The Vikings who invaded Europe actually had a pretty good diet. Even the poorest Vikings had a better diet than other peasants in Ireland at the time. The Vikings usually had two meals a day. One, the dagmal or day meal, was served an hour after rising. The family ate the nattmal or night meal at the end of the working day. For breakfast, the dagmal, the adults might eat a bit of some leftover stew still in the cauldron from the night before, with bread and fruit. The children would have porridge and dried fruit or perhaps buttermilk and bread. The evening meal could be fish or meat, stewed with vegetables. They might also eat some more dried fruit with honey as a sweet treat. Honey was the only sweetener the Vikings knew. Vikings drank ale, mead or buttermilk daily.
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Check out what the Vikings might have been forced to eat in the winter time in Scandinavia.. This could be one reason why they decided to invade other countries.
Part 1
Click here to read a list of the different kinds of foods that they would have eaten during Viking times.
The Vikings had a big, long fire inside the house which they could cook on (as we saw in the section about their houses). As you can see below in the centre of this reconstructed house.
Part 1
Part 2
Click here to read a list of the different kinds of foods that they would have eaten during Viking times.
The Vikings had a big, long fire inside the house which they could cook on (as we saw in the section about their houses). As you can see below in the centre of this reconstructed house.
Watch a video of a man cooking a traditional Viking dish, using the traditional techniques.
Task: Write a Viking menu using the ingredients you read about. What would they have for their starter, main course and dessert?