Viking Pottage
This dish would be made from whatever stock you had, whatever vegetables you had and whatever meat or fish you had….and could last a week or so, as every day you would just add more veg and stock and any leftover meat.
It was a way to use the last bits of everything and anything, to provide a meal and was not confined to just Vikings. Versions of this type of dish could be found all over Europe.
The recipe below uses dried peas as a base, which was one of the vegetables that Vikings would grow and dry. If you were making this in Scotland then oats would be your base.
Serve with some crusty bread.
Ingredients:
Stock
Leek
Dried Peas
Bacon
Butter.
As you can see there are no amounts/measurements…. there wouldn’t have been!
Like a lot of leeks? then pop more of them in! Don't like bacon, no problem just leave it out. Only have a handful of dried peas, that's fine put them in! Why not try adding smoked fish instead of bacon? Potage really is a dish of "whatever you had"
Method
Gently fry your leeks in the butter. When a wee bit soft add the bacon and fry for 2 or 3 minutes.
Add stock, bring to a simmer and add dried peas. Give a stir and then simmer until the dried peas have softened.
And there it is! Very simple but a meal that would be eaten by everyone, no matter how poor or rich.
