 hour later push the stones close together with a piece of wood. Wrap the hare or rabbit, which has already been stuff with the vegetables and/or fruit, in several layers of leaves, then place it on the embers and cover with the hot stones. Seal the pit with grass turves (grass side down) and soil, and leave the hare/rabbit to bake for 1 ½ to 2 hours. Before serving, sprinkle the meat with a pinch of ground mugwort leaves.

[Modern cheat: Instead of leaves, use several layers of aluminium foil to wrap the meat. When sprinkling the mugwort on the meat, also sprinkle coltsfoot ashes. (They are salty and provide flavour.)]

[theheathenhearth]

This book by Jean Bottéro outlines the delectable secrets of Mesopotamia, discussing some of the earliest recipes ever set to writing. Bottéro’s cookbook covers much more ground than just detailed preparation techniques involving food and drink; he moves from religious rites, to everyday rituals, to attitudes and taboos. The book focuses on Mesopotamian high culture during the second and third millennia BCE, as the Mesopotamians recorded them. The recipes were likely recorded because they were the dishes made to offer the gods. You too can eat like Gilgamesh! Techniques and flavour combinations you see first appear in Mesopotamia echo through the ages, in Islamic cuisine, Persian and Armenian cooking, Mughal and North Indian food. (Keep a lookout for the drink consumption technique now only commonly in South America.) There are translated recipes for pigeon and gazelle stews, the contents of medicinal teas and broths.  It is an entertaining and mesmerizing read.

Bottéro, Jean. (2002) The Oldest Cuisine in the World: Cooking in Mesopotamia. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. (Teresa Lavender Fagan, trans.)

Red Broth

Fresh meat not used.* Prepare water; add fat, salt, [as desired, cake crumbs], intestines or stomach; onion; samidu;** cumin; coriander; and mashed leek and garlic. Soak the meat in the reserved blood, and assemble all the ingredients in a pot.

* This may mean the meat has been aged or “hung”.

** “samidu” is probably a type of onion

[theheathenhearth]

A drink needeth to full dishes who cometh, a towel, and the prayer to partake; good bearing eke, to be well liked and be bidden to banquet again.

Hávamál (Lee Hollander, 1988, trans.)