DK Eyewitness Books - Viking

PATCHED

This clay

cooking pot

has four holes

where a patch was

stuck over a crack.

BERRY TASTY

Berries and wild fruits such

as apples, cherries, and

plums were gathered in

the summer. Vikings

may have grown fruit

trees in gardens as

well as picking

wild fruits in

the forest.

POACHED EGGS

In the Atlantic

Islands, Viking

settlers gathered

gulls’ eggs for

eating. They

also roasted

the gulls.

35

GARLIC BULB

Like modern cooks, the

Vikings added garlic

and onion to meat

stews and soups.

COOKING CAULDRON

Food was prepared around

the hearth in the center of the

living room. Meat was stewed in

huge pots called cauldrons made of

iron or soapstone. Some cauldrons

were hung over the fire on a chain

from the roof beam. Others, like this

one from the Oseberg ship, were

supported by a tripod.

Iron handle

Suspension loop

One of t he

tripod’s t hree legs

Iron cauldron

The tripod’s
pronged feet were
stuck into t he dirt
floor to keep t he
cauldron stable

BAYEUX BARBECUE

In this scene from the

Bayeux Tapestry (p. 10),

two Norman cooks heat

a cauldron. The fire sits in

a tray like a barbecue. To the

left, a third man lifts cooked

chunks of meat off a stove

onto a plate. The Vikings may

have cooked in similar ways.

CAUGHT ON THE WING

Game birds like this

duck were trapped or

hunted with short

arrows. Roasted

on a spit, it

would make a

tasty meal.

A HARE IN MY SOUP

Hares were trapped and hunted.

The Vikings also hunted elk,

deer, bears, wild boars, caribou,

seals, and whales for

meat. Sheep, cattle, pigs,

goats, geese, chickens,

turkeys, and even horses

were raised to be eaten.

Raspberry

Blackberry

Old crack Repair holes