Anglo Saxon Culinary Expressions

I had a lot of fun lecturing on "Anglo Saxon Culinary Expressions: A Cultural Odyssey" at National Geographic in Washington, DC yesterday. I would like to thank all of the attendees for sharing their Sunday afternoon with me.  My mission was to provide a food anthropologist's look into the Anglo Saxon world. Why Anglo Saxon?

The National Geographic is hosting a stunning new collection of gold from England that was discovered by an amateur a few years ago!  Per National Geographic:

"On July 5th 2009, Terry Herbert, a metal detector enthusiast, discovered the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found. From farmland near Lichfield in Staffordshire, England, Terry and a team of archaeologists unearthed more than 3,500 pieces from hundreds of individual objects dating to about 650 A.D. Valued at close to $5 million, the hoard includes exquisitely crafted artifacts, most of which are military in nature.
More than 100 of these artifacts will be on exhibition at the National Geographic Museum including elaborate gold and garnet sword fittings, decorative elements for helmets, crosses, and a gold strip bearing a Latin inscription from the Bible."

The exhibit is magnificent - not only from the standpoint of its financial worth and beauty, but from the new glimpse it offers into the Anglo Saxon world.  Who knew, for example, that the Anglo Saxons imported garnets from Northern India and procured gold from skilled artisans in Bohemia?

These new findings led me on a quest to discover more about Anglo Saxon cuisine. What I learned is that the Anglo Saxons had their own route to India for spices! As early as the 6-8th centuries CE, the Anglo Saxons had access to mace, cinnamon, ginger, pepper, and cloves! The above map shows the famed Silk Route in orange and the alternate trade route that the Anglo Saxons used a few centuries later. They would traverse Europe, stop in Alexandria Egypt (for black pepper, I believe), and then head through Yemen and cross the Arabian Sea to Southern India where the rest of their spices could be procured

The exhibit teaches us that the Anglo Saxons refused to use Roman stone dwellings and living styles. They preferred their own wooden style homes instead. It is amazing to learn that while they rejected some Roman ideas, they did follow in the footsteps of the Roman by using their trading routes!


They ate many of the same things we do including salmon, trout, herring, meats, poultry, and fowl. They drank apple cider and ale. A few recipes, such as that of salt-curing salmon and making shortbread have changed very little over the ages.

This exhibit reminded me that culinary history is ever-changing. Every archaeological discover provides us with clues that we can use to better understand our predecessors. What fascinates me the most, is finding just how similar they were to us, and that "globalism" is nothing new.

Here are the recipes I demonstrated:

House Cured Salmon

One (2 pound) salmon fillet, skin off

¼ cup Kosher salt

¼ cup sugar

1-2 bunches fresh dill

2 tsps freshly cracked black pepper

Preparation:

Rub the salmon fillet all over with the salt and sugar, and sprinkle with the pepper.

Place half of the dill in glass or or other non reactive container, big enough to hold the salmon flat (it can be cut into pieces to fit as necessary), lay the salmon on the dill, and cover with the other half of the dill. Cover with plastic wrap, and place something heavy on the top, to compress the salmon.

Let it sit in the fridge for 2 days, draining the water that collects off once. Check to see if the salmon is finished after 2 days. The texture will change, and become denser, and it will look like smoked salmon when finished. If it is not all the way through cured, give it one more day of curing.

Wash off the salt and sugar, and slice as thinly as possible, with a very sharp knife.

Honey Shortbread

The original form of Shortbread was leftover bread that was dried out and placed back into the oven to toast. Over the years, yeast in bread recipes was replaced with butter and honey, and traditional short bread was developed. This is an early Medieval recipe.

This is easy to make and very tasty.

Serves 10

Ingredients:

1 cup plain or whole wheat flour

¼ cup cornmeal (this is not traditional since England didn’t have cornmeal until much later)

¾ cup unsalted butter, soft

½ cup honey

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 325F degrees.

Mix the ingredients together until they form a dough ball.

Spoon the mixture into an 8-inch baking dish and press it down well with wet hands.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool for 10 minutes then cut into fingers while still warm and serve when cold.

Traditional Scottish Shortbread

This recipe would have come much later once rice and finely ground sugar were available and spices could be afforded by middle classes (19^th century is likely).

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Ingredients

1/2 cup flour, sifted

1/4 cup rice flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 pinch salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

Preparation:

Combine flours, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl.

Work in butter until dough has the consistency of pie crust.

Sprinkle board with rice flour.

Turn dough onto board and knead until smooth.

Divide into four portions and shape into small rounds.

Place in an 8-inch tin and prick the top with a fork.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes, until cakes begin to brown slightly.

Allow to cool in pan and cut into slices.