An Early Meal – a Viking Age Cookbook & Culinary Odyssey

Authors: Daniel Serra & Hanna Tunberg

Details: Hard Cover, 192 pages, 44 recipes, 67 images, 80 illustrations
Language: English
ISBN: 978-9-1981056-0-5

An Early Meal – a Viking Age Cookbook & Culinary Odyssey

is more than just a Viking Age cookbook. It is a combination of a textbook on Viking Age culinary practices and mouthwatering recipes based on archaeological finds and experimental archaeology.

The book is a result of a 15 year long collaboration between research and experiments of Daniel Serra, culinary archaeologist – experimental archaeologist and doctoral student – and the culinary skills and palate of Hanna Tunberg – foodie, sommelier and archaeologist.

A cookbook and culinary factbook

A cookbook and culinary factbook based on what we know today about the Viking Age food culture. Both the recipes and the factbook part are based on finds, literary sources, other contemporary sources and experimental archaeology.

In the first part of the book the authors present the food of the Viking Age. They describe what one may have eaten during the Viking Age, how the food was prepared and the practices that surrounded eating the food. This chapter is based on the yet to be finished doctoral thesis by Daniel Serra, archaeological finds from the period across Scandinavia and a range of various other sources.

The second part is a cookbook presented as a journey through Viking Age Scandinavia with 42 different recipes divided into seven geographical areas. The recipes are based upon archaeological finds and experimental archaeology bound together by the combined archaeological and culinary expertise of Daniel Serra and Hanna Tunberg. Almost all dishes can be cooked just as easily in the kitchen as out in a re-enactors camp.

In addition to the background material and the actual cookbook, there are some very interesting appendixes. Not only do we include an Encyclopedic part, which act as a quick reference guide to both food and cooking equipment, there is also be a list of plant finds and a reference for translation of plants, fish, birds and other ingredients between English, Latin, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and German.

Shops & Museums

Denmark:
Nationalmuseum Copenhagen
Sagnlandet Lejre Lejre
Vikingeskibsmuseet Roskilde

Finland:
Rosala Viking Center Rosala

Norway:
Loftr Vikingmuseum Lofoten
Midgard Historiske senter Borre

Sweden:
Birka Vikingastaden Birka
Ekehagen Forntidsby Åsarp
Göteborgsstadsmuseum Göteborg
Historiska kompaniet Linköping
Jamtli Östersund
Statens Historiska Museum Stockholm
The Viking Museum Stockholm
Trelleborgen Trelleborg
Vetlanda Museum Vetlanda Museum
Vikingabyn Storholmen Norrtälje
Vikingagården Gunnes Gård Upplands Väsby
Vikingatider Löddeköpinge

Author Daniel Serra

Historical food in all its forms has been a part of Daniel Serra’s life since 1994. As a young archaeology student... more » 

Author Hanna Tunberg

Hanna Tunberg is a food lover, or as she puts it, “Slave under the pleasures of the palate and the yearning of the taste buds for new experiences”… more »