Bilberry Pancakes

This recipe comes from Vikingars Gästabud (The Viking Feast), and is for four servings.

Ingredients

● 2/3 cup white flour

● 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

● 1/2 teaspoon salt

● 2-1/2 cups milk

● 2 tablespoons butter

● 1 cup bilberries

Turn on the oven to 425°F (225°C). Whisk the batter together without the butter and stir in the berries. Melt the butter in a heat-resistant baking pan and pour it in the batter. Bake it in the middle of the oven for about 20-25 minutes until the pancake has a nice color. Cut it into pieces and serve with some jam.

background on your chosen dish:

Billberries, often referred to as blueberries in the United States, are small berries found in Northern Europe and parts of Asia. Back during the Middle Ages, billberries were used for two main purposes. One way they were used was that the juice from the inside of the berry was used to dye clothes and paper. The other main purpose was to eat them. Billberries are high in antioxidants, fiber, and vitamins. They were often eaten when someone was ill as a form of medicine that could be eaten. If not eaten by themselves, billberries would go on top of dishes such as pancakes. These ingredients would have been affordable for people of all social status during the Middle Ages. (https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/bilberry-vs-blueberry-10830.html)

(https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/bilberry-benefits#section1)

Where the recipe came from:

Milk came from wherever there were cows or goats present, it was commonly used by the poor and the wealthy were often refrained from drinking it. Butter was made using a churn that would separate the fats of the milk from the liquid or buttermilk (https://www.uwgbcommons.org/archives/31965). Flour came from millers of the time. They would mill corn and wheat (http://www.lordsandladies.org/middle-ages-food-bread.htm). Medieval salt was collected “from the evaporation of brine (from natural salty springs) or seawater” and then purified by the merchants who sold it (https://www.medievalists.net/2016/01/using-salt-in-the-middle-ages/). Billiberries were farmed during this time period and picked off their plants for use.

Anachronisms:

In today’s society, we use billberries for similar uses that people did in the Middle Ages. Today, people still eat them and use them, but they are also used to treat conditions that we did not even know existed in the Middle Ages. Today, billberries can be used to treat glaucoma, ulcers, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and hemorrhoids. During the middle ages, flour was not available, so they would often use corn instead. Milk was drunk by the wealthy in the Middle Ages because they had no way to preserve it, and was only drunk by farmers who raised cows. Today, milk is easily accessed at the grocery store and can be preserved in a fridge for weeks at a time.(https://www.uwgbcommons.org/archives/31965) (https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/bilberry-benefits#section1)

What it tells us about the time it came from:

This recipe tells us which food was eaten by which social class. Something like milk, as stated before, was drunk only by the poor because it did not last long enough for travel. The other ingredients in the recipe like salt, flour, and butter had to be bought by merchants so they were most likely used by higher classes.

Mason F, Maddie C, Andrew C, Michael S