Nässelsoppa/
Nettle soup
Nässelsoppa/Nettle soup
Serves four to five people, so double the recipe for more servings.
What appliances/equipment did they use?
● Hearth-- special fireplace that Vikings used was different from a long fire which was generally used for heating the home. The hearth would have been a fire that we would compare to a camp fire and generally it would be made in a different part of the house.
● Equipment that would have been used for the preparation of Nettle soup would have been a clay or soapstone pot to boil any liquids and in our case water or possible a broth of some sort
● Knives would also have been used to remove the deadly thorns from the nettle as well as to chop the nettle into smaller pieces
● The soup would have been served with a larger spoon and the soup put in a wood bowl with a smaller wooden to eat with
● The raw ingredients would be grinded down by using a hand mill
What ingredients did they use?
● About 2 quarts of fresh nettles
● About 2 tablespoons of butter
● About 2 tablespoons of wheat flour
● About 1 quart good bouillon
● Salt (no specific measurement)
● Roughly 1/2-1 teaspoon thyme
● About 1/2-1 teaspoon marjoram
● About ⅓ cup of chives-- chopped
● 4 cooked egg yolks--finely chopped
How to make the recipe:
The nettle leaves were to be harvested in early spring to reduce the likelihood of being stung by the stems of the nettle plant. People would have most likely severed the leaves from the stem completely instead of harvesting the whole plant
The nettles are washed
The nettle leaves would then have been chopped up
The nettle were then cooked in boiling water
Remove from water and save water
Add any type of stock to a pan with butter and flour to make a sauce
Then add the nettle cooking water back in the pan to make more of a soup and then continue to cook the nettles
Season to taste with salt and thyme
Possible serve it with chive and egg
Information about the ingredients/recipe
Nettle Soup was consumed by many people in Europe during the Bronze Age, but inhabitants of England in particular were more likely to eat this. There is no specific area in Europe that this recipe comes from. There are many different variations of the recipe from all over the continent, but it is believed that they were adapted from the Vikings’ recipe during this time. Even in Modern North America, there are recipes that date back to when Native Americans roamed the land freely before the Europeans traveled. It is unknown if this recipe was only consumed among a particular social class. People believed this recipe was ingested for health purposes, like for arthritis and it happened to be used as a diuretic.
The stinging nettles were harvested in the springtime. Butter was heavily salted to be preserved and kept for years without needing to be kept cold. Wheat was used but found in specific places like Jorvík, Birka, Oseberg, and Dublin. Chives are a member of the onion and leek family-- these were mostly likely dried in the original recipe. The eggs could have come from either chicken, geese, or ducks, which they kept year round near their homes. In regards to the raw materials being grounded down into fine materials, there is no actual information regarding the grindage of grains at this time, so it is assumed that they eventually used a hand grinder.
Sources used:
http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/food.shtml
http://www.swedishfood.com/swedish-food-recipes-starters/92-nettle-soup
Gianna L, Victoria R, Evan Y, Dan J, Shannon F