Blood Recipes

We talked yesterday about preparing and preserving blood for culinary use, now let's look at some more specific uses in medieval cuisine. Today we actually make som e recipes using blood. (For the record, I never have and never intend to make any of these.)

Viking Blood Bread

At an archaeological site in Sweden, a piece of bread was discovered that was found to have blood in the mix. In the book An Early Meal by Daniel Serra and Hanna Tunberg, you will find a hypothetical version of the recipe that produced the "blood bread."

Take 2 cups fresh blood (strained to remove clots), 1 cup sourdough starter, 1.5 cups water, 1-2 tbsp honey, and roughly 6 cups whole wheat or barley flour. (No salt is needed: blood is already salty, which you know if you've ever split your lip).

Then, stir the sourdough and honey into the blood. Combine the mixture with the flour and water, kneading until smooth and slightly sticky. Let the dough rise for about 90 minutes to 2 hours until doubled. Shape into loaves, allow to rest, and bake at 425°F (220° C) for 25 to 30 minutes. [link]

Galantine (Blood sauce)

Galantine is a word used for different recipes, and not all use blood, but here's one that makes dark sauce for roasted meats.

Along with fresh blood, take red wine or verjuice (the juice of unripe grapes or apples), spices like cinnamon or cloves, and stale breadcrumbs. Combine the red wine or verjuice with shallots (or garlic) and the drippings from the roasted meat. Simmer over low heat, then stir in the breadcrumbs and blood to thicken (remember not to let the blood boil, lest it curdle as was mentioned yesterday). Pour over roasted meat and serve.

A little more on blood tomorrow, and then we'll find another topic, I promise.