Makin' the Meat: Planning

While our mead is fermenting and bubbling into a tasty beverage, we have got to plan our side dish! Over the past couple of weeks we have gone back and forth on deciding to try our hand at fish or beef in order to attempt to answer one of our major research questions:
What technique of cooking (boiling and maybe roasting) our protein, based on our sources, would create the most palatable meat? 
In the end it has been decided we are going to try both in order to understand a wider range of their common food preparation and cooking techniques.  Today, though, I will be talking mostly about the beef side of things and how the meat was cooked. 

The Protein: 

Cow, pig, sheep and goat were all integral parts of domestic food sources in the Viking Age. Cattle were used for both meat and diary and were the main farm animal until the 12th century. The slaughtering of the livestock was seasonal, at the end of grazing season, and so preservation was essential in keeping the meat as a viable food option. This usually consisted of either smoking, salting, or drying (typically fish). We considered trying recreate the preservation process but the most easily done of the options (smoking) would have taken many resources and a lot of time. Women were apparently responsible for the preparation and preservation or cooking of the meat.

Cooking:

One of the more important, and obvious, aspects of cooking meat in the Viking Age was the hearth or fire that was used to boil or cook the meat. Boiling was the most common technique, done in a cauldron over the hearth. 

Roasting on a spit and also frying were also used took foods but sources indicate these were typically used as a second choice to boiling. 

As we  come closer to starting our meat experiment we are considering how we should approach these different cooking techniques. The use of a fireplace is being deliberated for authenticity but we are considering focusing more on how different techniques of boiling (and what we add into it) will make the meat taste. 

Sources:

"Food, Diet, and Nutrition in the Viking Age." Hurstwic.Web. 04 Nov. 2013

Hagen, Ann, and Ann Hagen. A Second Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Food & Drink: Production & Distribution. Hockwold Cum Wilton, Norfolk, England: Anglo-Saxon, 1995. Print.

"Viking Foods." Viking Answer Lady Webpage.  Web. 04 Nov. 2013.