Momentum

One of the biggest hurdles I feel we face as medieval cooks is getting people past their initial resistance to trying new things.  Chicken cooked in an unfamiliar way can be a little "weird" to people, but at least chicken is a known quantity, so when you tell people you've stewed the chicken with apricots and beer, they may think "Huh?!" but they're more likely to be willing to take that first bite because of the existing comfort level with the main ingredient.

The same is rarely said of more "exotic" dishes, and here in the Midwest, aka The Middle Kingdom, "exotic" covers a LOT of territory.  A significant portion of the people I serve at feasts will be unfamiliar with at least one of the ingredients I'm using.  Actually, that "wha..?" process usually starts at the supermarket, when i have to explain to the cashier or the person in line behind me that that weird knobbly-looking thing is a rutabaga, and the "green onions on steroids" are actually leeks (and so on, and so on, and so on...).  I try to encourage people to try those ingredients at home, providing hyper-simplified suggestions for prep, such as, "If you peel the rutabaga and cube it up, you can boil it and serve it much like mashed potatoes, with butter and salt and pepper.  It has a little more of a spicy flavour to it, but the texture is somewhat similar, and it's fun to mix things up.  Plus it's a gorgeous goldenrod colour when it's cooked and looks so pretty on the table!"  I'm not sure if any of the cashiers or "Random folks in queue" have ever taken me up on my culinary snippets of advice, but I do try to be an Ambassador of New Flavours, even there in the mundane world.

It's a pleasure to find that by now, having just completed our "Third Annual" Norse-inspired feast, I have a lot of repeat guests in the Hall.  This has many benefits, not the least of them being that those people know they are going to find GOOD FOOD on my tables.  This makes them more likely to try those scary unfamiliar dishes, because there's at least an even shot that it will be palatable!  Then, because humans are very, very good at picking up on safety cues from the crowd around them, the "newbies" in the group become a little less freaked out by this platter of Strange And Unusual Stuff they're being served.

There's something almost magical about the phrase, "Wow!  I never even heard of but that was GOOD!"  It warms my heart, not just because I am on a mission to bring Flavour And Fun to this region, but because I feel so very fortunate to have grown up in a household where an incredibly wide assortment of flavours, textures and ingredients were routinely included in our menus.  I love having that variety of options in my personal kitchen when I'm feeding my family, and I am delighted to broaden other people's horizons, as well. 

So what was on the menu this time? 

We started the evening with fairly basic (and familiar) items.  Edible bread baskets (that is... the baskets themselves were made of bread, and meant to be eaten!) held barley flatbread, and whole grain bread, and wheat bread (all home-made by our Cooks Guild as we sat around my dining room table kneading and chatting...).  There were bowls of cheese, olive oil and za'atar.  Za'atar is a combination of thyme, sumac, sesame seeds and salt, and this herb mixture is eaten by dipping a piece of bread into olive oil, then into the dried herb mixture.  It's delicious, and personally, I eat it for breakfast at least four days a week!

To this mix, we delivered apples and pears, drizzled with local wildflower honey (we have an AMAZING source of local honey here!), a pureed vegetable soup with an optional addition of pan-seared cod, and "Valkyries on Horseback," which has been mentioned in this blog before.  Now, I will tell you, when you suggest that people eat prunes, there is often some resistance.  I think most people consider prunes a medicinal tool reserved for those of ancient and decrepit status, and shy away from this most lovely of fruits.  This recipe got a lot of converts that night, however.  Bacon makes everything better, apparently!  The hesitance quickly evaporated after one bite, and the "Valkyries" were a huge success.  I recommend them as an easy appetizer for any setting, medieval or not!

Now we're just warming up, at this point.  My Lord, Uisdean, is truly blessed by the Gods when it comes to his skill with the fire, and he made smoked beef brisket which was so good it almost brought tears of joy to my eyes (and offers to "take him off my hands" from several people... ha!  Not likely!).  Ten and a half hours of slow smoking, we had three separate grills going in the backyard, and it was worth every nanosecond.  A mustard and wine sauce was served to complement the meat, along with rice-stuffed cabbage rolls and leeks, carrots and mushrooms lightly sauted in olive oil and lightly tossed with a wine sauce just before being served.  I love listening to the ebb and flow of conversation and general merry-making during feasts.  I try to wander the crowd, gauging reactions, explaining the ingredients (although NOT the recipes... you have to come cook with us for that!), trading quips and humorous comments, and the like.  For me, watching people enjoying their meal is the best possible reward, and bragging about my Lord's amazing grilling skills is icing on that cake.  ~grins~

Now, this is a FEAST, not just a dinner.  In the Old Days, slaughtering would have been completed, harvests all brought in, and people would be joining to celebrate the time of plenty, so you know there has to be more food to come!

Lamb and barley stew is a classic dish, and one I expect to find at most Norse events including my own.  It can be spiced heavily, or lightly, allowing the natural succulence of the lamb to shine.  This year, we opted for a more simple combination of flavours, but we had some really stellar quality fresh lamb to work with, and at an even more excellent price, so we took advantage of that opportunity.  To complement the lamb, we served mashed rutabaga, and a light, refreshing "compote" of cabbage and beets (really, it was more like a relish, with an apple cider based pickling brine for the vegetables).  The bright flavour of the compote, and the gorgeous ruby colour, alongside the golden rutabagas, added a nice visual presentation to the stew which, though delicious, is rather drab in appearance, making for a well rounded course!

Bellies were getting full, but dessert was still on the way!  The Cooks Guild had made shortbread cookies, but with a twist.  For this Norse feast, the cookies were "carved" with runes before they were baked, adding a touch of whimsey to the tables.  Also, bowls of bread pudding were served, along with custard sauce and brandied fruit.  My standing joke is that the brandied fruit has to be good... I was tipsy for three days just from cooking it!  For a little additional fun (What?  Fun?  I know!  Don't tell!) we had imported a rare delicacy all the way from far-off Sweden.... Swedish Fish!  (I'm fairly positive they didn't have gummy-fish candies back in Denmark, but... kids and adults alike understood the joke!)

Norse cooking can be challenging.  We don't have any existing "cook books".  We have some sagas which talk about food that was served, and we have grave finds and midden pit excavations to tell us what ingredients were used, but from there?  It's all speculation.  There is a very narrow range of "traditional" Norse dishes which are common at feasts, but my goal is to broaded my *own* horizons as a cook, as well as offering new and intriguing experiences to the people I feed, and I think we balance that well.

Now, what will we serve next year, and how will we push the envelope?  We are already planning the menu... and can't wait to do this again!  Watching people get braver and braver in their dining experiences is well worth the work, and we're creating that momentum here!