Ingredients:
1/2 a cup nettle seeds
1/4 cup salt
Method:
Pick the seeds when they are drooping from the plant. Leave the seeds for a few days to fully dry, before sieving.
Mix the salt and nettle seeds together and store somewhere dry.
Fermented Wild Garlic
Ingredients:
Salt
Wild garlic
Method:
In a large mixing bowl or trough, layer garlic leaves and flowers with a small amount of salt.
Leave for several hours.
Massage and squash the leaves, working the salt into the leaves and leave for a couple more hours.
Transfer to a bowl or suitable container and weigh the leaves down with something heavy. Leave overnight.
Tightly pack the garlic into a jar and weigh the contents down using a bottle filled with water, squeezing the juice from the garlic and ensuring all the leaves are fully submersed in the extracted liquid. If there isn’t enough liquid top up with spring water, not tap.
Leave to ferment for a minimum of one week before consuming
Bacon
With a lack of refrigeration, salting would have been a preferred method of preservation and storage for the Vikings and Saxons. Though with salt being expensive, brining would have been more commonly used.
Bacon seems to have been produced in large quantities, at least by the Saxons. This recipe, while being a modern variation, makes use of ingredients that where available at the time and is based loosely on an old Yorkshire bacon cure.
Ingredients:
For the cure;
300g salt
A few bay leaves
2 teaspoons juniper berries (crushed)
2 teaspoons black pepper (freshly cracked)
For the bacon:
1kg Pork belly
1 tablespoon honey
Vinegar
Method:
The quantities given here are approximates, don’t worry too much about them being exact.
Mix together the cure ingredients.
Rub the pork belly with honey.
Add 1 handful of the cure to a food safe container, large enough to fit the pork belly.
Add the pork belly and rub the cure into the meat. Place in the fridge or somewhere cool for 24 hours.
Drain off any liquid that forms in the container and sprinkle another handful of cure over the pork. Repeat this process for 5 days.
After 5 days, rinse the pork with clean, cold water and pat dry. It should be feeling quite firm at this stage.
Rub the pork with a little vinegar and either hang somewhere cool or put it back in the fridge. Wait for a minimum of 5 days before eating.
Pinnekjot (stick-meat)
Ingredients:
250g salt
Goat, lamb or pork ribs
Water
Birch sticks (bark removed)
Method:
To preserve;
Place the ribs in a large container and work the salt into the meat, making sure every part is covered.
Leave to rest somewhere cold or in the fridge for 24 hours per Kg. Turning every 12 hours.
Brush the excess salt off and hang in a cool & dry location. Dry for 4-6 weeks.
To cook;
Separate the ribs lengthwise and place to soak in cold water overnight.
In a large pan or cauldron build a grid with the birch sticks by criss-crossing the sticks in the bottom.
Add water to the pan, to just about cover the sticks. Place the ribs on top of the grid and pop a lid on the pan. Leave the meat to steam for 2-3 hours on a low heat. Be sure to add water occasionally to make sure it does not go dry. When the meat falls off the bone, it is done.
If you choose you can put the meat on a grill for about 15-20 minutes to crisp prior to serving.
Taken from my book ‘Eat like a Viking!’ Available now on Amazon