Outcomes and Taste Test

Through trade that the Viking had with outside networks they had access to exotic spices. Those, however, would of been expensive and were probably used sparingly. Local herbs and spices would of dominated the choices available. These spices would of varied depending on what part of the Viking world you were in. This applies also to what would have been the proteins most commonly used. What  was used was dependent on what would grow/strive in the many different climates of the Norse world.

As we mentioned protein sources varied, but we found that beef and fish were commonly consumed.   Roasting and boiling both were popular, boiling seemed to be the more common of the two. 

In our results we found fish roasting was the more palatable of the two techniques, while for beef no one technique was palatially superior to the other.  

  Here's how we found out:

The 4 different meats, top left boiled beef, top right baked fish, bottom left roasted beef, bottom right boiled fish

Sam tries the Roasted Beef (Reaction:good)

Lindsey tries boiled fish (Reaction: poor)

We replicated that with the boiled beef and roasted cod and found the reactions to roasted fish much better. The beef reaction stayed about the same regardless of technique. However roasting was more difficult due to our own lack of knowledge surrounding fire-based cooking practices, and we had to use a modern oven to compensate(and for safety). The inedibility of  our fish also may have been due to a lack of real understanding around the cooking of fish in broth/boiling water. 

Meat cooking source:

http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/daily_living/text/food_and_diet.htm